IOR/L/PS/12/2137

This file primarily concerns British policy regarding the eastern and south-eastern boundaries of Saudi Arabia, specifically those bordering Qatar, Abu Dhabi, and Muscat (i.e. the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman).

Much of the correspondence relates to British concerns that the boundaries should be demarcated prior to the commencement of any oil prospecting in the area. The file's principal correspondents are the following: His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan, succeeded by Sir Reader William Bullard); the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven William Fowle); the Political Agent, Bahrain (Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch); the Political Agent, Muscat (Major Ralph Ponsonby Watts); the Secretary of State for the Colonies; the Secretary of State for India; the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; officials of the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, the India Office, and the Admiralty.

Matters discussed in the correspondence include the following:

• Whether the British should press King Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] for a settlement of the outstanding questions relating to the aforementioned boundaries.
• Sir Andrew Ryan's meeting with Ibn Saud and the Deputy Minister for Saudi Foreign Affairs, Fuad Bey Hamza, in Riyadh, in November 1935.
• The disputed territories of Jebel Naksh [Khashm an Nakhsh, Qatar] and Khor-al-Odeid [Khawr al ‘Udayd].
• Whether or not a territorial agreement between Ibn Saud and Qatar was concluded prior to the Anglo-Qatar Treaty of 1916.
• The intentions of Petroleum Concessions Limited regarding the development of its oil concession in Qatar.
• The line proposed by the British for the boundary between Saudi Arabia and the Aden Protectorate.
• The Kuwait blockade.
• Leading personalities in Oman.
• Details of Harry St John Bridger Philby's expedition to Shabwa [Shabwah, Yemen].
• Four meetings held between Sir Reader Bullard, George Rendel (Head of the Foreign Office's Eastern Department), and Ibn Saud, in Jedda, 20-22 March 1937.

Also included are the following:

• Copies of the minutes of meetings of the Committee of Imperial Defence's Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East.
• Copies of correspondence dating from 1906, exchanged between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Major Percy Zachariah Cox), the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department, and the Ruler of Abu Dhabi [Shaikh Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan], regarding the latter's claim to Khor-al-Odeid.
• Several maps and sketch maps depicting the proposed boundaries discussed in the correspondence.

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).