IOR/R/15/5/25

This file contains correspondence concerning the British Government's relationship with Ibn Sa'ud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and his conflict with the Al Rashid rulers of the Emirate of Jabal Shammar (or Emirate of Ha'il) as well as his relations with the Ottoman Empire and the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Mubarak Al Sabah. The impact of the First World War is also discussed.

The file also contains correspondence related to a trip to the region made by Captain Leachman of the Royal Sussex Regiment in 1912 (folios 164-178).

The primary British correspondents in the file include the Political Agent in Kuwait, Captain William Shakespear (and to a lesser extent, his successor, Lieutenant-Colonel William George Grey); John Gordon Lorimer, Political Resident in Turkish Arabia and Consul General in Baghdad; the Political Agent in Bahrain, Captain Terence Humphrey Keyes; the Political Resident, Major Percy Zachariah Cox.

The file also contains a significant amount of Arabic language correspondence (with English translations), principally from Ibn Sa'ud as well as a limited amount from other regional figures including the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Mubarak al-Sabah.

In addition to correspondence, the file contains several extracts from the diary of the Political Agency in Kuwait related to political developments concerning Ibn Sa'ud and the following documents:

• a report by Captain Shakespear on a meeting with Ibn Saud in 1911 (folios 105-107);
• an account of the Idrisi rebellion in Asir extracted from the Soudan Intelligence Report, June 1912 (folios 161-163);
• an English translation of a treaty agreed between the British Government and Ibn Saud that was signed on 26 December, 1915 (folios 321-324);
• a memorandum on relations between Ibn Saud and the 'Ajman tribe written in 1916 (folios 380:385);
• a note on the political situation in Nejd written in 1920 by the Political Agent in Bahrain, Harold Patrick Dickson (folios 474-486).