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'Persian Gulf précis. (Parts I and II)' [‎28v] (56/120)

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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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Government was to avoid disturbance of the status quo. The withdrawal of
gendarmes was conftrrned by our local officers in November 1909, and they
were informed in January 1910 that permission to the Shaikh to tiy his Hag on
the island could not be given, as such a procedure might raise questions of
policy, and that if the Shaikh reverted to the subject he should be told that,
as no flag had been flown since the time of his father, it seemed unnecessary
at the present juncture to depart from established precedent. "
So matters remained till June 1910 when the island was re-occupied by
Turkish soldiers and the Turkish flag hoisted there every Friday. His Majesty's
Ambassador was again instructed to point out that the occupation violated the
status quo, and to request immediate and permanent withdrawal of the guard.
He was also told to point out to the Porte " that His Majesty's Government have
« ♦ i? n v, ioia xt o xt oao ^ hitherto allowed the Shaikh of
Secret E., December 1910, N ob , 296-324, Pro. No. 309. -r* i /i i • i i
Jiahrain to hoist his nag on the island,
lest the </«(? should be infringed". On the 17th October 1910, the
Turkish Minister of the Interior informed His Majesty's Ambassador at
Constantinople that instructions had been issued to the Vali of Basrah that the
gendarmes, who had proceeded to the island for the fishing season, should not
return there without special orders from Constantinople. The Vali, however,
on being questioned, denied the receipt of ary instructions, claimed that the
island belonged to the Turks and told His Majesty's Consul that he had no
right officially or privately to interfere in these matters and to mind his
business, which was trade. On the 8th November, the Ambassador enquired
from His Majesty's Consul whether the gendarmes had quitted the island, but,
on being informed of the attitude of the Vali, instructed His Majesty's Consul
not to enter into official communication with him on the subject, owing to his
having questioned the Consul's title to make representations in the matter.
« t? i? k ion xr .o. By this time the gendarmes had, how-
Secret E, February 1911, Nos 439-487. ^ i .,11. wx 1
ever, leit the island, tor on the 29th
October the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Bahrain, reported that the island was then free
from Turkish soldiers, but that he anticipated that others would be sent as
soon as the Dowasir from Bahrain went there to take up their winter quarters,
viz., in about ten days.
Negotiations are pending between His Majesty's Government and the
Turkish Government (May 1911) for the renunciation of the latter's claims
to Zakhnuniyeh.
No further information of the re-occupation of Zakhnuniyeh has been
received.
Mohammerah. —Turkish political aggression tending to a disturbance
of i\ierstatu* quo and the undermining of British influence has not been con
fined to the Arabian littoral. The experiment has also recently been tried in
the south-west corner of the Shah's dominions at Mohammerah, which is
important to us alike strategically, politically and commercially. The town
has played an important part in the conflicts between Turkey and Persia in
the first half of the 19th century, but, when the Treaty of Erzeroum was signed
in lfc47, Mohammerah was left, and has ever since remained, in Persian
hands. Its rising fortunes are as gall and wormwood to the Turks of
Basrah and Baghdad, and only some 15 years ago the claim of the Porte to
Mohammerah was evidenced by the levy of dues on its imports and exports.
Similar claims may be omitted and a recent concrete instance narrated
illustrating Turkish activity at Mohammerah.
During 1908-10, chronic unrest prevailed in Persia. The wise administra
tion of the Shaikh of Mohammerah maintained peace in the tracts under his
control. Trade v ith Persia through the southern ports was seriously dislocated,
and a safe entry only obtainable through Arabistan ports. Apart from this,
British relations with the Shaikhs of Mohammerah are of long standing, and
under assurances given in 1902, and subsequently renewed, we are bound to use
our good offices on behalf of the Shaikh in the event of a dispute with a foreign
power. Such was the position in May 1910, when the Shaikh of Mohammerah
and Nazif Bey, late Vali of Basrah, were on the best of terms, and the latter
indeed was under some obligation to the former tor promoting friendly relations
with the Vali of Pusht-i-Kuh and a reconciliation between the Vali of Basrah
and an important Arab Chief of Turkish nationality. Suddenly, the Vali of

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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)' [‎28v] (56/120), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C250, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023517380.0x000039> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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