Arabian Peninsula British Foreign Office Report on the Arabian Peninsula

George Walter Prothero

British documents and reports constitute an important source for studying the history of the Arabian Peninsula from a demographic, political and geographical perspective. This report is among the documents and reports that Al-Warraq was keen to present to the Arab library, such as the book The Arab World in German Documents, the book Tribes and Political and Tribal Conflicts (Emirates - Qatar - Bahrain - Eastern Region) in the Reports of British Officers and Residents - the Eighteenth and Ninth Centuries, by the author of these lines, and the book Wahhabism in the Reports of the French Consulate.

The book's editor says, "The historical information was compiled by a team of writers trained in historical subjects, who offered their services gratis. For the geography section, valuable assistance was provided by the Naval Intelligence Section (Naval Staff), and for the economic sections by the War Trade Intelligence Department established by the Foreign Office. For the accompanying maps, some were provided by the aforementioned Naval Section, but most were the product of public servants from the Geography Section of the Ministry of Defence (Military Intelligence Branch)."

Britain documented all the information about the Arabian region collected by its officers, ambassadors, and employees, who then sent it to their official departments or geographical associations in the Arab region, particularly officers and representatives in the Arab region, from the seventeenth century to the present day. These reports constituted a fundamental source for the political decisions the British government relied on to control the Arab region. There were documentation centers in Britain that studied all the information by specialized scholars and researchers. These centers provided official departments, such as the British Foreign Office, with various reports, depending on the need and rank of the employee sent. This report was part of the effort to inform and educate employees preparing for the Peace Conference (i.e., the conference dividing the Arab region between the colonial powers in the final days of World War I).