File 1408/1904 Pt 1 ‘Persian Gulf: Henjam affairs. Status of Henjam (Persian sovereignty). Persian Customs post. Henjam Telegraph Station dispute’

Content

The file comprises copies of correspondence, papers and maps relating to the British Government’s telegraph station and the Persian Government’s customs house on the island of Henjam [Jazīreh-ye Hengām], questions of Persian sovereignty over the island, and the status of the island’s Arab inhabitants. The volume’s principal correspondents are: the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Major Percy Zachariah Cox); the British Ambassador (or Chargé d’Affaires) at Tehran (Sir Arthur Henry Hardinge; Sir Evelyn Mountstuart Grant Duff); the Assistant Resident and British Consul at Bandar-e ʻAbbās (Lieutenant William Henry Irvine Shakespear); the Senior Naval Officer of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Division, also Commanding Officer of HMS Fox (Captain John Bridges Eustace).

A large portion of the correspondence concerns British officials’ reaction to the Persian Government’s construction of a customs house on Henjam (itself a response to the British Government’s revival of their telegraph office on the island):

• British officials’ proposals to send Indian troops to keep the peace on the island (ff 221-225);
• a report of a visit to Henjam by Cox and Shakespear, June 1905, with an accompanying map of the island (ff 189-193, f 200);
• fresh water supplies at Henjam, and discussion amongst British officials over whether the Persians should be refused access to the island’s water supply;
• copies of correspondence and a tracing of a sketch, dated 1868, relating to the original agreement between the Persian and British Governments for a telegraph cable and station at Angaum [Jazīreh-ye Hengām], enclosed as part of an attempt to establish the extent of the original telegraph concession on the island, covering the years 1868 to 1880 (ff 133-136);
• use of flagstaffs on the island, specifically Persian flagstaffs as a statement of sovereignty, and the proposal for a British flagstaff as part of a Lloyd’s Signal Station;
• negotiations between the British Government and Persian Government (represented by Mushir-ed-Dowleh) on the acknowledgement and extent of a British concession at Henjam;
• correspondence and reports relating to a survey undertaken by the Royal Navy (HMS Fox ) of the northern tip of Henjam in April 1906, in order to ascertain the extent and boundary of the area required for the British telegraph office concession (ff 2-16).

The file also covers the status of Henjam’s Arab inhabitants, including:

• claims made by Shaikh Ahmed bin Abeid of Henjam to be under the protection of Shaikh Mookhdoom [Shaikh Maktūm bin Hashar Āl Maktūm] of Dubai, and to have been settled on the islands by ancestors of the Sultan of Maskat [Muscat] (f 233, f 138, f 92);
• British officials’ procrastination in confirming their acceptance of Persian sovereignty over Henjam to the island’s Arab inhabitants, amid concerns of potentially violent confrontations between Henjam’s Persians and Arabs once Britain’s acceptance of Persian sovereignty is confirmed (f 124, ff 110-112);
• proposals made by Cox to resettle the Arabs of Henjam at Basidu [Bāsa‘īdū], rejected by Government officials (ff 99-103).

Extent and format

1 volume (250 folios)

It is grouped into

‘Rough copy of a Plan of the Telegraph Station & neighbourhood at Henjam [Jazīreh-ye Hengām] prepared under orders of Capt. J. B. Eustace R.N. [Royal Navy] Cmd H.M.S. “Fox” by Lieut. G. Bevan R.N. in April, 1906’

2 images

Ref: IOR/L/PS/10/38, f 16

Plan of the British telegraph station and surrounding area, Jazīreh-ye Hengām

2 images

Ref: IOR/L/PS/10/38, f 42

Plan of the British telegraph station and surrounding area, Jazīreh-ye Hengām

2 images

Ref: IOR/L/PS/10/38, f 43

Tracing of ‘Rough Sketch of proposed buildings at Angaum [Jazīreh-ye Hengām]’

2 images

Ref: IOR/L/PS/10/38, f 136

‘Environs of the Telegraph Station at Henjam [Jazīreh-ye Hengām]’

2 images

Ref: IOR/L/PS/10/38, f 200

Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 252; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

Written in

English and French in Latin script

Type

Archival file

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: 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. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity.

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

IOR/L/PS/10/38

Former external reference(s)

P 1408/1904 Pt 1

History of this record

Date(s)

1904-1906 (CE, Gregorian)

Related material

Related primary sources

Related Foreign Office papers can be found in a number of files held at The National Archives: FO 371/106-109

Subjects

TelegraphyImperialismConcessionsSurveysIndo-European Telegraph Line

Places

Henjam

People & organisations

HM Ambassador to IranPolitical Resident, Persian GulfBritish Consul, Bandar AbbasHMS Fox, Astrea class, second class cruiserGovernment of Persia, Qajar dynasty

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File 1408/1904 Pt 1 ‘Persian Gulf: Henjam affairs. Status of Henjam (Persian sovereignty). Persian Customs post. Henjam Telegraph Station dispute’, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/38, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000365.0x00037b> [accessed 19 April 2024]

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