Bangor University DOCTOR of PHILOSOPHY a Comparison of Al Qassim Viewed Through British Eyes and Local Sources: 1862-1918 Alresh
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Bangor University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY A comparison of Al Qassim viewed through British eyes and local sources: 1862-1918 Alreshoodi, Abdulmohsen Saleh A. Award date: 2019 Awarding institution: Bangor University Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 05. Oct. 2021 A comparison of Al Qassim viewed through British eyes and local sources: 1862-1918 Abdulmohsen S Alreshoodi A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Bangor University School of History, Welsh History and Archaeology 2018 Supervisors Dr. Mari Wiliam Dedication To the soul of my brother Mish’l Acknowledgement As much as I was self-motivated in undertaking this postgraduate degree program, I was also encouraged and supported by many people such as my friends and family. Before writing anything, I would first like to express my sincerest gratitude to Al-Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University for granting me a scholarship. As a consequence of this I was able to complete my postgraduate studies. I would also like to mention the name of my teacher in my bachelor’s degree, Prof. Mohammad Aba Al-Khel upon whose suggestion I selected the topic for this PhD thesis. It is he who encouraged and motivated me to undertake doctoral-level study on the same topic. In addition, I would also like to mention Professor Omer Al-Omari who was the Head of the School of History at Al-Imam university. He motivated me to undertake the doctorate program in the United Kingdom. Although he has retired, I will always have respect for him. I would also like to thank my master’s thesis supervisor, Dr. Mohammad Al-Khudhari, who provided me with unparalleled support throughout my master’s thesis project and corrected me when I was going astray. The master’s thesis achievement encouraged me to continue my research at doctoral level. I am fortunate to have had the moral support of many loved ones whilst completing this project. I am grateful to Dr. Mari William, and Dr. Amer Qader for their valuable guidance regarding my research. They gave me valuable inputs and constantly encouraged me to undertake the research program. Their unconditional support enabled me to conduct research in the right direction. If they had not provided me with their valuable guidance I would not have been able to conduct the research properly and thoroughly. Their constructive feedback enabled me to improve myself and the direction of my research. I would also like to mention that I am extremely grateful to my second supervisor, Dr. Peter Shapely, who read the drafts of my thesis and provided me with valuable feedback. I am extremely grateful to him for taking timeout for me and his providing me with constructive feedback and answering the questions which confused me while I was conducting my research. I am also grateful to him for the academic support he provided and for ensuring that the best resources were at my disposal for conducting the research. I find it vital to also mention Ms. Debbie Usher, an Archivist at Oxford University’s St Antony’s College in its Middle East Centre Archive. I express my sincerest gratefulness to her for locating the right sources and documents for me which were related to the subject of the research. Entire archive staff also deserve and have my sincerest thanks. These staff work at The National Archives, Kew. They enabled me to identify the right documents to study the Arabian Peninsula. I was able to locate sources of historical importance with respect to the Arabian Peninsula with the help of the staff of the same institute. Staff at The British Library also deserve and have my sincerest gratitude for giving me access to the Indian Office Records. They worked patiently to locate the right files for me as it involved considerable amount of time, efforts and energy. Their untiring efforts enabled me to study the documents of historical significance. The staff at the Archives & Special Collections Library in University of Manchester also has my warmest thanks for giving me access to the library and enabling me to study the documents and books related to my research area. I also express my sincerest thanks to the staff at Bangor University for providing me access to the library and study books on the area of my research. I am thankful to Dr. Bertie Dockerill for reading the entire thesis and for his valuable feedback. I also convey my sincerest thanks to my friends, Dr. Dhaif allah Al Otaibi, Dr. Talal Altorifi, and Mohammad Al Onai who encouraged me and motivated me during the toughest of times. I have great deal of respect and love for my cousin, Bandar Alreshoodi, who stayed in touch with me throughout my doctoral program and motivated me and communicated with me for long hours to boost my morale. Above all, I am forever indebted to my parents for their moral, financial, emotional and intellectual support throughout my academic career including the doctoral program. My wife Maymunah and my children Almaha, Lulu, Marwan and Bader were a constant support and brought me back to life when I used to feel lost in research. Their love brought me back to life after being tired and exhausted from working for long hours. Lastly, I’m grateful to my mother and wife for their immeasurable support and for their patience during the production of this thesis; without them none of this would have been done. A List of Maps Map 1: Saudi Arabi geographical map .................................................................................................................... 46 Map 2: Saudi Arabia major regions and Al Qassim is shown as number 5 region. ............................. 47 Map 3: Pagrave journey route .................................................................................................................................... 62 Map 4: Daughty journey route ................................................................................................................................... 70 Map 5: Leachman journey route ............................................................................................................................... 81 Map 6: Shakespear journey route through Arabic Peninsula ....................................................................... 91 Map 7: Hamilton journey route ................................................................................................................................. 95 Map 8: Philby Journy rout ......................................................................................................................................... 102 List of Photos Figure 1: Philby photo on camel ................................................................................................................................ 60 Figure 2: Palgrave photo in Arabia .......................................................................................................................... 62 Figure 3: Leachman photo in Arabia ....................................................................................................................... 81 Figure 4: Shakespear official photo ......................................................................................................................... 91 Figure 5 Hamilton and Phibly photo ....................................................................................................................... 95 Abbreviations FO Foreign Office IO India Office IOR India Office Records WO War Office L/P&S/ India Office: Letters, Political and Secret MEC Middle East Centre, St Antony’s College, Oxford R/15 Residency Records 5 Translation Notes The tables 1 and 2 shows the modified Arabic transliteration system of the Library of Congress. Table 1: Transliteration note: consonants 6 Table 2: Vowels 7 Abstract In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, serious travels were made to the Arabia Peninsula by British travellers. Travellers included informal travellers and political envoys sent by the British Empire. The different Western travellers to East looked at the Orientals through their own point of views. Their travelogues were the only source of information available to the West about life in the East and the endeavours of the people therein. The travel writings of the western travellers and their motivations (in both travelling and writing) led to their works being appraised and critiqued by different theorists. Some criticized the Western travellers for their dubious motivations and theorised that all the travellers who visited the East and the Arabia Peninsula in particular, were motivated by political incentives and operated on their political agendas rather than personal objectives. My argument here is this we cannot ignore all of the historical contributions of the British travellers