'Memorandum respecting British interests in the Persian Gulf' [‎47v] (60/126)

65
Bank,
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. ,
April 26, 1904.
apparatus, as proposed at Musandim, Bassidu, and
Bahrein, for the more effective suppression of
piracy, and as a signal station for passing ships.
It might also be of service to trade if a bank
were opened at Koweit.
It should be observed that a delicate point in
our relations with the Sheikh is the extent to
which we can ignore the traffic in arms which
nominally he has prohibited.
(g.) Mohammerah.
The town of Mohammerah is situated on the
right bank of the Karun Biver, about a mile
above the point where it flows into the Shat-el-
Arab. The British India Steam Navigation
Company’s steamers call weekly, lying at the
confluence of the Karim with the Shat-el-Arab.
There is considerable communication between
Mohammerah and the interior of Persia, while a
regular service of steamers is maintained with
Ahwaz.
Both Turkey and Persia have raised claims to
the ownership of the town and surrounding
territory of Mohammerah. The subject is ex
haustively dealt with in a Memorandum, dated
December, 1906, on the Turco-Persian frontier.
Sheikh Khazal of Mohammerah is the acknow
ledged Head of a number of Arab tribes on the
Karun and Shat-el-Arab. He has considerable
armed forces, and as regards the Persian Govern
ment, occupies the position of a semi-independent
feudal Prince. He also exercises authority over
certain Arab tribes in Turkey.
Sheikh Khazal has in recent years undertaken
the policing of the Karun in a more effective
manner, mainly with a view to secure British
good-will.
In 1904 Major Burton, who acted as British
Vice-Consul at Mohammerah, recommended that
an Arrangement should be made with the
Sheikh, guaranteeing him against the Persian
Government. He stated that the Sheikh had
extended his power in a very marked manner, and
that his territory apparently stretched along the
coast as far as Shah Abdul Shah, a few miles
west of Dilani, whilst there were few signs of
Persian authority south of Band-i-kir to the
border of Pars. The Governors of Ahwaz and
Mashur were nominated by him; he had done
much for the suppression of piracy on the Shat-
el-Arab and the safety of the roads and the
Karun River in Arabistan ; while, if encouraged,
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he would do more to please the British Govern
ment, and might effectively block foreign
schemes of irrigation within the limits of his
jurisdiction.
This proposal, though at first sight inviting,
would prove difficult, if not impossible, in execu
tion, on account of the admissions as to Persian
sovereignty made by His Majesty’s Government
in the course of the negotiations respecting the
Turco-Persian frontier.
in 1902 Sheikh Khazal, who for upwards of
sixty years had farmed the Customs of Moham-
merah, entered, with some reluctance, into an
Arrangement with the Persian Government to
place the administration of the customs under
the Belgian Customs officials. At the same time,
he pressed His Majesty’s Government for an
assurance of support in the event of the Persian
Government breaking their engagements towards
him. While expressing himself able to deal
with the Persians, he feared an attempt to coerce
him might be made by some other Power, either
acting alone or in co-operation with the Shah’s
Government. His Majesty’s Government under
took to protect Mohammerah against naval
attack by a foreign Power under any pretext,
and also, so long as the Sheikh remained
faithful to the Shah and followed British
advice, to continue to give him good offices and
support.
At a meeting held on the 22nd March, 1905,
the Imperial Defence Committee decided :—
“ That it is important to secure the good offices of
the Sheikh of Mohammerah, and the possibility of sup
porting him in certain cases against the Shah should
not be excluded; but we must be the judges of the
merits of any dispute which may arise.”
In December 1907, His Majesty’s Chargd
dAffaires at Tehran reported that Messrs.
Wonckhaus, the German firm, had leased a plot
of land on the river bank at Mohammerah for a
p< riod of eight years.
(h.) Persia.
Most of the authoritative statements on the
protection of our interests in Southern Persia
and the Gulf have been rendered largely irrelevant
by the conclusion of the Anglo-Bussian Conven
tion ; while another factor, of perhaps correspond-
iog import, is the rise of German influence at
Tehran—too recent to admit any definition of its
ultimate effect.
Foreign Office
Memorandum,
December 11,
1905.
Mr. Marling,
No. 18,
Commercial,
December 21,
1907.