File 345/1908 Pt 1 'Mohammerah: situation. British assurances to Sheikh.' [‎151r] (306/416)

advisers, either that the Majlis would get the upper hand of the Shah and that
the latter would become a mere puppet in their hands or else that the Majlis
would break up and that a general upheaval would supervene, which would
prompt or oblige Foreign Powers to interfere and that a scramble would result.
In either eventuality he felt that he wmuld be in great jeopardy. We repeated to
him the purport of a recent telegram to the effect that Russia and England had
specifically undertaken to respect the integrity of Persia and asked what he
especially fears from the Majlis or from Constitutional Government. He replied
that the Majlis and the now free Press had always been hostile to him. The
papers had repeatedly been attacking him lately, for everything he did. Thus
he had been attacked for the Beni Truf Expedition and for his friendship with
Sheikh Mubarek. He knew that the Russians, who were all-powerful in Tehran
in the way of pulling strings, were hostile to him and fostered these attacks, and
he believed that the first thing that the Constitutional Government would do
under the pretext of reform would be to attempt to clip his wdngs and to intrench
further upon his hereditary and established rights. Something in that direction
was bound to happen, and it was of vital importance to him to know in the event
of (i) the break up of Persia or (2) the attempt of the Majlis to reduce him to
nothing, what the policy of His Majesty’s Government would be, and how far
they could reassure him now. He begged that we would consider the question
of giving him a writing, assuring him (1) that we would to the utmost of our
power prevent his absorption by any. other power and that he and his children
would be maintained in the enjoyment of their patrimony; (2) that just as we had
hitherto undertaken to protect Mohammerah from attack by a Foreign Power
(whatever pretext for such action be alleged) and also that we would continue
to give him our support and good offices so long as he remained faithful to the
Shah and acted in accordance with our advice—similarly, we would now extend
that undertaking and promise him immunity against the inroads of the Majlis
upon his powers. He expressed the conviction that his salvation lay in forming
connections with one of the great European Nations and that among those
Nations his interests and ideas were identical with those of Great Britain and
not with those of any other Power and that in return for such fresh assurances
as those indicated he was prepared to take upon himself obligations to the
British Government in any terms that they might think advisable.
The Sheikh then went on to speak of the Turco-Persian question complain
ing that although the Central Government sought to curtail his powers and
independence, they left him, in an urgent matter like this, in the dark and in the
lurch, and without special funds [yide 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. telegram, No. 16—54, dated
18th January 1908).
He enlarged on this fact and went on to speak of the enormous extra
expenditure that he had been put to by the Persian Government in connection
with measures of government which should properly fall on the Government
Exchequer. He begged leave to have prepared and to place before me for the
confidential information of Government a statement of such expenditure which
he had incurred. He concluded with the promise to have this drawn up as
soon as possible, but it was not received by me until the end of February.
P. Z. COX, Major }
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. .
Statement of the chief expenses of the Government of the Shatt-el-Arab and the
Karun from the accession of Sheikh Khazal Khan 13/5 to the end of 1323
Hijra (June 1897 to January igo 8 inclusive) eleven years.
(j) Expenses on the Shatt-el-Arab Krans 2,410,860 = £46,363
including salaries of Sheiks, guard
posts, patrols, bellams, cartridges
and a few rifles.