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'14/172 I VOL. B. 68. ARAB COASTS & MISCELLANEOUS' [‎164v] (337/420)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (204 folios). It was created in 14 Jul 1914-20 May 1947. It was written in English, Arabic 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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were recognised as belonging to the Jowfisim Iribe of irucial Oman." No
reference to the incident of 1875 could be traced by 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. ; but
i .o. to f . o ., Mar. 26 the Secretary of State for India agreed with the Government of India that it
1924, p. 839/24. be undesirable to start the erection of a lighthouse on the island
without prior intimation to Persia, and the matter was not pursued.
It would appear therefore that there is little question that the island
must be regarded as Persian, though a slight element of doubt as to a
Jowasimi claim exists.
C.—The Bahrein Archipelago.
The archipelago consists of the islands of Bahrein, Muharraq, Umm
Na'assan, Sitrah, and Nabi Salih, and a number of lesser islets and rocks
forming part of the same compact geographical group.
The archipelago is under the rule of the Sheikh of Bahrein, and the
status of Bahrein governs the status of all the other islands composing it,
D.—Farsi, Arab!, Harqus; Halul, Dalmah, Shura-awah, Sir Beni Yas,
Sir Abu Nair, Qran, Jinnah, Kharag, Khargu.
The status of these islands is important, not merely because of the claims
which may be urged to them by the Trucial Chiefs, to. whom His Majesty's
Government are under treaty obligations, but because their control is in
many cases of importance in connection with the policing of the pearl
banks, for which responsibility has been assumed by His Majesty's
Government, and because of the possible value of certain of them in
connection with an air route along the north Arabian coast.
F arsi , A rab: and H arqus.
Farsi is an uninhabited island about a quarter mile across, in the middle
of the Gulf, about halfway between Musallamiyah Bay in Hasa and the
Tangistan district in south Persia. Arabi is 15 miles south of Farsi; and
Harqus, "a mere sandbank," 30 miles west of it. Oil seepages were alleged
in 1914 (Engler's " Petroleum ") to exist in the sea near all three islands, and
Arabi carries a deposit of guano.
Lor. n, 115,553,642. 'j 1 ]^ ownership of all three islands was stated in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
Gazetteer to be undetermined, Mr. Lorimer adding in the cases of Arabi
and Harqus that the question had never arisen. The India Otfice in 1914
mlt* p 3<)46 0ot 20 ex P ressecl Llie view* which the Foreign Office did not contest, that His
Majesty's Government should eventually claim the right to deal with all
three islands (as with Halul); and beacons were at the same time erected
t Tel. from s. of s. on them with the concurrence of Admiralty and Foreign Office.! No steps
were, however, in fact ever taken to regularise the status of the islands,
which geographically would most easily have been assigned to Koweit.
H alul.
An island^ 1 mile in diameter, some 61 miles E.N.E. of Dohak in the
Trucial Inncipality of F1 Katr, surrounded by pearl banks, and having in
its neighbourhood, under the sea, an intermittent spring of bitumen.J
In 1906 there were rumours, which proved unfounded, of German
designs to acquire the island from the Porte for use as a coaling station, for
which purpose the Government of India stated that it was not unsuitable.
Lorimer's Political Gazetteer (1906) described the status of the island as
' indeterminate; the pearl divers and fishermen both of El Katr and of
Iiucial Oman are in the habit of resorting to it; and, so far as can be
leaint, no exclusive or preferential rights are claimed by any of the classes
who use it, or by any territorial Chief."§ In 1908 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. , after
consultation with the Viceroy, suggested to the Foreign Office that it was
pieferable to take no action which might lead to discussion of the status of
the island, as any assertion of rights beyond the present customary usage
■ • Arabs from Bahrein, the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. and El Katr, might lead
to claims being raised by the El Katr Sheikhs to which the Turkish
II lo. to f.o. Dec. 2 Governm ent [suzerain of Katr till 1916, since when the Sheikh has been
1908, p. 2111. recognised as an independent Trucial Chief] might lend their support."]!
for I. to Viceroy,
Dec. 15 1914, P.
4600.
t Lor. ii, 617.
Lor. ii, 618.

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Content

This file contains reports and correspondence relating to the ownership of some islands in the Gulf, namely, the islands of Farsi, Arabi, Harqus, Al Karan and Al Kurain. The reports and correspondence are mainly between 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. , London; the Foreign Office, London; 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. Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , 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; 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. Bahrain; the Anglo Persian Oil Company. The discussion over the territorial status bears on whether the islands would come in the concession area of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company or Kuwait. One letter notes that if the ownership of the islands is undetermined up until that point this was of no importance; however, with the possibility that they may contain oil it was now imperative that they should belong to either Her Majesty's Government or to Kuwait rather than a foreign power. Therefore, the Shaikh of Kuwait is encouraged to erect beacons on some of the islands to support his claim to ownership. As the British were keen to avoid territorial disputes with Persia this was thought more unobtrusive than the raising of flags. There is also discussion over the island of Hawar and whether it belonged to Bahrain or Qatar.

It also includes a translation of a letter from Shaikh Hamdan bin Zayed [Shaikh of Abu Dhabi] to Colonel Stuart Geoge Knox, 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. Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , a small hand drawn sketch map showing location of a village on Dalma Island with H.M.S. Fox anchorage position (folio 3), and a table on sources of oil supply to Britain in the years 1935, 1936 and 1937.

Extent and format
1 volume (204 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged chronologically from the front to the rear of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The sequence consists of small circled numbers located in the top right hand corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio, commencing on the first full page of text.

Written in
English, Arabic and French in Latin and Arabic script
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'14/172 I VOL. B. 68. ARAB COASTS & MISCELLANEOUS' [‎164v] (337/420), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/273, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023628415.0x00008a> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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