'Persian Gulf - Turkish jurisdiction along the Arabian coast (Part III)' [‎6v] (6/30)

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the Government of India, which put m a strong
light the improbability of any effective action being
taken by the Turkish authorities against- pirates the
secret motives by which those authorities were likely
to be animated, and the expediency of the course
suggested from this Office.
Or, fhp ifith Julv * Colonel Ross, the Resident * India, Political, No. 102, dated 1st Sep-
in the Gulf reported to plunder of a Bahrein .emberl879.
pearl vessel, one man being killed, and three
wounded. The perpetrators were members of the
TuSish^juri8<nc^>n;^I)Lit Uie' p^ple^of^a^ilh^etf ^Khor Shuj^ej, 20 .niles north of EI
regarded by us as independent, were suspected
of being concerned, and the act was committed at
the north -eastern point of the Guttur promontory,
which the Government of India were not prepared
to recognize as within Turkish limits.
Colonel Ross communicated with Mr. Robertson,
the 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. at Bussorah, in view to the
conduct of the Beni Hajir being represented to
the Turkish authorities, but he had small hopes of
any result. Writing to the Government of India,
he observed:—
" 3. The names and haunts of the pirate leaders,
and the special acts; of piracy committed by each,
have been pointed out to the Turkish authorities,
but it seems that, as a rule, the latter reserve their
action for matters which they consider affect
Turkish interests. Those who, as the Beni Hajir,
attack only Bahrein or other vessels escape un
punished, and it may be even suspected that the
annoyance to Bahrein commerce is not wholly dis
pleasing to officials who hope eventually to see
British influence and authority displaced by Turkish
in those coveted islands."
And Mr. Robertson was as little sanguine. Re
porting to Colonel Miles, 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. at
Baghdad, the representation he had made on the
subject to Abdullah Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , the Governor General
of Bussorah, and the merely dilatory reply of that
functionary, he wrote (17th July 1879):—
"3. I do not think that Abdullah Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. can or
will take any effectual measures to suppress piracy
by the Bedouins of the Nejd coast. Here at Busrah
he makes no effort to put a stop to the robberies
and murders, which occur almost nightly, and in
the remoter parts of the province he has no autho
rity whatever. He was probably never a man of
much capacity, and age and fanaticism have now
reduced him to utter imbecility. His hatred of
Englishmen is a disease, and he professes to regard
the piracies on the Nejd coast as the results of
English artifice and intrigue. They and other
annoyances will, I have no doubt, continue and
increase until a competent and fairly enlightened
Governor is appointed to Busrah." #
Writing again on the 1st August^ Mr. Robertson J India, Political, No. 119, <W«d 16lh '
conhrmed Colonel Ross's view, that designs upon October 1879.
Bahrein might have something to do with Turkish
inaction. He remarked -
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