Letter from Lieutenant-Colonel William George Grey, Indian Army, Political Agent, Kuwait to Sir Arthur Hirtzel, Secretary, Political Department, India Office [‎26r] (1/4)

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CONFIDENTIAL.
Letteu from Lieutenant-Colonel W. G. Grey, Indian Army, 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. ,
Kuwait, to the Secretary, Political Department, 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. .
Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , Kuwait,
Dear Sir Arthur Hirtzel, 16th June 1915.
The enclosed is perhaps important, or interesting enough to send
to you direct in view of the time which correspondence takes to reach 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. , particularly now that the mail journey from India is extended
by a week. The position has materially improved during the past few
days ; the waverers among Arabs are more soundly converted to us by our
success than by any other form of persuasion.
Yours very truly,
W. G. Grey.
From Lieutenant-Colonel W. G. Grey, Indian Army, 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. , Kuwait,
to the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Bushire, No. C/8 of 1915,
dated Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , Kuwait, 9th June 1915.
Sir,
According to the Times, Lord Curzon of Kedleston is reported to
have remarked as follows on the occasion of an address by Mr. P. Landon
on Basrah and the Shatt-ul-Arab, at the Society of Arts, on 15th April
last:—
" Hitherto we had had most friendly relations with the Arabs. It was
rather a puzzle to him why at those earlier stages of the fighting the
Arabs appeared to have sided with the Turks, and it certainly
should be the object of our diplomacy to detach them from the side
of the Turks and to resume those pleasant relations with them which
had characterized our policy during the last 50 years."
And again in the House of Lords on 2uth April :—
" And they (the Turks) appeared to have succeeded in pressing into
their service the greater part of the Arab tribes in the lower part of
Mesopotamia. This was a matter of extreme importance, for we
had always maintained, and he thought were still maintaining,
friendly relations with the tribes in that part of the world."
The Right Honourable the Secretary of State for India is reported to
have replied on the latter occasion that:—
" A considerable number of Arabs had joined the Turks in the attacks.
At the battle of Shaiba, where there were certainly not less than 10,000
Turkish troops engaged, x^robably approaching the same number of
Arabs took part in the operations. It had been perhaps too hastily
assumed at first that all Arabs, when Turkey joined the Germans,
would take part in breaking the Turkish yoke. Of some Arabs,
particularly many of the desert tribes, this was no doubt true.
How far it applied to the more sedentary Arabs who, he took it,
supplied the Arab forces now operating, it was not so easy to say.
It was reasonable to suppose that probably a considerable number
had proved willing to join Turkey now because they had had it