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'Memorandum by the Rev. G. P. Badger on the Pretensions of Persia in Beloochistan and Mekran, drawn up with especial reference to her Claim to Gwadur and Charbar' [‎2r] (3/20)

The record is made up of 1 file (10 folios). It was created in Dec 1863. 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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Gwadel or Gwadur.
The Bombay Government having submitted my original proposition for
carrying the electric telegraph along the coast of Mekran to Major Henry Green,
then 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 Khelat, that officer, in his reply, raised the following
question respecting the sovereignty of Gwadur:—
“ Nusseer Khan, the great grandfather of the present Khan, about the middle
of the last century, took possession of the country
lying between longitude 60° and 66°, and latitude 25°
to 30°, known as Kekran. He fixed his boundary
as Gaih, about 120 miles west of the town of Kedj,
the capital of Mekran. The port of the latter city,
and, in fact, of the whole province, is Gwadur, which, as well as all other ports
lying between it and Kurrachee, came into possession of the Belooch Chief, who,
after placing his governors in the towns which he had conquered, returned to
Kedj.
Letter addressed to the Political
Superintendent, Frontier, Upper
Scinde, Camp Bagh, 27th March
1861.
“ The country to the west of Gwadur as far as Cape Jask appears in those
days to have been in possession of Sultan Syud [more correctly Seyyed Sultan]
the Imaum of Muscat, and soon after the return of Nusseer Khan to Khelat, the
inhabitants rebelled against the authority of the Imaum and threw off his allegiance.
On this he despatched messengers and presents to the Khelat Chief requesting his
assistance. The reply of the latter was that he could not furnish him with troops,
but that he would give him the loan of the port of Gwadur, where he might land
his troops and collect his stores, and that he might keep possession of it until he
had brought his rebellious subjects to submission. This offer was accepted, and,
on the above condition, the port was temporarily made over to the officers of the
Imaum.
“ Soon after the above occurrence, Nusseer Khan, the Belooch Chief, died,
and his country fell into a state of anarchy, which has more or less continued, and
of which the heirs of the Imaum, Sultan Syud [Seyyed Sultan] have taken
advantage, and retained possession of Gwadur. The successors of Nusseer Khan
have never, however, given up their claim to the port, and during the reign of the
late Khan, Nusseer Khan, a force was despatched from Kedj, under the orders of
the present Wuzeer, Wullee Mahomet, for the purpose of gaining possession of it.
This was during the year 1857, but the Khan dying about this time, the expedition
was abandoned, when the duty on which it had been despatched was nearly
accomplished.
“Since my stay in Beloochistan, His Highness the present Khan has
frequently asked me to be allowed to direct his Governor of Kedj, Fukkeer
Mahomet, to march against Gwadur and take possession; but I, being aware
of the friendly alliance existing between the present Imaum and the British
Government, have always declined to give my sanction. It is not, however, to be
expected that His Highness will give up his claim to the port.
“ I would therefore suggest that, to prevent delay in the event of the pro
position of the Rev. Mr. Badger being carried out, and Gwadur, in all probability,
becoming one of the principal stations on the coast, that negotiations be entered
into by the British Government with the Imaum for the purchase of that port by
the former, and that, under certain conditions, it be made over to His Highness
the Khan of Khelat. I believe a very small sum would effect this object, and
that having this coast line under an ally such as the Khan of Khelat would be of
the greatest advantage, whether for political reasons, or for that under report.”
Major Green’s letter having been submitted to me by the Bombay Government,
I replied as follows on the foregoing subject:—
“ I have made careful inquiry into the statement whereon it is said the present
T , 0 ^ Khan of Khelat rests his claim to the town and
JunXTi: P^T f XX V ' ' X " a
but I believe it to be wholly without foundation. I
consider Seyyed Thoweynee’s plea that it was conquered by his grandfather,
Seyyed Sultan, to be equally invalid. The most probable account of the manner
in which Gwadur fell into the hands of Seyyed Sultan was given me by an old
Belooch Chief at Muscat, whose relatives have been in the service of the Imaum
for several generations, and whose narrative of facts I found to correspond
generally with the native chronicles of those times. He states that Seyyed
Sultan, the fifth but the bravest son of Imaum Ahmed, the first of the reigning
A 2

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Content

This file consists of a memorandum by George Percy Badger (scholar and missionary) concerning Persian claims in Beloochistan [Baluchistan] and Mekran [Makran], particularly Gwadel or Gwadur [Gwādar] and Charbar [Chābahār]. It contains the following: a history of Persian encroachments in Beloochistan; a table outlining the political divisions of the maritime provinces of Mekran, and their respective governments; an assessment of Persia's jurisdiction on the Mekran Coast; details of the sovereignty of Gwadur; a discussion of hostilities between Persia and the Sultan of Muscat over Bunder Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās] and other dependencies; a summary of the 1856 treaty between Persia and Muscat. A map depicting the political geography of Mekran is included on folio 5.

The appendices include:

  • a translation of the treaty between His late Highness Seyyed Saeed [Āl Bū Sa‘īd, Sayyid Thuwaynī bin Sa‘īd] and the Persian Government, relating to Bunder Abbas, etc., dated 1856;
  • a report by Lieutenant-Colonel Frederic John Goldsmid on the claims of Persia, Khelat [Kalat], and Muscat, to sovereign rights on the Mekran Coast;
  • extracts from Lieutenant-Colonel Goldsmid's diaries on defining boundaries and districts;
  • a memorandum on Western Mekran by Lieutenant-Colonel Goldsmid.
Extent and format
1 file (10 folios)
Arrangement

This file consists of a single memorandum (f 1-5), with appendices at the back (f 6-10).

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 10; 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.

Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'Memorandum by the Rev. G. P. Badger on the Pretensions of Persia in Beloochistan and Mekran, drawn up with especial reference to her Claim to Gwadur and Charbar' [‎2r] (3/20), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/C68, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100029537096.0x000004> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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