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'A Précis of the Relations of the British Government with the Tribes and Shaikhs of 'Arabistan By Lieutenant A T Wilson, Acting Consul for Arabistan' [19r] (42/143)
The record is made up of 1 volume (68 folios). It was created in 1912. It was written in English and Farsi. 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. .
Transcription
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23
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diplomacy. He is essentially a man of peace and prefers to exhaust every
means of persuasion before having recourse to arms. Circumstances were
however too strong for him : the Bani Turuf imbroglio soon developed and
the notorious Haji Sabhan returned to Hawizeh to put himself at the head of
the forces of disaffection. After several abortive efforts towards a peaceful
settlement, the Shaikh was obliged to collect a force of from 15,000 to 20,000
men a portion of which advanced on the Bani Turuf in the middle of Novem
ber 1908. After some skirmishing a split in the enemy’s ranks, which may be
counted on so confidently in any emergency in this country, made a settlement
easy. AJi Minaishid and Zair ’Ali were exiled and replaced by Salih
Mutailij and As! : Haji Sabhan was taken to Failiyeh as a hostage where he
remained during 1910.
Ghadhban of the Bani Lam as usual supported the Shaikh without
taking any active part in the affair. Shaikh Mubarak of Kuwait assisted
the Shaikh by the loan of a number of rifles and a large quantity of ammuni
tion.
The meeting of the Shaikh of Mohammerah in April 1908 with certain
of the Bakhtiari Khans, namely, Haji Khusrau Khan, Ghufam Husain Khan
and Nasir Khan, deserve special mention. It resulted in an agreement
signed by Najaf Quli, Samsam-es-Saltaneh, as well as by the above mentioned
Khans, the Shaikh and his son Shaikh Chasib Khan, Nasrat-ul-Mulk* whereby
the two parties agreed to be friends, to prevent disputes, and to assist each
other in all matters. The agreement is reproduced as Appendix 13 to this
report. It has remained a dead letter, however, and its only value lies in its
exposition of the points of possible conflict between the Shaikh and the Khans
and of the proper means to prevent such a conflict.
The year 1909 was comparatively uneventful. Haji Saif-ud-Dauleh left
the province in May 1909 without troubling to wait for the permission of
Government. He lived with the Shaikh for the whole period of his sojourn
in Arabistan, never once having gone to Shushtar or Dizful, which towns,
perhaps in consequence, were fairly quiet, though the road between them
was unsafe for the greater part of the year.
Aqa Rahim, a minor Bakhtiari notable, was occasionally Governor of
.Dizful during the year and did his best to stir up trouble amongst the Arabs
and Hawizah and Northern ’Arabistan against the Shaikh, but his efforts
were not attended with success.
Shaikh Khaz’al found it necessary in June 1909 to replace Hanzal, his
nephew, by his eldest son Chasib, Nasrat-ul-Mulk, in the Deputy-Governorship
of Nasiri. Hanzal was accused of conspiring to murder the Shaikh, but there
was a good deal of doubt as to the genuineness of the charge, which probably
affected the Shaikh less than a desire to instal his son at Nasiri.
Haji Fakhr-ul-Mulk who arrived in Shushtar in October 1909 as Gover
nor of ’Arabistan at first adopted a somewhat aggressive attitude to the
Shaikh, but this ceased on personal acquaintance and during 1910 no serious
difference of opinion arose between them : it was a year of peace as far as
Southern ’Arabistan was concerned, although Shushtar and Dizful were in
their usual state of chronic anarchy which necessitated the Shaikh collecting
an army at Ahwaz in July for the purpose of restoring order at Shushtar.
On the arrival of the army at Band-i-Qir, however, the usual proposals for a
compromise were made, and accepted by the Shaikh, who withdraw the army
forthwith. The presence of the force at Nasiri under arms also served to
encourage the belief in the mind of Saulat-ud-Dauleh that the Shaikh was
ready to assist him in his difficulties with the Bakhtiari and the Central
Government if need be. In reply to applications for assistance, the Shaikh
told him that the army was all ready, and that no necessary step would be
omitted—a cryptic utterance, designedly vague, but effective for the time
being in enabling the Shaikh to temporize.
In June Farhan Assad had attacked the Shaikh’s Arabs, who had built
a fine dam on the Shaur river. The dam was broken out of pure wantonness,
and several men killed. The army that was intended to pacify Shushtar
served to bring Farhan to heel for the moment, and the Shaikh as usual
About this item
- Content
This volume consists of a précis issued by the Government of India which provides comprehensive details regarding the history of relations between the British Government and the tribes and rulers of 'Arabistan. The volume is divided into eleven sections as follows:
- I. British Interests in 'Arabistan;
- II. 'Arabistan: Internal Politics up to the death of Haji Jabir and genealogical table of Shaikhs of Mohammerah, 1527-1881;
- III. Shaikh Miz'als's rule, 1882-1897;
- IV. Shaikh Khaz'al's rule, 1897-1910;
- V. Shaikh Khaz'al and the Persian Customs;
- VI. Shaikh Khaz'al: Political Relations with British Government;
- VII. Piracies;
- VIII. Turko-Persian Frontier Question;
- IX. Shaikh of Mohammerah and Turks;
- X. Irrigation in 'Arabistan;
- XI. Acquisition and Tenure of Land in 'Arabistan with Annexes.
Between folios 51-70, the volume contains a number of appendices including copies of various relevant agreements. On folios 69-70, the volume contains the Persian text of a concession granted to the Nasiri Company for running ships from Ahwaz to Shushtar.
The volume was compiled by Lieutenant Arnold Talbot Wilson, Acting Consul for 'Arabistan. The printing statement reads, 'Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, 1912'
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (68 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume opens with a contents page (folio 4) followed by a prefatory note (folio 5), a list of relevant officials (folio 6), a schedule of appendices (folio 7), eleven chapters of text (folios 8-50) and ends with sixteen appendices (folios 51-70).
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 70; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located at the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An original printed pagination sequence is present in parallel between ff 8-65.
- Written in
- English and Farsi in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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'A Précis of the Relations of the British Government with the Tribes and Shaikhs of 'Arabistan By Lieutenant A T Wilson, Acting Consul for Arabistan' [19r] (42/143), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/70, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034861789.0x00002b> [accessed 5 August 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/20/70
- Title
- 'A Précis of the Relations of the British Government with the Tribes and Shaikhs of 'Arabistan By Lieutenant A T Wilson, Acting Consul for Arabistan'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:22v, 24r:46v, 49r:52v, 57v, 65r:66r, 67r:68v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence