British traveler who converted to Muslim for oil: Who is Harry John Philby?
In the 19th century, Ottoman domination, which continued for hundreds of years in the geography called the "Middle East", left its place to Britain and USA. And Harry John Philby was one of the people who achieved British-American domination. Here is his story:
This key geography on the British – Far East trade route was a safe haven for London. However, when the British had difficulty in getting along with their French, German, American, and Russian rivals, there were great tensions in this geography. The Americans tried to enter this region in the 1910s and took over British dominance in the region from the 1950s. Understanding the last 100 years of the Middle East is possible by understanding the British and American interests in the region.
The person who made Standard Oil's deal with Ibn Saud was a former British spy, and he was Mr. Philby. He was wandering around the desert under the name "Sheikh Abdullah" with his long white coat. During World War I, British military intelligence sent some people, such as Harry John Philby, to meet with Ibn Saud. Mr. Philby went to the Hejaz after the war and started trading in Jeddah. The closer he got to Feisal and his father, the more he began to dominate the desert. So much so that by now Philby's company had started lending to Ibn Saud, and he had wandered across the Arabian deserts to figure out where to look for oil. However, it was clear that he was treated with suspicion in the reports of British diplomats in Jeddah.
Harry St John Bridger Philby, CIE (3 April 1885 – 30 September 1960), also known as Jack Philby or Sheikh Abdullah, was a British Arabist, adviser, explorer, writer, and Colonial Office intelligence officer.
Mr. Philby introduced the “Islamic confession of faith / Shahadah” in 1930. His circle was expanding in Riyadh and Jeddah. In fact, even though those around Ibn Saud were always suspicious of his guidance, this man, started to be mentioned as "Sheikh Abdullah" among the Saudis. If we look at the American archives, he was always known by the name "Philby" in the USA and Israel. However, for Ibn Saud, who has always been very pragmatic, it was important to what Abdullah Philby promised him, not what he believed. The Saudi Emir expected this (former) British spy, who was his adviser, to deal with the mediation that would make him oil-rich.
When contracts were signed between the Saudis and the Rockefeller companies in 1933, it is claimed that Philby filled his pockets by getting good allowances from American oil companies. There is even literature in England that has declared itself a "traitor". But was it possible for a former spy to swindle London into doing something that would make Americans rich?
Life story
He was born on the island of Ceylon. He completed his higher education in the field of oriental studies at Trinity College, Cambridge University. In 1908, he became a civil servant in the British colonial administration in India. He learned Persian and Arabic, as well as Urdu, Punjabi, and Baluji languages. In 1915, he was assigned to Iraq to join the British and Indian troops fighting against the Ottoman Empire. In 1917-1918, to support the revolt of Sharif Hussein and Abdulaziz b. He was sent to Arabia to persuade Saud to fight against the Rashidis, who acted with the Ottomans. After the war, he left the civil service in July 1921 as he disagreed with British policy regarding the region. In November 1921, he was appointed as the British representative in Jordan and resigned from this position, where he remained until 1924 because he did not find the mass immigration of Jews to the region appropriate. The following year, after Ibn Saud captured the Hijaz, he settled in Jeddah and started trading.
Philby's conversion to Islam in 1930 and his taking the name Abdullah led the king to increase his confidence in himself; now he could easily get permission for domestic trips, which was denied to most foreigners. Although he did not fully achieve his goal, the dangerous 3,000-kilometer Rub'ulhâlî trip (1931-1932) he made to cross the great desert is one of them. In the meantime, he earned a significant income from the consultancy services he gave to oil companies in the 1930s and the museum materials he sent to England. He went to England in 1939 and became a Labor Party candidate, but was not selected. After his failure in politics, he developed a plan known as the "Philby plan", which envisaged the provision of 20 million pounds of financial aid to Saudi Arabia, which was expected to assume the responsibility of finding a place for the Arabs who would lose their homeland in return for the resettlement of the Jews in Western Palestine and appease the Arab public opinion. However, this plan, which was supported by Zionist leaders like Weizmann, failed because Ibn Saud could not get approval from England and America. II. During World War II, he was arrested in Karachi, where he had been for a while, in August 1940, due to his anti-British and Hitler-friendly rhetoric, and was sent to England and kept under probation until the end of the war.
Returning to Saudi Arabia in July 1945, Philby started trading again. He continued his travels in Saudi Arabia in 1950-1953; meanwhile, he intensified his research on the pre-Islamic history of the region. However, after the death of his close friend and patron Ibn Saud (1953), Saud b. He was forced to leave Saudi Arabia in April 1955 and settled in Beirut, as he sharply criticized the new and extravagant lifestyles of Abdulaziz and other members of the royal family that emerged with the wealth of oil. XXV, which he attended in Moscow in August 1960. He died of heart disease on September 30, 1960, on his return from the Congress of Orientalists and was buried in the Muslim cemetery.
Philby donated the archaeological remains, many geological findings, flora and fauna specimens he collected during his travels to various museums, history and geography associations, and the records of his expeditions The Heart of Arabia (London 1922), Arabia of the Wahhabis (London 1928), The Empty He has appeared extensively in the books The Quarter (London 1933), Sheba's Daughters (London 1939), A Pilgrim in Arabia (London 1946), Arabian Highlands (Ithaca 1952) and The Land of Midian (London 1957). His major works on the history of Saudi Arabia are Arabia (New York 1930), Arabian Jubilee (London 1952), and Saudi Arabia (London 1955). Arabian Days (London 1948) and Forty Years in the Wilderness (London 1957) are his autobiographies. He is also the author of Harun al Rashid (London 1934), The Background of Islam (Alexandria 1947), Arabian Oil Ventures (Washington 1964), and many articles published in various journals. Philby's over three decades of friendship with Ibn Saud adds to the value of his knowledge and insights into the founding and developmental periods of Saudi Arabia.
However, his admiration for the king, his critical approach to the British government's policies, the vicious and belligerent style he followed in his writings, and the carelessness he made while giving history cast a shadow over the objectivity and reliability of the precious material in question.