File 2182/1913 Pt 4 'Persian Gulf: Policy towards Bin Saud (Capt. Shakespear's Mission)' [‎58v] (113/426)

No. 1202-W., dated Bombay Castle, the 11th February 1915.
From—L. Robbrtson, Esq., Secretary to the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. , Political
Department, Bombay,
To—The Foreign Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign and Political
Department.
X am directed to refer to your telegram No. 74-D. S., dated the 21st Janu
ary 1915, and to your telegram No. 68-D. S., dated the 19th January 1915.
2. Arrangements have been made in Bombay for the residence of Sayyid
Talib Bey referred to in your telegram of the 21st January, for the internment of
Hamid Nusrat and Majid Nusrat, and for the residence of Salim A1 Khayyum
the last three of whom are referred to in your telegram of the 19th January.
3. I am now to forward, for the information of the Government of India,
a copy of a memorandum by the Commissioner of Police, Bombay, dated the
5th February 1915, dealing with the two men. Sayyid Talib Bey and Salim A1
Khayyum. The Government of India will observe that in the opinion of the
Commissioner of Police Sayyid Talib Bey is a dangerous character whose
removal from Bombay is most desirable. The grounds upon which he has
based his opinion are clearly stated in his memorandum and are entitled to great
consideration. The Arab and other Muhammadan population in the City of
Bombay have throughout the present crisis behaved with great discretion and
loyalty to the British Government. It would be most unfortunate if, owing to
the presence in their midst of an intriguing character, they should become
restless or disaffected. There are a large number of Arabs in Bombay, and it
seems wise that an intriguing personage such as Talib Bey should not be im
mediately accessible to them.
4. The Governor in Council would, therefore, request that the Govern
ment of India may be moved to issue orders for the removal of Talib Bey from
Bombay to another station outside his jurisdiction, as for instance, Madras.
5. The proceedings of Sheikh Salim A1 Khayyum will be closely watched,
and it is not improbable that through the influences which the Commissioner
of Police is able to bring to bear upon him, he may become a sincere friend of
the British Government,
Copy of a memorandum dated the 5th February 1915 by the Commissioner of
Folice, Bombay.
So far as we are at present acquainted with the two men, Talib Bey and
Sheikh Salim A1 Khayyum, we decidedly prefer the character of the latter.
According to Talib’s dependents he is given over wholly to wine and
women and was very corrupt in his administration. This estimate of his
character is borne out by Arabs, now resident in Bombay, who regard him as a
first class “ badmash.” Curiously enough Talib Bey is known to Sub-Inspector
Martirosi of the Criminal Investigation Department, who spent two years in
Basrah, and this officer reports that he is treacherous and cruel. He states that
it was Talib Bey who had Colonel Farid Bey assassinated in Basrah, about the
same date that Mahmud Sheoket Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. was assassinated in Constantinople.
Lastly the Pir of Baghdad has sent me a private message to beware of Talib.
I think, therefore, on the information given above and on the opinion
which my Musalman Criminal Investigation Department officers have formed
of him that Talib Bey is the real “ badmash ” and that we should do ourselves
no harm if we have him sent to Madras, where the Arab population is compar
atively trivial
I recommend this course for the further reason that Talib Bey is giving
the Pir of Baghdad a good deal of trouble and annoyance. He turns up at the
Pir’s house at all hours of the day and night and orders dinner for himself,
even if the Pir Saheb is out. The Pir is afraid that he may turn up one day in
a drunken condition and disgrace himself, and therefore the Pir also, before the
Memons and Arabs who are on visiting terms with the Pir. As I have