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File 351/1904 'Persian Gulf:- Erection of British flagstaffs at Musandam’ [45v] (95/454)
The record is made up of 1 volume (221 folios). It was created in 1902-1908. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
[ 6 ]
not affected by any assertion of the Sultan’s
sovereignty subsequent to original occupation.
But the Government of India were of the
opinion that the question might be discussed,
after the declaration of the Award, with the
Sultan. There did not seem to be any parallel
between the possible revival of the British
claim to Telegraph Island and the Bunder
Gisseh incident. The former would resemble
the revival of the claim to the station at
Henjam.
Since the issue of this telegram, it has
come to notice that the erection of the flag-
staffs has not escaped public attention, but
has been mentioned in an article in the Al
Ahram, dated the 21st June 1905.
22. Koweit and Nejd .—The Political
Resident in the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
writes, on the
16th July 1905, that the question of a new
flag for Koweit ships and of certificates to be
granted to the nakodas of these ships has been
discussed with Sheikh Mubarak, and submits,
for the approval of the Government of India,
specimen designs for the flag and forms of the
certificates.
The Secretary of State for India was
informed, on 18th July 1905, that Sheikh
Mubarak is agreeable to the establishment of
a coal depot for the British India Steam
Navigation Company at Koweit, hut Major
Cox has suggested that a site on Bubiyan
Island appears preferable from a political point
of view.
23. A memorandum from Mr. Gaskin
states that at Kassim the inhabitants appear
satisfied with the behaviour of the Turks,
among whose troops, however, desertions and
the loss of arms are of frequent occurrence.
At Koweit, owing to British interference in
affairs, property has increased greatly in value.
It is rumoured at Kassim that the Turks will
depute an officer to investigate the revenue,
and that the Dairat-es-Saniyeh intend to
build a railway from Basrah via Zobeir to
Pao. Zobeir is the centre of a large arms traffic.
24. His Britannic Majesty’s Consul,
Basrah, reports, on 28th June, that the Turks
are said to have reached Shehi, 30 miles south
west of Boreyda, and are in great straits for
want of money and supplies.
25. His Majesty’s Minister at Tehran
intimates that the Mushir-ed Howleh, in speak
ing of the status in Persia of Koweit Arabs,
has stated that the Sublime Porte regard all
Koweitis as Ottoman subjects, and object to
any interference on their behalf by any other
Power. His Excellency has agreed to refer the
matter, on our representation, to the Shah, and
to issue orders to the Persian Customs and
other officials to treat Koweitis less harshly.
26. The S. S. “ Lama ” has landed 6 cgse$
of arms and ammunition at Koweit,
About this item
- Content
The volume comprises correspondence and other papers relating to the erection (and subsequent abandonment) of flagstaffs at the head of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , on the Maklab [Maqlab] Isthmus at Musandam (Musandam spelt with numerous variations throughout the file), Telegraph Island [Jazīrat al Maqlab], and Sheep Island [Jazīrat Umm al Ghanam].
The correspondence includes:
- a report of the Viceroy of India’s tour of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. in 1903, dated 21 January 1904 and signed by several individuals (including George Nathaniel Curzon and Horatio Herbert Kitchener) containing proposals for the erection of naval bases, coaling stations, and telegraph facilities in the Gulf (ff 213-215);
- proposals and arrangements for the erection of flagstaffs by HMS Sphinx in November 1904, made by Major William George Grey, 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 Muscat, Lieutenant William Henry Irvine Shakespear, Assistant Resident and Acting British Consul at Bunder Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās], Captain Thomas Webster Kemp, Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and Commander of HMS Sphinx , including reports submitted by Shakespear and Kemp describing the erection of the flagstaffs, including accounts of the discussions held with the inhabitants of the areas around which the flagstaffs were erected, and a map indicating the location of the flagstaffs (ff 112-114, 119-121);
- questions of whether to fly the Union Jack or Blue Ensign on the flagstaffs;
- Government concerns that the flagstaffs were situated in territory claimed by the Sultan of Maskat [Muscat];
- Admiralty objection to the flagstaffs, on the grounds that it would be the Navy’s responsibility to protect them;
- the decision of the Committee of Imperial Defence (CID) to maintain the flagstaff at Telegraph Island, but abandon the flagstaffs at the Maklab Isthmus and Sheep Island;
- further reconsideration of the proposal to fly a British flag on Telegraph Island, in the wake of investigations by John Gordon Lorimer which assert the Sultan of Muscat’s sovereignty over Musandam;
- deferral of the decision on the flagstaff at Telegraph Island until the outcome of the Hague Tribunal on vessels at Muscat flying the French flag; the removal, in October 1905, of the flagstaffs on the Maklab Isthmus and Sheep Island;
- final instruction from the Foreign Office to the Government of India, in May 1908, that the remaining flagstaff on Telegraph Island should be no longer maintained.
The file also includes a report of the survey of Khor Kawi [Khawr al Quway‘] by HMS Sphinx , dated 31 December 1903, with a map showing water depths in Khor Kawi (ff 190-192), and a letter from the Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies Station, Vice Admiral George L Atkinson-Willes, to the Government of India, dated 5 September 1905, recommending that Khor Kawi be used as a new British naval base, rather than Elphinstone Inlet or Telegraph Island (ff 34-35).
The volume includes a divider which gives the year that the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in it arranged by year. This divider is placed at the front of the volume (f 3).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (221 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 225; 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.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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File 351/1904 'Persian Gulf:- Erection of British flagstaffs at Musandam’ [45v] (95/454), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/23, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100026361062.0x000060> [accessed 25 April 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/23
- Title
- File 351/1904 'Persian Gulf:- Erection of British flagstaffs at Musandam’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:119v, 121r:139v, 141r:190v, 193r:224v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence