'File 19/191 IV (C 103) Bahrain, Persian Claim To' [‎163r] (328/681)

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in London, the Persian Ministers, believing that the Bahrein Chief was him
self well disposed to further their designs, resolved to take measures with a
view to establishing, if possible, the Shah's authority in that quarter and
make good his claim to exercise sovereign rights over Bahrein. Mirza
Mehdi Khan was accordingly dispatched to Shiraz and Bushire and a
certain latitude was given to him as to the mode in which he should proceed
to carry out the wishes of his Government. The Persian authorities in
Shiraz finally determined that a Firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). should be addressed to Md.
bin Abdullah, conferring upon him the government of Bahrein and with this
the Khan hoped to be able to come to terms with the Chief then in possession
of the place. But in this matter the sole object of all concerned would seem
to have been to carry out the policy of the Persian Government at Bahrein
without reference to the interests or wishes of Her Majesty's Government
in that quarter."
95. On 8th April, 1870, the Minister at Tehran addressed the following
despatch to the Government of India :—
' With reference to my despatch of the 6th instant, in which I stated
that the Minister for Foreign Affairs had informed me that Ali bin Khalifa
had repeatedly made overtures to Persia admitting his allegiance to the
Shah, I have the honour to report to Your Excellency that Mirza Sayed
Khan has just sent to inform me that he was mistaken in making this
assertion, and that he finds on enquiry that the letters to which he referred
were not from that Chief, but from Md. bin Khalifa."
Views of Government of India, May 1870
96. ^ The Government of India, commenting on these facts, remarked that
Mehdi Khan appeared to have left Tehran with a general discretion as to which
of the various Sheikhs should be recognised as ruler. " At the capital no more
definite plan appears to have been resolved on than that measures should be
adopted to establish the Sheikh's assumed right of sovereignty over the island."
97. The Government of India proceeded that they had already pointed
out that any disposition to admit the claims of Persia would probably lead to the
revival of similar claims on the part of Turkey, a result which had^in fact now
been brought about {cp. paragraph 99 below). " This {i.e., the Turkish) claim
rests on no better foundation than that of Persia. It was summarily rejected
by Lord Palmerston in 1851 and in our opinion should not again be reopened.
With equal reason the Wahabi Amir and the Sultan of Muscat could claim the
sovereignty of the island, if the nominal and temporary tender of allegiance, in
times of difficulty, and as a security against foreign intervention be considered
sufficient ground on which to base such pretensions. On the same ground
indeed we might claim Bahrein as a part of the British dominions. But' as we
have repeatedly observed, the real status of the island, and the only one' which
we have recognised and admitted, or are prepared to recognise and admit, in
all our dealings in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and our negotiations with the Chiefs, is that
of an independent State, subject neither to Persia nor to Turkev, neither to the
Wahabis nor to Muscat, nor yet to the British Government.
Review of Discussions of 1868-70
98. J he matter ultimately lapsed. But from the facts and the correspon
dence summarised above it will be seen, in the first place, that there appears to
be no foundation for the alleged overtures to Persia by the ruling Sheikh, Ali
bin Khalifa, or for the statement that the Persian flag was flying at the time of
the punitive expedition of 1868; and that if any overtures were made to Persia
in 1868-69 (and there is no confirmatory evidence of any such overtures) they
would appear to have been made by the ex-Sheikh Md. bin Khalifa, presumably
in his anxiety to secure Persian support for his restoration. Secondlv, while the
statements contained in the Note sent by the Foreign Office on behalf of Her
Majesty's Government to the Persian Charge d'Affaires on 29th April, 1869.
were widely phrased, and afford some justification for the interpretation placed
on them by Persia, and while the Persians may have been confirmed in their view
• 1?^ i 01 ^ an ^ P rotest by Her Majesty's Minister against the mission of
Mirza Mehdi Khan, the terms of that Note do not, in fact, constitute more than a
recognition that Persia had in the past repeatedly pressed her claim to Bahrein,
and that Her Majesty's Government did not claim sovereignty over that island
G. of I. Desp.
No. 28 of
20.5.1870.