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'Slavery in the Persian Gulf' [65r] (1/4)
The record is made up of 1 file (2 folios). It was created in 29 Sep 1928. 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
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<J ONFIDEXTIAL.
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.
,
Slavery in the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
.
Introductory.
1. The status of slavery is legally recognised in the Koran—an important
consideration in dealing with the question of slavery in an area ruled
exclusively, and peopled predominantly, by Mohammedans. Moreover,
alike on the Trucial Arab Coast and in the dominions of Ibn Saud, the
custom of house-born slaves is one which is firmly established, and the
-eradication of which is likely to cause serious difficulty.
Treaty Engagements of the Arab States of the Gulf.
2. From the precis of Treaties with the Chiefs of the Gulf States
contained in the Appendix to this Memorandum it will be seen that the
engagements of Bahrein, the Trucial Sheikhdoms, and Muscat, to His
Majesty’s Government bind them to suppress and to abstain from the slave
trade in their territories, and empower His Majesty’s Government to search
their vessels on their behalf, not only on the high seas, but in Arab and
Muscat waters. On the occasion of the conclusion of the Treaty of
3rd November 1916 with El Katr, under which the Sheikh accepted
•obligations similar to those of the other Trucial Chiefs, it was agreed,
however, that he and his subjects should be allowed to retain negro slaves
already in their possession, on condition of their treatment being
satisfactory. No formal engagement exists in the case of Koweit: but the
degree of control and influence exercised in that State by His Majesty’s
Government and the Government of India may be regarded as sufficient to
enable them to impose in practice an effective check on slave traffic within
its boundaries. Under Article 7 of the Treaty of Jeddah of 20th May 1927
Ibn Saud has undertaken to co-operate by all the means at his disposal
with His Majesty’s Government in the suppression of the slave trade, while
a separate exchange of Notes took place with the King of Hejaz and Nejd
-on the same occasion regarding the retention by His Majesty’s Government
of the right to manumit slaves through their consular officers.
Treaty Engagements of Persia.
3. The suppression of the traffic in slaves as between His Majesty’s
Government and Persia is governed by the Convention between Great
Britain and Persia of 2nd March 1882. Under this Convention the Persian
Government agree to take steps for the suppression of the trade, and to the
search, detention, and bringing for trial before the nearest Persian authorities
by His Majesty’s ships of merchant vessels under the Persian flag or
belonging to 1 ersian subjects which may be engaged, or which there may
be reasonable grounds for suspecting to be, or to have been, engaged,
during the voyage on which they are met. in carrying slaves. A special
proviso deals with the position of slaves accompanying an individual to the
pilgrimage places under a passport countersigned by the British authority.
The Convention further provides that a representative of the British
Government shall be present at the adjudication on any merchant vessel
under the Persian flag captured by a British cruiser ‘and taken into a
Persian port for that purpose; that the proceeds of the sale of such a vessel,
if condemned, shall go to Persia; and that the slaves found on board be
handed over to Great Britain.
1. The history of the Gulf as a centre of slaving activity is notorious
and the relatively satisfactory condition of affairs described below represents
the result of over a century of unceasing vigilance on the part of His
Majesty’s Government. The slave trade in the Gulf has now been under
effective control for many years, and it is unnecessary in the circumstances
to examine m detail its history since 1908. The statement which follows
confines itself accordingly to setting out the position as regards slavery at
the present time on the Arabian and on the Persian littoral of the Gulf
3144 a 75 10.28
About this item
- Content
Memorandum providing an overview of the extent of slavery in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and the measures undertaken by his Majesty's Government to combat it.
Covering:
- introduction outlining the legal status of slavery;
- treaty engagements of the Arab States of the Gulf, including Ibn Saud's [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd’s] cooperation in the suppression of the slave trade;
- treaty engagements of Persia - the Anglo-Persian Slavery Convention of 2 March 1882 for the suppression of the traffic of slaves;
- present position on the Arab Littoral of the Gulf – with proposals made by Sir Lionel Haworth, 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. ;
- resent position on the Persian Littoral;
- Persian representations regarding abrogation of Slavery Convention of 1882 with Great Britain, and the implications of the League of Nations' Slavery Convention of 1926;
- attitude to be adopted towards a Persian demand for abrogation, expressing views of the Foreign Office, 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. , and Admiralty.
Written by John Gilbert Laithwaite of 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. .
- Extent and format
- 1 file (2 folios)
- Arrangement
This file consists of a single memorandum.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 65, and terminates at f 66, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, 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 View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/18/B407
- Title
- 'Slavery in the Persian Gulf'
- Pages
- 65r:66v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence