Notes on the Proposal to create a Buffer State in
the Wadi Sirhan between Trans-Jordania and Nejd.
Rivál Claims to the Wadi Sirhan.
The long struggle in the past between the Ruweilah and
Shammar tribes for the possession of Jauf and the Wadi Sirhan
has left both sides with equally good claims to the district.
Nuri Shalaan, the present paramount chief of the Ruweilah,
occupied Jauf in 1910, but was ejected in 1920 by Ibn Saud,
who had meanwhile conquered the Shammar and brought them under
his authority.
Nuri Shalaan himself now resides in Syria
but his agents represent him in Kaf and the surrounding
district and collect taxes on his behalf. He has acknowledged
the Amir Abdullah's authority, but at the same time is reported
to have acknowledged himself as a subject of Ibn Saud.
As a
result Abdullah claims the Wadi Sirhan for Trans Jordania,
while Ibn Saud claims it for Nejd both on behalf of the Shammar
and also by right of conquest, while if the above report is
correct he could also put forward the plea of recognition by
Nuri Shalaan as a third claim.
The economical and political importance of the Wadi Sirhan.
The Wadi Sirhan is chiefly important as the corridor
between Central Arabia and Palestine, Syria and the
Mediterranean to the North-West.
Large numbers of caravans to
and from Nejd travel over this route.
Nejd is a great inland
state with no seaport of its own and very few good communications
to the sea, or to neighbouring countries.
Merchandise
entering or leaving Nejd in any direction is liable to the
taxation of the one or more small neighbouring states through
which it has to pass before reaching its destination. Ibn
