IOR/L/PS/10/389/1

Part 7 primarily concerns relations between Bin Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and King Hussein of Hedjaz [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī, King of Hejaz].

It includes discussion as to whether Britain should provide Bin Saud with military assistance to enable him to take decisive action against Bin Rashid (also referred to as Ibn Rashid) [Saʿūd bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Āl Rashīd, Emir of Ha'il]. The policy advocated by the Government of India is that Bin Saud should be 'kept in play' by gifts of money but that arms and military instructors should be supplied sparingly. Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Percy Zachariah Cox and Harry St John Bridger Philby, on the other hand, favour an offensive against Hail [Ha'il] by Bin Saud, with British assistance. Also included are the following:

• a memorandum from the War Cabinet's Middle East Committee, on the position of Bin Rashid in relation to other Arab rulers;
• a note entitled 'Relations With Ibn Sa'ud', prepared by the Arab Bureau's Irak [Iraq] section, which provides a British perspective on Britain's relations with Bin Saud from 1899 onwards;
• notes on conversations held between Colonel Cyril Edward Wilson and Major Kinahan Cornwallis of the Arab Bureau, and Emir Abdulla [ʿAbdullāh bin al-Ḥusayn], son of King Hussein, during December 1917;
• a copy of a report by David George Hogarth on his interviews with King Hussein at Jeddah;
• a memorandum from the Political Agent at Kuwait, Colonel Robert Edward Archibald Hamilton, which is primarily concerned with relations between Kuwait and Riyadh;
• notes by Hamilton on Bin Saud, based on conversations with the latter at Riyadh in November 1917;
• correspondence between British officials regarding King Hussein's attempt to reoccupy Khurma and its impact on his relations with Bin Saud.

This item features the following principal correspondents:

• Viceroy of India [Frederic John Napier Thesiger];
• Secretary to the India Office's Political Department (John Evelyn Shuckburgh);
• High Commissioner, Egypt (General Sir Francis Reginald Wingate);
• War Office;
• Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Percy Zachariah Cox;
• Secretary of State for India [Edwin Samuel Montagu];
• Foreign Office;
• King Hussein;
• Bin Saud.