'Collection of papers respecting the attitude of His Majesty's Government in regard to the Bagdad Railway and the Purchase of Land at Koweit (amended version)' [‎1v] (2/34)

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intimation to the Porte that their action was regarded as constituting a disturbance of
the status quo, and that the occupation of the places in question could not be regarded
as in any way prejudicing the Sheikh’s rights and authority over them, and the Turkish
posts still remain at Um Kasr and A1 Geit, where they were then established.
3. The importance of the question lies in its relation to the future probable
terminus of what is known as the Bagdad Railway. Article I of the Convention dated
the 21st January, 1902, between the Turkish Government and the promoters of this
enterprise provides that the projected railway shall run from Zobeir to a point on the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. to be determined by mutual agreement between the Ottoman Porte and
the Company, and there appears to be no doubt that the Turkish advance of 1902 to
the shores of Khor Abdulla and the Island of Bubivan was designed to enable the
concessionnaires to secure, without reference to His Majesty’s Government, what was
already recognized by the German engineers, and has since been generally acknow
ledged, to be the most suitable terminus on the Gulf. The first section of the line is
now, we understand, in course of construction by German enterprise unaided, and no
arrangements have been made, as far as we are aware, in respect of any portion of the
railway from Konia to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. for securing the condition whereby His
Majesty’s Government contemplated that equality of treatment should be secured lor
British capital.
4. During his recent tour in the Gulf the Viceroy personally visited the Khor
Abdulla, in company with the Naval Commander-in-chief on the East Indies Station,
and the result of the inspection was to confirm the view which we previously entertained
of the importance of the Khor and of the superiority of its shores, for the purpose of a
railway terminus, over any of the sites in the immediate neighbourhood of Koweit which
have previously claimed attention. On board the “ Lawrence ” their Excellencies passed
up the channel to the anchorage below the junction of Khor Zobeir with KhorUm Kasr,
and except at the eastern end of Warba Island, where there is a bar with a depth of
2 fathoms for a short distance, a depth of 4^ fathoms was obtained throughout. The
anchorage is some 3 miles from Um Kasr post, and the banks of the channel are
sufficiently high to provide a firm and convenient landing place. To the south of the
Warba Island lies the large sheet of water with plenty of depth and room for an
anchorage, to which Rear-Admiral Willes refers in paragraph 50 of his letter dated the
8th December, 1903, to the Secretary to the Admiralty, of which we inclose a copy.
Owing to the length of the channel and its capacity for easy land or submarine
defences, a port in either of these localities would be absolutely safe from any attack
from the seaward. ^ —
We have already intimated in our Secret despatch dated the 21st January, 1904,
that the remarks of the Naval Commander-in-chief in paragraph 51 of this letter were
written under a misapprehension, and do not accurately represent the political position.
It is not necessary here, therefore, to take them into account.
5. In our Secret despatch dated the 4th February, 1904, we have mentioned the
probable antagonism of German interests to our own in this quarter, and the attitude
which, in our opinion, should be adopted towards the designs of other nations in Turkish
Arabia, and w e consider that no time should be lost in endeavouring to retrieve, so far
as may still be possible, the position which we have so seriously endangered by
acquiescence in these encroachments. So far as concerns Um Kasr and the neigh
bouring mainland, the claims of the Sheikh of Koweit do not appear to have been
strong. But whatever may have been their validity, it would be difficult, and we would
not now propose to try, to induce the Turks to abandon the occupation which for the
past year they have been permitted to maintain. The case of Bubiyan Island we
regard as entirely different. Here we consider that the~Sheikh has claims which can be
sustained alike with better reason, with greater prospect of success, and, owing to its
insular position, with smaller rnk of subsequent embarrassment to ourselves. In
Febiuary 1902 our 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. reported that Sheikh
Mubarak had addressed to him a written communication in which he advanced his claim
to the island, and asserted that the Avazem tribe, who are his subjects, had lived there
since the occupation of Koweit for seven months during the summer of each year, and
had established fishing inclosures on the island. Colonel Kembail regarded the
pretension as valid, and a like view appears to have been held by His Britannic
Majesty’s Ambassador at Constantinople, who a few days later telegraphed to the
Marquess of Lansdowne that the Consul at Bussorah considered the feheikh’s claim to
the island to be good. Sir Nicholas O’Conor, however, expressed the opinion that
there was no object in raising a conflict about Bubiyan Island while leaving the Turks
in possession of Um Kasr, Had the Ambassador then been in possession of the