File 345/1908 Pt 1 'Mohammerah: situation. British assurances to Sheikh.' [‎76r] (156/416)

^ c*G>.
ConfidentiaL
No. 2591, dated Bushire, the 14th (received 25th) October
From m AJOR A. P. Trevor, LA., First Assistant Resident, in charge of
Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. , Bushire, ^
To S. H. Butler, Esq., C.S.I., C.I.E., Secretary to the Government of India in
the Foreign Department.
I have the honour to forward, for the information of the Government of
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. , Koweit, to First Assistant India, a copy of the marginally noted
^^te'd^hV" 1 t^October^ Bushire ’ No> s62 ’ 1°^™^ * conversation which the
oheikh of Koweit held with the Political
Agent.
2 . Sheikh Mubarek appears to be in a very friendly mood at present, as
instanced by his spontaneous offer of the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. rent free, and by this conversa
tion, but I think there must be some ulterior motive in all this affability.
No. 562, dated Koweit, nth October 1909.
From— Captain W. H. I. Shakespear, LA., 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. , Koweit,
To—The First Assistant Resident, in charge of the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. , Bushire.
I have the honour to report the substance of a conversation which the Sheikh
of Mubarak held with me a few days ago on the affairs of the Sheikh of Moham-
merah in case it may prove of interest to Government.
2 . It appears that shortly after Major Cox’s last visit to Mohammerah
Sheikh Khazal called together the headmen of his tribes and discussed with them
the advantages of definitely binding himself to the British Government by a
document, which evidently from Sheikh Mubarak’s description was intended' to
be a regular treaty on more or less equal terms. The headmen of the tribes
were very averse to any such proposal pointing out that, though they might make
a treaty and so avoid Persian and Turkish interference in their affairs, they would
be subjected to endless interference from the British who would, little by little,
reduce them and their Sheikh (Khazal) to the condition of Bahrein, where
now nothing was possible without the ‘ order ’ of the 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. ; they
could see no compensating advantage in such an arrangement especially
as at present they found that a combination of all the ^ near Arab tribes
could make things so unpleasant for either Persian or Turks that Moham
merah generally succeeded in securing its own way very satisfactorily.
Sheikh Khazal was, however, insistent and pointed out that, though such
had been the case of Bahrein, it had been brought about from within by the
Khalifa family’s own foolish method of working and contrasted our treatment of
Bahrein with that of Koweit, where a 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. had proved of considerable
help to Sheikh Mubarak. Finally, it appears that, by argument, specious promises
and lavish hospitality Sheikh Khazal prevailed on his Cha’ab headmen to agree
that, if he put his signature to any document of the kind contemplated, they
would follow his lead and also append their signatures. In reply to my query as
to why Sheikh Khazal should be so anxious to secure the signature of the headmen
to such a document as well as his own, Sheikh Mubarak pointed out that that was
the only certain way by which Sheikh Khazal could bind all the various subtribes
to their promise, fearing as he did, if anything subsequently occurred to which one
of the tribes objected, that he might be unable to prevent all of them siding with
the disappointed one and leaving him without the necessary support either to
force compliance or induce it pacifically.
3 . The above was conveyed to me by Sheikh Mubarak quite spontaneously #
and, at the moment, struck me as being specially produced for British consump
tion or as a ballon d’essai. Then, on his own account, Sheikh Mubarak urged the
advantages to the British Government in some such tie, pointing out that between
them he and Sheikh Khazal owned practically the whole of the cultivated land
on the Shatt-eFArab up to Mohammerah and beyond.
4 . I have no doubt, from the careful way in which the Sheikh expressed
himself, that this communication and probably the form of it were carefully
arranged between himself and Sheikh Khazal at one of their frequent meetings
at Failiya solely with an eye to their own advantage ; each desires to rid himself