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File 619/1907 Pt 10 'Arms traffic:- Persian Gulf. Prize Money for captures in Persian Gulf.' [‎123v] (251/424)

The record is made up of 1 volume (210 folios). It was created in 20 Apr 1908-24 Sep 1915. 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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“ the end of this arms season, onwards, all exports from Oman
“ ports to the Mekran coast.
“ It would have to be clearly understood that the arrangement
“ was purely temporary, and that it would be abrogated by a
“ wider and entirely independent agreement to be concluded
later, if possible, for the abolition of import.”
Neither the Resident in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. nor the Government
of India considered Mr. Holland’s suggestion practicable. Major
Cox pointed out that the Sultan had “ absolutely no machinery”
for effectively preventing exports from Oman to Mekran, and that
it was never supposed that he could “ seal his own long line of
coast” against the export of arms. Major Cox added that “as
“ long as the import remains legitimate there would be nothing to
prevent a foreign merchant like Goguyer from receiving his
“ consignments from the steamer into dhows in the harbour and
“ sending the latter off to some other port in Oman which he could
“ make his headquarters.”
Mr. Holland, it should be added, afterwards explained (6th July
1909) that what he contemplated was, “ not that His Highness
“ should take active steps to blockade his own line of coast, which
“ would be beyond the bounds of possibility, but that he should
render us assistance, which would be well within his power, in
“ enforcing the blockade of the Mekran coast.” He had never
contemplated that the Sultan’s co-operation would do away with
the necessity for action on our part on the Mekran coast, so long
as the importation of arms into Muskat continued. But he
believed that the Sultan, if it was made worth his while, could
assist our blockade very material^ by letting it be known locally
that he was opposed to the traffic to Mekran, by employing his
numerous spies to inform against his subjects engaged in the
trade, by punishing the crews ol dhows seized by British ships,
and by generally signifying his displeasure with the gun-runners.
Major Cox, ^ however, still found himself unable to support
Mr. Holland s recommendations, and remarked that his own
inclination was in favour of “ first showing the Sultan that we can
^ and will make the blockade effectual, and then of paying him
whateyei seems fair for the loss of revenue which we see
“ resulting to him.”
I he Government of India concurred with Major Cox, and
thought that an arrangement such as that proposed by Mr. Holland
would “ raise more difficulties than it would settle, and would not
improbably be ineffectual.”
(o.) As legards the third alternative mentioned above, viz., that of
measures on the Coast of Persia, the Government of India were
doubtful whether “ military action along the Persian littoral would
yield results commensurate with the expenditure involved.” They
recognised, moreover, that such action “ would appear to be
u P rec f u ded by the conditions of the present political situation in
lersia, and our treaty obligations.”^
43. There remained the last of the four alternatives referred to in the
Proposals for a Naval Blockaded preceding paragraph, that of naval
^ * actwn in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . Among the
enclosures^ m the Government of India’s letter, was a despatch dated
1 1 QOQ r M ga f? 1 * * * S p Pr p VeiltlVe m p ei h sm T? in f n ff a it may be mentioned that on the 9th Novem
ber 1909, Mr. L. G. Gregson, of the North-West Frontier Region of British India bordering Afghanistan. Province Police, was placed on special
deputation to Karachi with a view to the arrest, if possible, of a number of Afridis and other
tribesmen who were knowm to be proceeding via Karachi to Muskat in connection with the
arms tiamc. Mr. Gregson succeeded in effecting a large number of arrests
, t It has been pointed out by the Foreign Office that the use of the word blockade in
connection with the naval operations undertaken in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. in January 1910 is not
strictly correct The measures adopted did not constitute a blockade in the technical sense in
which the word is ordinarily understood, but merely a patrol of the coast for the purpose of
checking the illegal traffic. 1 1
+ Enclosure No. 3.

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Content

The correspondence discusses the award of prize money to the officers and crews of British Naval vessels that had seized dhows containing arms and ammunition in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .

The correspondence discusses the values to be assigned to different types of arms and ammunition, and the decision by the Government of India to make a grant to the Admiralty from the Indian Revenues to cover the prize money owed for seizures from November 1910 to November 1912.

The principal correspondents include the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (H W [Herbert William?] James, Allen Thomas Hunt, and James Charles Tancred); the Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies Station (George John Scott Warrender, Edmond John Warre Slade, Alexander Edward Bethell, and Richard Henry Peirse); the 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Percy Zachariah Cox); the Secretary of State for India (John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, and Robert Crew-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe); the Secretary to the Foreign Department of the Government of India (Spencer Harcourt Butler, Arthur Henry McMahon); the Secretary to the Marine Department of the Government of India (Ernest William Stuart King Maconchy, and William Riddell Bird); 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. and Consul at Muscat (Robert Erskine Holland, Stuart George Knox); the Viceroy of India (Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst); and representatives of the Admiralty, the Foreign Office 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. .

Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 volume (210 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

The subject 619 (Arms Traffic) consists of 7 volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/110-116. The volumes are divided into 10 parts, with parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 comprising one volume each, parts 6, 7, 8, and 9 comprising the sixth volume and part 10 comprising the seventh volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 210; 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. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

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English in Latin script
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File 619/1907 Pt 10 'Arms traffic:- Persian Gulf. Prize Money for captures in Persian Gulf.' [‎123v] (251/424), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/116, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100026189279.0x000034> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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