War by Revolution. Germany and Great Britain in the Middle East in the Era of World War I

36 WARBYREVOLUTION

theregion;NicolsonandthenewviceroyofIndia,SirCharlesHar-
dinge,cautionedagainstit.Bothfearedanti-Britishpan-Islamicout-
breaksinIndia,Persia,andEgypt/^8
Hardingeparticularlyexaggeratedthethreatofpan-Islamismand
MuslimunrestinIndia;oftheseveralhundredmillionpeopleinthe
country,Muslimsnumberedseventymillion,withmostofthemliv-
inginBengalandtheNorth-WestFrontierProvince.Althoughsome
MuslimsinIndiaexpressedpan-Islamicsentimentsandeven soli-
daritywiththeOttomancaliph,Muslimswerealmostwhollyabsent
fromthegrowingreignofterrorinIndiawagedbytheHindu-domi-
nated,anti-Britishnationalistmovement."OtherBritishofficials,
includingLordCrewe,thesecretaryofstateforIndia,andSirArthur
Hirtzel,theIndiaOffice'spoliticalsecretary,downplayedMuslim
threatstoBritishruleinIndia."
OtherfactorsprovidedBritainwithincentivestoconcludean agree-
mentwiththeOttomansontheBaghdadrailroadandrelatedissues.
TherewasconcerninsomecirclesthatbythreateningtheTurksBrit-
ainmightdrivethemcompletelyintothearmsoftheTripleAlliance.
TheBritish,furthermore,wishedtoretaincontrolofmuchofthe
Gulfarea,moreinfactthanitwishedroexpandtheirinfluencein
Mesopotamia.ThisledtheBritishtonegotiatewiththeTurksfor an
agreementonKuwait,theGulfterminusfortheBaghdadrailroad,
andontheotherissuesregardingtheGulfandMesopotamia."
Also,from19IIto 1914 atleasttwoagentsoftheGovernmentof
India-CaptainWilliamShakespear,thepoliticalagentinKuwait,
andLieutenant-ColonelGerardLeachman-frequentlyvisitedAbd
al-AzizibnSaud,arisingArabchieftaininnorth-centralandeastern
Arabia,aregionknownastheNajd.HeadquarteredinRiyadhand
alliedtothepuritanicalIslamicmovement,theWahhabis,IbnSaud
in 1913 extendedhis sway totheGulfbyseizingfromtheTurksthe
provinceofal-Hasa.As aresult,thePortehadthoughtitnecessary
toappointIbnSaudas valioftheNajd; heinreturnpromisednotto
giveconcessionsto,orenterintodirectrelationsortreatieswith,
foreignpowers.IbnSaudcontinuedhisbitterstrugglefordomina-
tionoftheareaagainstanotherArabrival,Abdal-AzizibnRashid,
ofHail.