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File 345/1908 Pt 2 'Mohammerah: situation. Sheikh's dispute with the Vali of Basra. decoration for Sheikh. renewed assurances to Sheikh.' [‎13r] (30/566)

The record is made up of 1 volume (281 folios). It was created in 1910-1915. 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. .

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(VA-
«•
From Lieutenant-Colonel Sir P. Z. Cox, K.C.I.E., C.S.I., 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. , to the Honourable Mr. J. B. Wood, O.I.E., Indian
Civil Service, Officiating Secretary to the Government of India, in the
Foreign Department, Delhi.
British 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. and
Consulate-General, Bushire,
gi r> 7th December 1913.
I have the honour to address you on the subject of our interests in
Arabistan and to invite Government to consider whether, having regard to
current developments, some steps are not now called for with a view to
making our predominant position in the province more definite and secure.
y
2. The developments to which 1 allude are both commercial and political
and relate to :— n
(i) The oil fields and their future. ^
(ii) Irrigation. h v/j \(l^
(iii) Railway enterprise.
(iv) Our assumption of the control of the Arabistan telegraphs.
(v) The establishment of the Shatt-el-Arab Commission.
(vi) Russian and German activity.
I shall endeavour to explain certain aspects of these problems as they
present themselves to my mind at the present time.
3. The oil-fields and their future .—In the course of the past four years
the Anglo- Persian Oil Company may be said to have passed safely through
the uncertain and difficult phases inseparable from the inception of great
enterprises of the kind, and, provided that the concern can be saved from
absorption by more powerful companies, its local prospects, in so far as the
possibilities of oil production are concerned, seem all that can be desired;
and, as I have stated in a recent letter, I gather that the promoters are
deterred from further substantial development of their concession less by
any lack of confidence on the part of their shareholders in the productivity
of the fields, than by the fundamental uncertainty of the political situation
in Arabistan. pit
Meanwhile the enterprise has assumed an aspect ol close and even
national importance for Great Britain in connection with the urgent necessity
which has arisen for earmarking, and assuring ourselves of, sources of supply
of oil sufficient for the needs of His Majesty’s Navy in localities easily
susceptible in emergency of our effective protection and control. From the
economic point of view, the outlook in Arabistan appears to have been found
hio-hly favourable by the Commission which has recently visited the fields
under Rear-Admiral Sir Edmond Slade, but here again, the doubtful factor
lies in the want of political stability above referred to, prevailing m the
territories in question, qua component part of a decadent empire.
A-
Ir
/
4 Irrigation .—This important subject has recently been brought into
renewed prominence in connection with the Karkunan Diversion Scheme,
and His Majesty’s Government have approved the suggestion of the
Government of India that we should obtain from the Sheikh of Mohammerah
a concession for a definite irrigation scheme from the river Karun in his
territories. In pursuance of instructions received in this connection, I
interviewed the Sheikh of Mohammerah in the summer and discussed con
fidentially with him and Major Haworth the subject of such a concession.
He then authorised me to inform Government that if the matter should at
any moment become urgent, he would
Telegram from Resident to Foreign and | )e p re p are d to grant US off-hand any
Minister No. 321/1237, dated lltli July concess i on we might desire in this
1913 ‘ direction; he was anxious, however,
that certain matters should simultaneously be represented to Government m
S. 244. A

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Content

Correspondence including telegrams, hand written letters and printed enclosures, discusses an attack by a Turkish gun-boat on a village - Zain, belonging to the Shaikh of Mohammerah - which lay on the Turkish bank of the Shatt al-Arab waterway. The correspondence outlines the circumstances that led to the quarrel between the Turkish authorities and the Sheikh of Mohammerah, and suggestions that the Porte should be urged to replace the Wali of Basrah with a less aggressive official.

Correspondence discusses the proposal to give the Shaikh of Mohammerah assurances against naval attack, whatever the pretext for such action; letters and telegrams also discuss the award of a decoration (Knight Commander of the Indian Empire) to the Shaikh of Mohammerah.

A letter (dated 7 December 1913) from Percy Zachariah Cox, 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. , outlines the Government of India's interests in Arabistan including: the oil fields and their future; irrigation; railway enterprises; telegraphs; Russian and German activity.

Correspondents include Percy Zachariah Cox, 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. ; Sir Gerard Lowther, Ambassador to Constantinople; Charles Murray Marling, Ambassador to Tehran; Sir Edward Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign affairs; Francis Edward Crow, H M Consul at Bussorah [Basra]; Arnold Talbot Wilson, H M Consul at Mohammerah; Shaikh Khazal bin Jabir, Shaikh of Mohammerah; Wali of Bussorah; Viceroy of India.

Extent and format
1 volume (281 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume. The subject 345 (Mohammerah: situation) consists of two volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/132-133. The volumes are divided into two parts, with each part comprising one volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 278; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, 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.

The folio sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the one ending flyleaf.

An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel throughout; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.

Written in
English in Latin script
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File 345/1908 Pt 2 'Mohammerah: situation. Sheikh's dispute with the Vali of Basra. decoration for Sheikh. renewed assurances to Sheikh.' [‎13r] (30/566), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/133, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100030525713.0x00001f> [accessed 19 March 2024]

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