File 345/1908 Pt 1 'Mohammerah: situation. British assurances to Sheikh.' [‎155r] (314/416)

jThis Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government.]
[A]
ASIATIC TURKEY.
[March 18.J
CONFIDENTIAL.
Section 1
*
L9404]
No. 1 .
Supplementary Memorandum respecting British Interests in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
[See Confidential Paper No. 9161.]
I. The Arms Traffic
II. Quarantine
Page
1
III. Question of British Consular Representation in El Hasa and Katif
IV. Mohammerah .. .. ..
13
.. 14
7
I .—The Arms Traffic.
(Communicated by 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. .)
THE position in regard to the arms traffic on the various sections of the Persian
Gulf littoral is briefly as follows :—
1 . Muscat .—Muscat has for many years been an emporium for the arms traffic,
and the trade has now attained to such dimensions that in 1906-7 the total value of
the imports of arms and ammunition amounted to 112,338/. The situation is
governed by the fact that the Sultan of Muscat has Commercial Treaties with Prance,
Holland, and the LFnited States, under the terms of which it would be impossible for
him to impose special restrictions on the importation of arms and ammunition into his
dominions without the consent of the Powers in question.
The result is that arms flow freely into Muscat, and are thence distributed
throughout Persia, Arabia, and Afghanistan. Prom the last-named country a con
siderable proportion of the arms find their way to the tribesmen of the Indian North-
W est Frontier, with results which have been described by the Government of India
as “ constituting a grave menace to the peace of the border.” To such an alarming
extent has this process been going on that in February 1907 the Government of Govern-
India estimated that out of the 270,000 men belonging to the frontier tribes no less
than 94,000 possessed breech-loading rifled arms.
The view is pretty generally held that, until Muscat is closed to the importation February
of arms it will be impossible to place any effective check on the export trade by 21, 1907.
native dhows to other ports on the Gulf littoral.
1 he total number of rifles imported from Great Britain into Muscat reached
13,831 in the year 1900. During the two following years there was a marked decline,
but in 1904-5 the total number of imported rifles was believed to be not less than
20,000. Piecent figures point to a still more remarkable increase, and the custom
house returns show that, during the quarter ending the 30th September, 1907, some 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.
10,000 rifles and 7,000,000 cartridges were shipped from the United Kingdom to to Foreign
Muscat. Besides the imports from this country there is known to he a considerable
trade with the port of Marseilles. The Government of India calculated in February 26, 1907 .
1907 that, whereas in 1899-1900 only about one-seventh of the imports were from
France, by 1905 the proportion of French arms had risen to two-fifths. M. Goguyer,
a local French merchant, who has from time to time lent large sums of money to the
Sultan, is known to he deeply involved in the arms traffic. Another French merchant,
M. Caraealla, was reported in July 1906 to have arrived at Muscat, with the apparent
intention of taking part in the trade. In the returns for 1906-7 Belgium appears
[2878 5—1]
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