Book Review: Diary Of A Journey Across Arabia (1819)

Diary Of A Journey Across Arabia: 

From Qatif In The Persian Gulf, To Yanbu In The Red Sea, During The Year 1819

As F.M. Edwards’ research on the book reveals, George Forster Sadleir's writing style is rather simple, unornamented and report-like. Given his military affiliations, and to properly fulfill his mission as the British envoy to Ibrahim Pasha (son of Muhammad Ali), Sadlier's diary was the first and most objective traveler's account among all those who traveled across Arabia after him, including Palgrave (1860's) and Doughty (1870's). Edwards highlights that "his own feelings and speculations were not within the terms of reference". Considering his background as a soldier, Lieutenant Sadlier "gave a modest account of" his journey and "was less conscious of its importance". Dr. Peter Vincent concurs, acknowledging that "Sadlier scrupulously recorded the details of his journey in his diary, and although of interest to contemporary geographers, the crossing seemed to have interested him very little" (source). Edwards asserts that "his ignorance of Arabic makes all the more remarkable the fullness of the observations, geographical and otherwise, set down in his Diary". In his recent most recent book (The Wahhabis seen through European Eyes (1772-1830)), professor Giovanni Bonacina agrees saying that "despite his prejudices and his limited knowledge of Arabic, the quality of the geographic and ethnographic information he collected in Central Arabia is comparable to that derived by [Edme-François Jomard] from French sources in the appendix of [Félix] Mengin's first work".

From a personal view, I find this diary to be of great importance in documenting the landscape, inhabitants and urban structure of Qatif in the beginning of the 19th century. Two centuries after the beginning of British interests in the Gulf, and just one month after the birth of Queen Victoria, his visit came at a critical time, when Qatif was under Egyptian rule. He stayed in the Qatif area for one week, stating "that at Qatif he had found that the only Egyptians there were the Governor and his two assistants". From his decision to choose "the protection of the Bani Khalid" for his travels to Hufuf, we can infer that Egyptian sovereignty was mainly administrative and rather ephemeral.

One of my favorite quotes from the book is Sadlier's comment on the significance of subjecting Qatif under British domination. He stated that:

"It is evident that the districts of Al-Hasa, the port of Qatif, and the advantages of the communication by Uqair present more favorable prospects than any advantages which could be expected by the accession of Ras al-Khaimah"

Given his experience as captain in the 47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot, I find Lieutenant Sadlier's observations to be clearly indicative of the geopolitical significance and socioeconomic influence of the region on both the Arabian/Persian Gulf and the interior of Central Arabia at the beginning of the Late Modern Period.


References:

1. F. M. Edwards. "George forster sadleir (1789–1859) Of the 47th Regt. the first European to cross Arabia." Journal of The Royal Central Asian Society Volume 44, Issue 1, 1957.
2. Giovanni Bonacina." The Wahhabis Seen Through European Eyes 1772-1830: Deists and Puritans of Islam (The History of Oriental Studies)" Brill Academic Pub (April 9, 2015).
3. Peter Vincent. "Saudi Arabia: An Environmental Overview".  CRC Press; 1 edition (January 15, 2008)