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'Persian Gulf précis. (Parts I and II)' [‎30v] (60/120)

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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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56
Gulf questions only. As to removing by force signs of Turkish authority
from places where their rights were not admitted, it muit be considered how
the Turks could be prevented from replacing them once they had been
removed. There would be no difficulty in the case of an island, but it would
be useless expelling a small Turkish force on the mainland from a place wliicli
the Turks could re-occupy with a larger force subsequently. Such action
might lead to a situation of which the only solution would be a war with
Turkey, and the question should be considered as to what should be done in
such a case, and what complications in Egypt or India might be involved
thereby. In any case it would not be safe to press matters so far, until the
naval and military authorities were known to be agreed upon some plan of
campaign and prepared to carry it out in the last resort.
For these reasons His Majesty's Foreign Office, while appreciating the
inconvenience of the present unsettled and undefined state of affairs, considered
that, unle3s extreme provocation was forthcoming, it would be better to wait
the renewal this year by the Turks of their request for the increase of customs
dues, and then to open the question ot* all the points in dispute, and to
endeavour to secure a reasonable settlement. The 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. recognised that
circumstances were not so favourable now for approaching the Turkish Govern
ment as in October last, when His Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople
was instructed to make a communication to the Porte {vide page 54), and
agreed to the postponement of the proposed communication to Turkey, assuming
that the latter would at no very distant date approach His Majesty's Govern
ment on the question of the proposed increase of the customs duties, but they
strongly urged, in view of the present situation, that the question of the action
to be taken in certain eventualities, both generally and locally in the Persian
Gulf, should at the earliest possible date be considered and decided, either in
the Committee of Imperial Defence or otherwise, in order that the Government
of India may know what, if anything, was expected of them, and also that the
diplomacy of His Majesty's Government may not be hindered when a decisive
opportunity is offered.
Subsequently in April* 1911 the London Foreign Office referred the
• Vide Appenoix in. question of Turkish aggression in the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. to the Committee of Imperial
Defence with the remark that, except with regard to Kuwait and OJeid,
Turkish aggression threatened places of little intrinsic importance, but taken
cumulatively and in connection with questions arising in neighbouring parts
of the Empire their action might have considerable importance and that it was
desirable to consider what local action in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. His Majesty's
Government had best take if need arises.
Simultaneously with the consideration of the question noted in the
preceding paragraph, negotiations are proceeding (May 1911) with Turkey for
the adjustment of issues in dispute between the two Governments.

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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)' [‎30v] (60/120), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C250, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023517380.0x00003d> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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