IOR/R/15/2/140

The volume contains miscellaneous political intelligence concerning the affairs of Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd, King of Saudi Arabia] (also referred to Bin Saud) and the Government of Saudi Arabia.

The main correspondents are the Political Agent, Bahrain; HM Minister, Jeddah; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; and officials of the Colonial Office, Foreign Office, and Government of India.

The papers cover the following: the involvement of Ibn Saud in Bahrain affairs, e.g. January 1932 (folio 5); the movements of Ibn Saud, e.g. January 1932 (folio 6); the movements of Ibn Saud's sons, e.g. discussion of what recognition the British should give to Ibn Saud's son the Amir Faisal [Fayṣal bin ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Sa‘ūd] when he passed through Bahrain in 1932 (folio 8); Ibn Saud's relations with the Qusaibi [al-Quṣaybī] family of merchants in Bahrain, June 1932 (folios 11-12); the revolt against Ibn Saud's rule in the Hejaz, July-August 1932 (folios 13-22); a rumour that Ibn Saud had suffered a defeat, December 1933 (folios 25-26); a proposed visit by Ibn Saud to Kuwait, January-February 1936 (folios 41-45); reports of unrest in Hasa [al-Aḥsā’] as a result of taxation, April 1936 (folios 50-52); a reported attempt on Ibn Saud's life, June 1936 (folios 53-65); the frontier with Trans-Jordan, May-July 1936 (folios 68-72); the response to a report of gunfire at Jubail [al-Jubayl], July-September 1936 (folios 73-80); the use of the title 'Amir' by the Saudi Government when referring to the Ruler of Bahrain, November-December 1936 (folios 81-96); customs duties in Saudi Arabia, January-November 1938 (folios 97-101); Ibn Saud's attitude toward Arab rulers in the Persian Gulf, and visit to Bahrain in May 1939, December 1938 - July 1939 (folios 102-183); the visit to India by Amir Saud, April-June 1940 (folios 196-220); reports of a plot against Ibn Saud, December1940 (folios 222-229); the dispatch of currency for the Saudi Arabian Government from HM Mint, Bombay, June-July 1941 (folios 233-251); the shipment of lubricating oil from Bahrain to Jeddah, at the urgent request of the Saudi Arabian Government, November 1942 - May 1943 (folios 252-268); and the visit of two of Ibn Saud's sons to India, June-September 1943 (folios 269-311).

The Arabic language content of the volume consists of approximately ten folios of correspondence (with English translations), including five letters from Abdul Aziz al Qosaibi [‘Abd al-‘Azīz al-Quṣaybī] to the Political Agent, Bahrain.

The date range gives the covering dates of the main items of correspondence; the last dated addition to the file is an entry in the notes on folio 335v dated 7 October 1943.