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'Persian Gulf précis. (Parts I and II)' [‎46r] (91/120)

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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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the Hague Tribunal and in that case it will be difficult, if not impossible, not
to include Mohammerah though lEis Majesty's Government will use their best
endeavours.
Meanwhile, the Porte have informally proposed purely Ottoman Riverain
Commission with a British Member who must be, however, in Ottoman employ.
I think this proposal may be accepted provided that the Convention will secure
effective British control over the appointment of the British Member as well as
effective voice for him on the Commission and will definitely exclude any other
foreigner. Please telegraph your views.
In connection with the motive of His Majesty's Government in favouring
a mixed Commission, please refer to the Defence Committee's proceedings 24th
May 1911, pages 17 to 22. His Excellency the Viceroy has a copy of this.
Object of ourselves and the Porte is to avoid other Powers being introduced,
and it may be very difficult in practice to exclude others if Persia as well as
ourselves come in. I recognise that the Shaikh of Mohammerah may have
claim to dues for services rendered in his port, but with regard to jurisdiction
in river can he not be persuaded on matter being explained to him to delegate
any claim he may have to the British representative ? In any case if His
Majesty's Government decide to admit the Turkish interpretation of the Treaty,
or if the Hague decides in favour of the Porte, we could not admit that such
a course would be an encroachment on the rights of the Shaikh within the
meaning of assurance we have given him.
Informal discussions with Turks have ended and a telegram has been
despatched. Formal discussions between Secretary of State for Foreign Alfairs
and the Ottoman Ambassador will commence shortly, and I shall consult you
freely as points arise.
Meanwhile, I shall be glad your views on the question raised above.
Telegram P., dated the 13th (received 14th) April 1912.
From—His Majesty^s Secretary of State for India, London,
To—His Excellency the Viceroy.
Shatt-el-Arab. Reference is invited to my telegram, dated 10th April.
Communication of views of His Majesty's Government is being made confiden
tially to Russian Government to the following eifect regarding the question of
frontier near Mohammerah which has been raised at Constantinople between
Turkey and Persia. " If Turkish claims of 1850 were now revived, His
Majesty's Government would not be able to recognise them. A frontier has
been locally observed for sixty years owing to failure of Tukey to accept line
recommended by Mediating Commissioners in 1850, this line is more advant
ageous to Persia than the other line, and His Majesty's Government could not
admit that in arriving at final settlement, the argument of uti possidetis should
be entirely ignored, though on a strictly legal interpretation it may be doubt
ful whether that argument would prevail owing to reservation contained in
Turco-Persian Protocol, 1869.
His Majesty's Government are disposed to consider that, with reference to
wording of Article 2 of Treaty of Erzeroum, nothing more than freedom ot"
navigation on the Shatt-el-Arab can be claimed for Persia—while conceding
such freedom Turkey took great pains in asserting her right of ownership over
the entire waters of that river.
" From the sea to where the Mediating Commissioners' line strikes off from
Siiatt-el-Arab, a frontier more advantageous to Persia than the Mediating
Commissioners' line could not, I think, be successfully claimed against Turkey.
" But the point where the frontier, as locally observed, strikes off from
Shatt-el-Arab is six and half miles to west of Mediating Commissioners' line
and the intervening territory containing palace and offices of Shaikh of
Mohammeiah. In 1850, Persia protested against cession to Turkey of these
six miles or so, and it had been suggested by the Mediating Commissioners
that the allocation of the territory in question to Turkey was not in pursuance
of Treaty expresses verbis, but in order to secure safety of navigation to Basrah,

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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)' [‎46r] (91/120), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C250, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023517380.0x00005c> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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