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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.' [‎110r] (224/566)

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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Sheikh of Mohammerah. The numerous islands in the river are occupied almost
solely by his tribes, and, of the 8 headmen who signed the Agreement between
the^ Sheikh and the Oil Company relating to Abadan Island, 4 live in Turkish
territory, though they are undoubtedly Persian subjects, born, like their fathers,
on Persian soil.
4. Hitherto no Wali of Basrah has attempted to raise the question of
nationality, and I am informed by Mirza Hamza, the Sheikh’s Basrah Agent,
that the Persian nationality of such tribesmen was explicitly recognised by the
Turks and formally recorded in the Government books.
e The present Wali, Sulaiman Nathif, has confined himself to the mere as
sertion that Muhammad Chanan, whom he sought to arrest, was a Turkish sub
ject, and refused to discuss the question with Sheikh Khaz*al or his agent in
any way, until Muhammed Chanan had been handed over to him for punishment.
5. This man is the head of the largest and most powerful of the tribes
under the direct control of the Sheikh, and is the latter’s brother-in-law. He has
some 4,000 riflemen at his disposal in case of war, and provided some 2.000 to
the Sheikh in 1908, when the latter, with the authority of the Persian Govern
ment, was engaged in subduing the turbulent tribes of Hawaizeh. His surrender,
in any case, therefore, would be a practical impossibility for the Sheikh, and
would alienate from the latter a large section of his tribesmen.
He has not, moreover, been accused of any definite crime, and there is no
reason, as far as I am aware, to think that he has been in any way concerned in
Crime or intrigues for some time past. On the contrary, for the last eighteen
months the Shatt-el-Arab has been unprecedentedly quiet, and no outrages attri
butable in any way to the Sheikh’s tribesmen have occurred.
6. Until the middle of last month, the Wali’s relations with Sheikh Khaz’al
were extremely cordial, and the latter had not the slightest idea that the former
contemplated breaking with him suddenly and shelling his brother-in-law’s village,
bombarding his mother’s house and ruining the Sheikh’s personal property, on so
flimsy a pretext. That he did so under orders from Constantinople, is, 1 believe,
certain, and it is worthy of note that his action coincided with the arrival of
Nazim Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. in Baghdad, accompanied by reinforcements of Turkish troops.
7. Mr. Crow’s despatch No. 22, of the 23rd April, enclosed herewith, indicates
the gist of the Wali’s complaints, which he alleges to be the ground for his present
action. I have made careful enquiry in regard to them, and can find no ground
whatever for the Wali’s definite assertions on the subject of the shelter given to
criminals in Mohammerah.
There is, on the contrary, a strong consensus of opinion that the murderers
and criminals are residents of Basrah, and are still in Turkish territory, and that
the Turkish police assert that they have fled across the boundary in order to
justify their inability to catch them.
8. The Sheikh has, in general, afforded every assistance to the Turkish
authorities in the apprehension of criminals, but, in past times, he has been
considerably discouraged by the fact that such persons alw r ays escaped or were
released by the Turks after a short time, and by the fact that no justice was ever
obtainable in the Turkish criminal courts {vide enclosures 6 and 7). He is not yet
satisfied that there has been any substantial change in this respect.
9. The action of the Wali in shelling and burning the village of Muhammad
Chanan in the district of Zain, the personal property of Sheikh Khaz’al, seems to
me to be unjustified from every point, of view, and the official statement in the
Basrah newspaper (enclosure No. 3) only confirms this opinion. It is unfortu
nate too that, whether by accident or design, the gunboat shelled and damaged,
without warning, the house of the Sheikh’s mother, close by, nearly frightening
the old lady out of her wits. It is still more unfortunate that one of the Sheikh’s
wives, and sister of Muhammad Chanan, who was in the latter’s village at the
time, has since died of shock consequent on the bombardment. These incidents
have inflamed local opinion against the Turks.
26

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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.

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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.' [‎110r] (224/566), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/133, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100030525714.0x000019> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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