'Henjam. Position and Rights of His Majesty's Government in the Island of Henjam. The Sheikh of Henjam and his Affairs' [‎60r] (1/8)

CONFIDENTIAL.
1 \ ) r )
INDIA OFFICE The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors.
HENJAM.
Position
and Rights of His Majesty’s Government in the
Island of Henjam.
The Sheikh of Henjam and his Affairs.
Introductory.
Hen jam is an island 5£ miles long and about 3 miles broad, situated off
the south coast of the island of Kishm, from which it is divided by a strait Lor.«, 62 ^-ai.
a mile wide and 6-12 fathoms deep in the fairway. It contains a valuable
anchorage at Masheh Bay, while at the settlement of Ghail, some 3 miles
from the village of Henjam, there is an almost inexhaustible supply of
fresh water. The island in addition contains saltmines of some value. Its
position off the 1 ersian coast at a point where the - Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. is so narrow
that the Arabian coast is ordinarily visible gives it considerable strategic
importance.
2. Since 1869 (with an interval between 1881 and 1904) a station of the
Indo-European Telegraph Company has been maintained on Henjam with
the concurrence of the Persian Government; since 1911, when the
Admiralty coaling depot was trnnsferred to it from Basidu, the island has
been employed by His Majesty’s ships stationed in the Gulf as their
principal base, and a canteen and playgrounds are maintained in the
Telegraph Concession by the Naval authorities. The climate of Henjam is,
however, extremely trying in the summer, and the view was expressed in
1903 that it would not be a suitable site for a defended naval establishment.* 9
3. The island, the only place of importance on which is the village of
Henjam, an Arab settlement dependent principally on pearl fishing, i s
inhabited by Arabs belonging to the Beni Yas tribe of the Arabian coast.
The Beni Yas are said to have migrated to it from the Arabian coast about
a century ago,| with the permission of the Sultan of Muscat, at a time when
Henjam was definitely claimed and administered by that State. 'They are
reported consistently to have refused to acknowledge Persian sovereignty or
to accept Persian nationality, and to have made it clear that they would
rather leave Henjam than become Persian subjects. They have inter
married throughout with the Beni l r as of the Arabian ^ coast; their
commercial dealings and their pearling ventures are all connected with
that tribe ; their Sheikh is the father-in-law of the Trucial Sheikh of Dabai,
and the ruling family of Dabai and their subjects claim to have 3| lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees of
rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. sunk in the concerns of the Henjam branch of their tribe.
4. A Persian Customs agent has been maintained in the island since
1905, and a Customs post was established in the area of the Indo-European
Telegraph Department’s concession, with the knowledge and approval of
His Majesty’s Government, in 1927. There is also a Persian Post Office
alongside the Customs House, the difficulties caused by the anti-British
activities of the postmaster of which have come to notice on various occasions
recently, and have formed the subject of representations at Teheran.f
International Status of Henjam.
5. I he international status of rlenjam has formed the subject of
considerable discussion in the past, claims being preferred to it bv Muscat
and by the 1 racial Sheikh of Dabai (subject, however, to the overriding
claim of Muscat§) as well as by Persia. The Persian claim is based on
the assertion that Henjam is and always has been a Persian possession
dependent from Bundei Abbas, and that such authority as was exercised in
it in the first half of the last century by Muscat was exercised by that State
under its lease from Persia of Bunder Abbas and its dependencies Muscat
3135 75 10.28
O. of I. precis of
corres. on Henjam
and Banda, p. 65.
* Tel. from Viceroy
to S. of S. for I.,
Aug. 4 1903. Lor. ii
629.
t P. 461/06.
Lr. from Pol. Res.
to G. of I.. 279 S.,
July 20-1 1928,
P. 4626.
X Teh. tel. to F.O.,
213. July 6 1928,
P. 3501/28.
§ Teh. Desp. 54,
Feb. 27 1906
P. 2827/00.