'Memorandum on Bahrein' [‎6v] (12/62)

12
Discussions with Persia, 1844-45
Teb. to f.o., 45. On a communication in these terms being made to the Persian Prime
22 0 6.1844. Minister, the Prime Minister "said he would undertake to prove the right of
Persia to possession of that island, and that in the meantime he would not make
any movement against it without giving previous notification of such an intention
to the British Government."
Teh. to f.o ., 46. In February 1845 the Minister at Tehran sent home a letter received
252184^ from the Prime Minister, from which it appeared that the Persian claim was
essentially based on the Convention of 1822 between Captain Bruce and the
Minister of the Prince Governor A Prince of the Royal line who also acted as Governor of a large Iranian province during the Qājār period (1794-1925). of Fars. (See paragraphs 20-21 above.)
Teh. to f.o ., 47. In a subsequent despatch the Minister said that he had informed the
18°} 184? Prime Minister that the Bruce Agreement was unauthorised and had been
repudiated at the time, and that the Prime Minister had thereupon sent him
a fuller statement of the grounds of the Persian claim. The result of enquiries
which His Majesty's Minister had made consequent on the receipt of this state
ment ' 4 confirmed me in the opinion that this island has not formed part of
the dominions of Persia since the accession of the Kajjar dynasty [1795J. It
is true that the Chiefs of Bahrein have in all probability from time to time
given peeshkesh, offerings, or tribute to this country [Persia] as a mark of
superiority, as Kandahar and Herat continue to do, without an acknowledgment
of subjection,( 2 ) and it is also not unlikely that the rulers of that island may
have declared themselves to be subjects of the Shah when threatened with sub
jugation from Bagdad, but I cannot ascertain that Persia has exercised any
real control over it within the last fifty or sixty years." The Minister added that
in further support of their claim the Persian Government had sent him a gold
coin struck at Bahrein in 1817 in the name of Fateh Ali Shah Kajar, which
he believed to be genuine.
Secret 48. The fuller statement of claim put forward by the Persian Government
Bd™of'control was investigated by the Secret Committee Pre-1784, the Committee responsible for protecting East India Company shipping. Post-1784, its main role was to transmit communications between the Board of Control and the Company's Indian governments on matters requiring secrecy. of the East India Company, who,
31.7.1845. ' after detailed examination of it, reached the conclusion "that Persia has no
legitimate claim to the sovereignty of Bahrein." It may be remarked that the
Persian claim was largely based on a general claim that the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. from
the Shatt-el-Arab to Muscat and all the islands in it belonged to Persia; that
the employment in English of the term " Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. " was itself evidence of
this; that from about 1300 a.d . the island of Bahrein had always been in the
possession of the Governors of Fars and had paid revenue to them until its
conquest in 1783 by the Uttabi Arabs, from which tribe " itself, likewise, presents
have generally been sent to the Governors of Fars "; that Her Majesty's Govern
ment had recognised the position when they warned Mehemet Ali of Egypt in
1840 not to attack Bahrein, which did not form part of Arabia, but rather
of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; " and that accordingly the British Government would not
allow him to extend the hand of possession over that island ''; that the British
authorities had formally and repeatedly asked Persia to rent the island to them
and that British representatives at Tehran had frequently declared that Her
Majesty's Government had no right whatever to the Gulf or its islands [there
is no foundation for either statement |; and that the fact that Captain Bruce's
treaty was on record supported the Persian claim. The following extract, which
(except as regards the initial date) appears correctly to represent the true facts,
may, however, be placed on record from the Prime Minister's memorandum :
" In the commencement of the reign of His Majesty the late Shah, the Arabs
of Beni Attabi came from the desert and conquered the island by sea. The
object and desire of the Persian Government has since always been and is the
recovery of that island from its spoilers."
49. Her Majesty's Government, in view of the unlikelihood that Persia had.
or could give effect to, any serious designs in Bahrein and the undesirability
of engaging in those circumstances in a correspondence which might merely cause
irritation without serving any useful purpose, instructed the Minister at Tehran
not to revert to the subject unless it was forced upon him by the Persian Prime
Minister. In that case he was to employ certain arguments supplied to him
(apparently the critical comments of the Secret Committee Pre-1784, the Committee responsible for protecting East India Company shipping. Post-1784, its main role was to transmit communications between the Board of Control and the Company's Indian governments on matters requiring secrecy. of the East India
Company on the Prime Minister's memorandum) to show generally the grounds
fo to Teh on which Her Majesty's Government were " unable to recognise as valid the
No. 38 of claims advanced by Persia to the sovereignty of Bahrein, and you may add
7.8.1845.
( 2 ) On this point the Secret Committee Pre-1784, the Committee responsible for protecting East India Company shipping. Post-1784, its main role was to transmit communications between the Board of Control and the Company's Indian governments on matters requiring secrecy. of the East India Company remarked; "Presents
and complimentary messages do not imply an acknowledgment of sovereignty, and they have
not been confined to Persia." ( Secret Committee Pre-1784, the Committee responsible for protecting East India Company shipping. Post-1784, its main role was to transmit communications between the Board of Control and the Company's Indian governments on matters requiring secrecy. to India Board, Slst July, 1845.)