Philby’s Mission to Najd

[Farsi]

In 1917 St John Philby, later know as Abudllah Phiby, Colonial Office Intelligence Officer, was sent by the British Colonial Office Arab Bureau in Cairo on a mission to cross the desert from Uqair on the Persian Gulf to Riyadh and make contact with Ibn Sa’ud, the ruler of Najd in central Arabia.

In May 1917, he was briefed en route in Baghdad by Major Gertrude Bell, the first female Military Intelligence Officer in the British Army, who was advising the British government on Middle East policy following her earlier archaeological and intelligence gathering expeditions in Iraq, Syria and the Arabian peninsula.

Like any expedition, great attention was paid to logistics including supplies and kit such as tea, tobacco, thermometers and photographic film.

Logistics were also facilitated by Abdullah al-Nafisi, Ibn Sa’ud’s agent who smoothed Philby’s path

On the route to Riyadh, Philby undertook pioneering cartographical work and meteorological research, recorded information on the people inhabiting the area, and collected geological and natural history specimens. In contemporary understandings of imperialism and empire, these expeditions constitute the gathering of ‘colonial knowledge’ on an area: the accumulation and collating of a corpus of information on the inhabitants, terrain, and natural resources of an area which will enable the colonial power to influence, coerce, and if circumstances require it, facilitate the deployment of colonial violence to attempt to achieve outcomes advantageous to the imperial power.

As was his habit, Philby compiled detailed and meticulous notes during his preparations and on the journey. On arrival in Riyadh, he paced the city walls in order to draw up a map of the settlement and its outer limits. Also important were gifts: Philby brought tents for Ibn Sa’ud and on his departure back to the Persian Gulf was given two Arabian oryx as gifts for King George V which were led on string back over the dusty terrain en route to England via Bombay.

Before his departure back to the Persian Gulf, Philby also took undertook an expedition along the Wadi Dawasir which had been used for centuries as a route to bring the coffee from Mocha into central Arabia. All this was to be the start of a lifetime of exploration of the Arabian Peninsula.

https://blogs.bl.uk/.a/6a00d8341c464853ef02af1c992fd3200d-pi

 

[Farsi]

While Lawrence of Arabia was sent to the Hijaz, Abdullah Philby was sent to Najd. Why doesn't anyone recognise the amount of influence he had on Ibn Saud?

 

[Farsi]

This is a file titled: Philby's Mission to Bin Sa'ud'

front:

 

[Farsi]

Telegram from Sir Percy Cox to Abdullah Philby:

 

[Farsi]

Here's the full documentation of Philby's Mission to Bin Sa'ud.

'File E9. Philby's Mission to Bin Sa'ud' [‎front] (1/242)

This file contains correspondence between British officials at Bahrain, Bushire, Baghdad and Kuwait, and Harry St John Philby, as well as ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin ‘Abdullāh Āl Suwaylim, Amir of al-Qaṭīf. Th

www.qdl.qa

 

[Farsi]

In his 1918 mission to Nejd, Philby’s task, as seen by British officialdom, was to gather intelligence on the area and establish a relationship with Ibn Sa’ud on whom the British had little information. This information could then be used to further British political, economic and strategic interests in the area in the context of the expected demise of the Ottoman Empire. In 1917-18 the Empire’s writ still held sway precariously in parts of the Arabian peninsula and the Middle East (in 1818 the Ottomans had destroyed Diriyah, the capital of an earlier iteration of the Saudi state).

 

[Farsi]

Having initiated the Arab Revolt in 1916, Hussein bin Ali Al Hashimi, Sharif of Mecca and leader of the Revolt, proclaimed himself ‘King of the Arabs’, but he faced a rival claimant in Ibn Saud. Although British policy supported Sharif Hussein, it only went so far as to recognise him as King of the Hejaz. Philby, meanwhile, quickly began to favour Ibn Saud and even provided him with confidential information to assist his cause. An India Office memo written by Philby in 1918 outlined the grounds for supporting Ibn Saud’s claim to the Al-Khurma Oasis, which soon afterwards became the subject of the First Nejd-Hejaz War.

In 1930 Philby took the significant step of converting to Islam, which afforded him both greater access to Ibn Saud and the right to enter the holy city of Mecca. Cecil Hope Gill, British Chargé d’Affaires at Jeddah, reported meeting with Philby soon afterwards, stating that ‘He made no pretence whatever that his conversion was spiritual’, but that it was a long-deliberated decision arising in response to his ‘disassociation from British ideals’ (IOR/L/PS/12/15, f. 44r).

Ibn Saud may have been among those with doubts about Philby’s motivations for conversion, as he continued to delay granting the necessary permissions for Philby to fulfil his greatest ambition of becoming the first Westerner to cross the Empty Quarter or Rub’ al Khali Desert. Philby was beaten to that goal by Bertram Thomas, an adviser to the Sultan of Muscat and Oman, but he nevertheless led an expedition across the desert in 1932, which resulted in the production of one of the first maps of the Rub’ al Khali.

 

[Farsi]

Philby’s transfer of loyalty was noticed in his native country and became a frequent topic of discussion. In 1929 the Commander of HMS Clematis wrote from Jeddah that Philby was ‘responsible for many of the fears and suspicions under which the Hedjaz Government is at present labouring’ and that Philby had a reputation as being ‘anti-British’.

In 1936 Philby led an expedition through the Hadhramaut in central Yemen, which was perceived by both the British and the Yemenis as a propaganda tour for Ibn Saud’s claim over the region, including parts of the British-administered Aden Protectorate. ‘Presumably Mr Philby still calls himself an Englishman’, wrote the Acting Resident in Aden. ‘It is all the more to be deplored, therefore, that he should deliberately work against the interests of Great Britain’ (IOR/L/PS/12/2071, f. 21v).
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100061765163.0x000035

In 1940, a year after standing for Parliament for the far-right British People’s Party, Philby was arrested in Bombay as a suspected Nazi sympathiser, deported to England and briefly interned. Nevertheless, shortly after his release, he successfully recommended his son Kim Philby to the British secret service. Philby eventually lost his influence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after openly criticising Ibn Saud’s son and successor, King Saud bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, following his accession to the throne in 1953. Philby died in Beirut in 1960, while visiting Kim. His last words were reported to be: ‘I am so bored.’

 

[Almis]

Philiby or Alshiekh Abdullah as he was known to the locals is respected figure here in Suadi. His descendants are still living in Riyadh. Here is an interview with his granddaughter.

 

[Farsi]

Philiby or Alshiekh Abdullah as he was known to the locals is respected figure here in Suadi. His descendants are still living in Riyadh. Here is an interview with his granddaughter.

When people think about Britain’s WWI efforts in the Arabian Peninsula, they mainly speak of Lawrence of Arabia rather than him even though he had far greater influence in the Middle East then him, Sadly he isn’t discussed enough by westerners when discussing British involvement in the region. Didn’t he freed a Baloch slave and married her?

 

[Shimbiris]

You should read this book:

Talks quite a bit about Philby and many other British officials and officers and the strong relationship they built with Abdulaziz but, in the end, he mostly leaned toward America once the oil digging started and had enough of Britain for the most part.