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'Persian Gulf précis. (Parts I and II)' [‎25r] (49/120)

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The record is made up of 1 file (60 folios). It was created in 1913. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the 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. .

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Telegram P., dated the 6th April 1911.
From —His Excellency the Viceroy,
To—His Majesty 's Secretary of State for India, London.
Frivate. The alternative proposal set out in your private telegram of
the 31st ultimo, at first sight, appears to offer better hopes of arriving at a
satisfactory settlement. I consider, however, that it is essential that the
strength of our position at Kuwait and in the Gulf should not be ignored, that,
when dealing with the adjustment of all Turkish claims in the Gulf, no
opening should be allowed for Turkey or-any other Power to encroach on the
shores of the Gulf.
The following are the conditions which I consider should be secured :—
1. The autonomy of the Shaikh of Kuwait to be as complete as that of
Egypt, or formerly as that of Eastern Eoumelia.
2. The construction of the port to be a British concession from the
Shaikh.
3. Ourselves and Shaikh jointly to administer the port customs, subject,
in the rase of transit duties, to scrutiny by Turkish representative and to
repayment.
4. The duration of enhanced Turkish customs to be dependent on non
infringement of British rights in the Gulf, and on absence of preferential rates
on the Baghdad and branch lines.
5. We should retain in our hands the policing of the port.
6. Except where subjects of Shaikh are alone concerned, civil and
criminal jurisdiction of port to rest with us.
7. No troops other than those of Shaikh and ourselves to be located, and
no fortifications to be built at Kuwait, without our consent.
8. The pilotage and lighting buoys of the Gulf including the Shat-el-
Arab to be in our hands.
This I regard as important.
I consider that the Shaikh of Kuwait would be so favourably affected by
assured autonomy that it would be easy to arrive at a satisfactory agreement
with him regarding the second, third, fifth and sixth of above conditions.
Telegram P., dated the 6th April 1911.
From—His Excellency the Viceroy (Camp),
To—His Majesty's Secretary of State for India, London.
Kuwait. The point to which you refer in your telegram of the 31st March
was not overlooked here and view expressed in my telegram of 25th ultimo is
not affected thereby. Definition was most probably communicated to Shaikh,
and it may be assumed that it was. But this only referred to pledge to defend
Shaikh against Ibn itashid, by whom at the time the immediate neighbour
hood of Kuwait was being threatened.
29. The reply to the Ottoman Government's proposal for an increase to
the Turkish Customs duties from 11 to 15 per cent for a limited period is under
the consideration of His Majesty's Government whose assent, if given, is to be
subject to the following conditions so far as concerns Kuwait:—
(а) The assent of all other Powers, and especially Prance and Russia,
must be secured to the increase.
(б) A new Turkish Company shall be formed for the line south of
Baghdad: of the capital of this Company, which shall arrange
both for the construction and the working of the line, 50% shall
be British and the remainder German or Turco-German.
(o) There shall be two British members on the Board, and the Chairman
shall, in alternate years, be British.

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Content

A printed précis of correspondence on various Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. subjects, prepared for the Foreign Department of the Government of India, Simla, in July 1911 (Part I) and July 1913 (Part II). The document is divided into two parts. Most subjects relate to Turkish claims to sovereignty in the region, including the presence of Turkish garrisons, and were chosen and prepared because of the negotiations between the British and Turkish authorities connected to the Baghdad Railway plans.

Part I (folios 2-35) covers various subjects and is organised into eleven chapters, each devoted to a different topic or geographical area, as follows: Chapter I, British interests in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Extent of Arabian littoral; Chapter II, Extent of Hasa and Katif [Qatif], Claims of the Turks to the whole of Eastern Arabia, Extent to which Turkish claims on the Arabian littoral are recognised by His Majesty's government, Proposed arrangement with the Turkish Government defining their sphere of influence on the Arabian littoral; Chapter III, Turkish occupation of El Bida [Doha], Extent of the Katar [Qatar] Peninsula; Chapter IV, Turkish designs on Katar, Policy of His Majesty's Government; Chapter V, Trucial Chiefs (Pirate Coast); Chapter VI, Maskat [Muscat] and Gwadar; Chapter VII, Kuwait; Chapter VIII, Um Kasr [Umm Qasr], Bubiyan and Warba; Chapter IX, Bahrain, Zakhnuniyeh [Zahnūnīyah] and Mohammerah [Korramshahr]; Chapter X, Proposed British action consequent on Turkish aggression; Chapter XI, Pearl fisheries. There are three appendices containing further correspondence relating to the main text.

Part II (folios 36-60) relates entirely to the Baghdad Railway and the negotiations between the British and Ottoman authorities that the proposal of the railway initiated. The negotiations covered several matters, including: the political statuses of Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar; the location of the railway's terminus; the ownership of the railway; and the creation of a commission for the improvement of navigation in the Chatt-el-Arab [Shaṭṭ al-‘Arab]. It opens with an introduction of the related issues (folios 37-41) followed by the relative correspondence (folios 42-53). It ends with the draft agreements (folios 53-60) - never ratified - drawn up by the two powers.

Extent and format
1 file (60 folios)
Arrangement

The document is arranged in two parts. The first part is then divided into chapters, each covering a different topic or geographical location. The correspondence section of the second part is in rough chronological order.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the sequence commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; 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.

Pagination: the volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Condition: folios 59 and 60 have both been torn in two corners, resulting in the loss of some text.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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'Persian Gulf précis. (Parts I and II)' [‎25r] (49/120), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C250, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023517380.0x000032> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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