'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' [‎4r] (7/20)

7
At a subsequent date, and after consulting with Captain (now Colonel)
Kemball, Sir James Outram inserted the following remarks, under Article YIIL
of his draft of a proposed treaty between Great Britain and Persia:—“ The same
“ reason, viz., the want of adequate information on the terms of the agreement
“ last made between the Persian Government and the late Imaum of Muscat
“ [Seyyed Saeed had died in the interval] which prevented me from framing any
“ specific condition in behalf of the latter in my Despatch to your Lordship of
“ the 2d March, still precludes me from filling up this Article. No communication
“ has yet reached me in reply to the inquiries which I have directed to be made
“ in the matter in question. I have been given to understand, however, that the
“ statement made by Captain Jones, in a letter to Mr. Secretary Anderson,
“ Bombay, and appended to my despatch above quoted, is liable to serious
“ misapprehension. Captain Jones, after mentioning what he had learnt to be
“ the annual rent now fixed for Bunder Abbas and its dependencies, adds, with
“ respect to the latter, 4 which now include Kishm and Hormuz, not before
“ ‘ acknowledged on the part of Persia.’ ” [The meaning of this somewhat
obscure passage is intended to convey the idea that Persia, by making over those
said islands to the Sultan of Muscat had conferred a favour upon that prince.]
“ Captain Kemball, however, the late Resident at Bushire, speaking under cor-
“ rection, informs me that Kishm and Hormuz have long been acknowledged as
“ integral parts of the Imaum’s dominions, and that, in virtue of his sovereignty
“ over those islands, he permits us to occupy Bassadore. He is further of opinion
“ that, by the word ‘ dependencies,’ Minau and some other places on the mainland
“ are meant.”
I think there is good reason to infer from the foregoing review of the past
relations between Persia and Muscat, that, up to the date of the last treaty
between the two states, Kishm was a dependency of Muscat, and that, if Persia
entertained any claim to Hormuz, it was not formally recognized by the Muscat
Sultan, in whose possession the island appears to have remained since its conquest
by Seyyed Sultan in 1798.
The position of Muscat, however, in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. was seriously affected
by the conditions of the Treaty of 1856. A copy of that document was handed to
me by Seyyed Thoweynee, the present Sultan, while employed on the Muscat-
Zanzibar Commission, together with a strong protest against the part which
Captain Jones is alleged to have taken in preventing Seyyed Saeed’s Arab
auxiliaries from joining him at Bunder Abbas, the want of which reinforcements
obliged him to conclude an ignominious peace with the Persians, and to resign to
them the sovereignty of part of his territories.
The following is an abstract of the stipulations of this Treaty, a copy of which
translated from an Arabic version, furnished me by Seyyed Thoweynee, is
appended:—
Bunder Abbas and its dependencies, also the two maritime islands \ix. Kishm
and Hormuz], together with Eiseen, Tazian, Shemeel, Minau, and Biyaban, are
declared to be places belonging to the Supreme [Persian] Government, over
which the Imaum of Muscat may appoint iVrab deputies for the space of twenty
years. The governor deputed by him over Bunder Abbas shall render obedience
to the Governor of Shiraz.
The rental of these places, including certain fixed gratuities, to be 16,000
tomauns.
f The ditch round Bunder Abbas to be filled up, and no other is to be dug
there.
At the expiration of twenty years, these territories are to be restored to
Persia, with which power it will rest to decide whether the farm shall be continued
to the Sultan of Muscat or not.
“ Should the Governors of Ears, or the Governors of Kirman, on any im
portant occasion, wish to despatch troops towards Cutch, or Mekran, or Beloo-
chistan, they shall be treated with the respect due to governors, and shall be
supplied with provisions, guides, and escorts.”
In case the Governor of Shiraz should complain against the Arab Governor
of Bunder Abbas, the Imaum shall immediately remove him, and appoint another
in his place, who shall likewise be subject to the Governor of Shiraz.
Bunder Abbas, the adjacent islands, and the other places named, are consigned
in farm to the Sultan of Muscat and his heirs only. In default of such, these
territories must revert to the Persian Minister of State.
A 4