IOR/L/PS/12/2129

This file concerns a request, made by the Army Headquarters, India, to the British Embassy at Baghdad, for a map of Arabia showing the national and provincial boundaries of Saudi Arabia. The correspondence discusses the difficulties associated with marking out the various boundaries, owing to the fact that many of them are 'the subject of actual or potential controversy'. Also discussed are recommended revisions to the boundaries of Arabia, as shown on a National Geographic Society map of Asia (map not included).

Notable correspondents include the following: His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan); officials of the Foreign Office, the India Office, the Persian Gulf Political Residency, the British Embassy in Baghdad, and the British Library of Information in New York.

In addition to correspondence the file includes the following:

• A copy of a memorandum dated 18 April 1932, which recounts an interdepartmental conference held at the Colonial Office three days earlier, concerning the submission of the frontiers of the mandated territories (namely the Iraq-Transjordan frontier, the Iraq-Kuwait frontier, and the Palestine-Syria frontier) for approval to the Council of the League of Nations.
• Two maps: one depicting the Arabian Peninsula and the other showing the eastern portion of the Aden Protectorate.

Whilst the date range of the file is 1916-1934, only two items (including the aforementioned memorandum) date from earlier than 1934.

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 2).