'Persian Gulf - Turkish jurisdiction along the Arabian coast (Part I)' [‎135r] (10/30)

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* Home Coirespondence,
Vol. 67, p. 531.
f Home Correspondence,
Vol. 67, p. 537.
X Despatch, No. 172,
dated 26th April 1871.
Home Correspondence,
Vol. 67, p. 511.
§ Home Correspondence,
Vol. 67, p. 691.
:: pSaS." PPearS t0 be the of .he
EmlS rte i by ^' Pi ^Ve OhS Dragoman. 0 of the
mentioned by^oWrHeTbLrrSin^toX 0 " 8
pedition as an «ill-advised" one, and request^
H ct m I ';! 3 "? a ' tl0 p m reSard t0 " as mi S ht ^assure
Her Majesty s Qovernment, who would certainly
t see with indifference any disturbanae of the
xis ti n g relations of the different Governments on
tne borders of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
M Pisani^^thAprii 1871 ) communicated Sir
instructions to Aali Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , word for
word.f When he had concluded. His Highness
seemed excited and annoyed, and remarked that all
mdependent States were perfectly at liberty to deal
with their internal affairs as circumstances mio-ht
require. Nejd being an integral part of the
Sultan s dominions, the Porte could not be debarred
Irom the exercise of its authority over it. Abdullah
was not an absolute ruler as supposed, but a func
tionary holding his appointment as kaimakam in
virtue of ^ an Imperial firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). , and therefore
entitled to be supported by the Government against
those who attacked him. The Ambassador might
give the most positive assurances to Her Majesty's
Government that the Porte entertained no inten
tion whatever of obtaining the supremacy over
Bahrein, Muscat, and the independent tribes of
Southern* Arabia, and did not contemplate any
attack upon them, or harbour any design to subdue
them. The true and sole object of the present
enterprise was to pacify the two brothers, to prevent
the protraction of disorders, and to restore tran
quillity.
In reporting these explir It declarations to Lord
Granville,J Sir H. Elliot ooserved that, supposing
Midhat Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. to be actuated by the designs, attri
buted to him by Colonel Herbert, of extending the
authority of the Porte, he could detect nothing at
Constantinople to lead to a belief that any such
project would be encouraged by the Grand Vizier,
although His Highness showed himself excessively
sensitive to any remark which he considered to
imply a doubt of the rights of the Sultan over the
Nejd districts.
In a further conversation with M. Pisani, on the
11th May, with reference to later despatches from
Colonel Herbert, Aali Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. used much the same
language as before. § His Highness stated that
" the Sultan being recognized by the whole
" Mahomedan populations as the only Khalif, as
" such he could not allow the turbulent Sheikhs
<£ to become masters of the keys of the holy cities
" of Mecca and Medina without prejudice to his
" dignity and the prestige of the Khalifat, and
" without losing his paramount authority over all
" the Mussulmans." Aali Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. declared again
that the Porte <£ entertained no intention nor har-
" boured any design over the independent tribes,
2982. C