IOR/L/PS/10/388

This volume contains part 6 of the subject 'Persia Gulf'. It concerns British relations with Bin Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd]. Much of the volume's correspondence discusses whether the British should offer Bin Saud inducements (in the form of money, titles, arms or personnel) to take action against both Shaikh Saud bin Abdul Aziz bin Rashid, Amir of Hail [Saʿūd bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Āl Rashīd, Emir of Ha'il, also referred to by the British as Bin Rashid and Ibn Rashid] and the Turks. The volume includes the following:

• a copy of an article on Bin Saud by Gertrude Bell;
• copies of translations of correspondence between Bin Saud and Bin Rashid, and a copy of a translation of an agreement between the two men, dated 10 June 1915, in which they agree to respect each other's territories;
• a note entitled 'Relations With Ibn Sa'ud', prepared by the Arab Bureau's Iraq section, which provides a British perspective on Britain's relations with Bin Saud from 1899 onwards;
• copies of reports sent to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf in January 1915 from the late Captain William Henry Irvine Shakespear, regarding his meetings with Bin Saud;
• reports of Harry St John Bridger Philby's meetings with Bin Saud in December 1917, as part of a political mission.

The volume features the following principal correspondents:

• Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Percy Zachariah Cox, corresponding both as the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and as the Chief Political Officer, Indian Expeditionary Force D;
• Secretary to the India Office's Political Department (Sir Arthur Hirtzel, succeeded by John Evelyn Shuckburgh);
• Bin Saud;
• High Commissioner, Egypt (Sir Francis Reginald Wingate);
• Viceroy of India [Frederic John Napier Thesiger];
• Foreign Office.

The volume also contains copies of correspondence between the Political Resident, Aden (Major General James Marshall Stewart) and both Saiyid Mohamed bin Ali bin Idris, the Idrisi [Sayyid Muḥammad bin ‘Alī Āl al-Idrīsi] and Imam Mahomed Yahya bin Hamid-ul-Din [Yaḥyā Muḥammad Ḥamīd al-Dīn].

The part includes a divider that gives the subject and part number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in the part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.