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'Persian Gulf - Turkish jurisdiction along the Arabian coast (Part III)' [‎14r] (21/30)

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The record is made up of 1 file (15 folios). It was created in 2 Dec 1881. It was written in English. 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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21
* India, Political, No. 19, dated 14th
February 1881.
f To Foreign Office, 18th March 1881.
Home, No. 190.
J From Foreign Office, 30th March 1881.
Home, No. 224.
§ India, Secret, No. 14, dated 8th April
1881.
|1 Home, No. 224 of 1881.
^ India, Secret, No. 83, dated 27th May
1881. Enclosure 11.
Memo., Part II., pp. 31, 35, 36, 38.
" 3. It is somewhat embarrassing for a ruler,
situated like the Chief of Bahrein, to decline to
allow the establishment of agencies or coal dep6ts
without being able to point to some formal engage
ment preventing.
" 4s. It has appeared to me, therefore, that to
formalize the actually existing understanding with
the Chief of Bahrein, by obtaining a distinct agree
ment from him, would not only be a proper pre
caution for the adoption of which the time has
come, but would also be convenient and advan
tageous to the Chief himself by furnishing him
with a reason for declining the overtures of other
foreign Powers which would be unanswerable and
need give no offence."
Under the circumstances, it appeared to the
Government of India to be desirable that the
agreement thus concluded should be accepted and
ratified. It did not, in their opinion, materially
increase or alter the existing responsibilities of the
British Government in regard to Bahrein, while its
rejection might be misunderstood.*
Lord Hartington, seeing no reason to dissent
from this view,t and Lord Granville concurring,J
the Government of India were authorized to ratify
the agreement,§ which was also communicated to
Her Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople for
his information in case the Porte should make
any further attempt to establish a footing in'the
island, j]
That this would be done directly was improbable,
but various circumstances which occurred early in
the current year indicated that the Turkish autho
rities were disposed to use for their purposes Nasir-
bin-Mubarik, a Bahrein refugee on the Guttur
coast, and Jasim-bin-Thani, Chief of El Bidaa.
Nasir, who is a relative of Mahomed-bin-Khalifa,
sometime ruler of Bahrein, deposed in 1868, and
since then a State prisoner in India, has long been
a promoter of disturbances in the neighbourhood
of the island. He receives an allowance of sixty
dollars monthly from the Turkish Government.^J
The Chief of El Bidaa is his fatW'-in-law, and of
late years has hoisted the Turkish flag and admitted
a Turkish garrison into his fort.**
In December 1880, the movements of Nasir on
the Guttur coast opposite Bahrein created alarm
there. The local Sheikhs were warned by Colonel
Ross against aiding and abetting him, and 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 Baghdad called upon the Turkish
Governor General to prevent him from disturbing
the maritime peace of the Gulf. That functionary,
after an interval of two months, replied, as usual, that
perfect tranquillity prevailed in the Gulf, and that
the people of Bahrein had no cause for alarm. In
fact, whether from inability to obtain boats, or
from other causes, Nasir's movement at this time
came to nothing, and he returned to El Bidaa.
Thence he and his father-in-law carried on a
correspondence with the British Hesident, with
reference to certain pecuniary claims of Nasir
6364. f

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Content

A printed memorandum written and compiled by Adolphus Warburton Moore for the Political and Secret Department of 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. , and dated 2 December 1881.

The document is a continuation of ' Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. - Turkish jurisdiction along the Arabian coast (Part II)' (IOR/L/PS/18/B19/2) and broadly addresses the same issues, namely, how to respond toTurkish claims to sovereignty along the southern coast of the Gulf that could potentially impinge on Britain's commitments with local rulers (in Bahrain and the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ) and their security responsibilities at sea (the suppression of piracy).

The document summarises correspondence from the previous two years (1879-1881) that had dealt with the matter, beginning with an outline of the opinions of officials from the main departments and institutions involved: the Foreign Office, the Government of India, and 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. (whose opinion Warburton represents). Other correspondents include officials from the Residencies and Agencies in both the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. , as well as the Ambassador at Constantinople.

The documents cover several topics, including:

  • The threat to Bahrain from the Beni Hajir tribe and Ottoman ambitions to extend their sovereignty to the island, including the Turkish plan to build a coal depot on the island as a pretext to further political involvement;
  • Questions of how to police the waters under Turkish authority;
  • How Britain should deal with Shaikh Jasim [Jāsim bin Muḥammad Āl Thāni] of El Bidaa [Doha];
  • Turkish claims to parts of the coast of Guttur [Qatar].

The document concludes with the perceived outcomes of the discussions, including closer ties with the ruler of Bahrain, who, in December 1880, agreed not to open relations with any foreign power other than Britain.

The author quotes extensively from the correspondence and other sources, notes on which are to be found in the margin throughout.

Extent and format
1 file (15 folios)
Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation for this description commences at folio 4 and terminates at folio 18, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between folios 4-197; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the bottom right corner of each folio.

Pagination: the document also has an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'Persian Gulf - Turkish jurisdiction along the Arabian coast (Part III)' [‎14r] (21/30), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B19/3, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023807397.0x000016> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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