'File 19/191 III (C 56) Bahrain, Persian Claim To' [‎113v] (245/396)

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Bahrein! independence recognised by Treaty 1829. Muscat
thereafter deterred by His Majesty's Government from
PUr (6) 1 %VP^—Representative of Mehemet Ali, Viceroy of
Egypt, informed by Her Majesty's Government m 18^9 that
no claim upon Bahrein could be admitted. But m 18.3*, 4>
the Sheikh acknowledged Egyptian supremacy and he paid
tribute during this period.
(c) Wahabi Amirs of the Mainlaud. —Bahrein
under protection of or subject to Wahabi An ni " s 1803-11 ,
181(5 • 1830-33 (tributary); 1836—1838-39 (tributary;;
1847 (tributary); 1852 (tribute). In 1867 (see paragraph 75)
it was held by Government of India that tribute was paid
to the Wahabis only in respect of mainland possessions aud
not of Bahrein. The claims of the Amirs disappeared with
the conquest of Hasa by Turkey in 1871.
(cZ) Turkey. —The islands have never in the period subse
quent to 1783 been occupied by Turkey or (if the incidents
of 1860-61 (paragraphs 67-9 above) are ignored) subject to
Turkish sovereignty. But Turkish claims to them were
advanced, directly or indirectly, in 1847, 1851, 1870, 1874,
1875, 1876, 1879, 1888, 1892, 1893, 1895, 1896 and 1905,
and on each occasion, save in 1847, when certain assurances
were given by Turkey (paragraph 52), were rejected by
the British Government. The Turkish claim was finally
withdrawn in the Anglo-Turkish Convention of 1913. That
Convention was never ratified, but the withdrawal of the
claim was confirmed by Article 16 of the Treaty of Lausanne
of 1923.
(e) Persia. —The Persian claim has been consistently
urged on a variety of occasions through the period in
question. The Sheikhs momentarily submitted themselves
to Persia in 1799 and paid tribute. In 1816-17 they
received a Persian envoy and apparently appealed for help
to Tehran. They again momentarily submitted to Persia
and received an envoy in 1839. Persian aid was invoked
and a Persian emissary received at Bahrein in 1860-61,
while in 1869 the deposed ex-Sheikh Mohammed bin
Khalifa may have made overtures to Persia (though there
is no confirmation of this) to enable him to re-establish his
control over the island.
The Persian claim appears, apart from this, to have been
asserted in 1822, 1825, 1844, 1848, 1861, 1862, 1866, 1868,
1869,1886, 1901, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1910, 1927, 1928, 1930,
1932-33 and 1934, and to have been rejected by His
Majesty's Government in 1822 (as part of their refusal to
accept Captain Bruce's Treaty), 1825, 1844,1848, 1861,1862,
1866-67,1869, 1901, 1906, 1907, 1908-09, 1923, 1928, ,1929,
1933 and 1934.
B.—Basis of the Persian Claim.
147. Ignoring contentions such as that the use of the term
" Persian G ulf " is a recognition of Persian sovereignty over
the various islands of the Gulf, Persia has at one time or
other based her claim on the nine grounds examined below :—
(1) History of the Is 1783.
The history of^ the islands prior to the expulsion of the
Persians in 1783 is dealt with in paragraphs 3 to 5 above.
It will be seen that at various periods since the beginning of
the Christian era, Persia has exercised a degree of control
over the islands, and in particular that during the 30 years
piior to 1783 her control was of a more definite character.
On the other hand, the facts recorded above do not support
an} claim by Persia to an uninterrupted occupation or control
of the islands.