File 1855/1904 Pt 8 'Koweit:- Arabia Chiefs' attitude towards tribes of the interior (Nejd etc.)' [‎75r] (147/336)

[Confidential,]
No. 2719, dated Bushire, the 24th November (received 4th December) 1906.
From— Majoe. P. Z. Cox, C.I.E., 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,
To—The Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign Department.
^ I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Foreign Department
telegram No. S.—148, dated 13th November 1906, repeating to me the terms
of the reply cabled by His Majesty’s Secretary of State to the Government
of India’s reference in connection with my letter No. 2181, dated 16th
September 1906.
2. I note that His Majesty’s Government adhere to their previous view
that our interest must be confined to the coast ; and it goes without saying
that no steps will be taken without previous sanction to enter into relations
with Nejd or to send agents to the interior ; hut my immediate difficulty is
to find a suitable reply to the references made through the local officers by
Sheikh Mubarak of Eoweit and Sheikh Jasim of Katar on behalf of Bin
Saood ; references which have in no way been courted but which I cannot
leave unanswered without incurring among the Chiefs concerned a reputation
for personal negligence or discourtesy, which would be prejudicial to my work
in other ways.
As it is obviously advisable that the replies vouchsafed to the references
Bahrein, No. 500. dated 17th November 1906> previously reported, 3S Well as to the
and enclosure. further one just received from Sheikh
Jasim bin Thani, which I now enclose, should be authoritative and in terms
which would be considered suitable by His Majesty’s Government, I shall be
grateful for the advice of the Government of India as to the precise language
which should be used.
[Confidential.]
No. 500, dated Bahrein, the 17th November 1906.
From— Captain F. B. Prtdeaum, Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Bahrein,
To—The 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. , Bushire.
I have the honour to report that on the 10th October 1906 I received a
brief note, translation attached, from Sheikh Jasim bin Thani, written with
his own hand, requesting me to visit him for a few minutes’ conversation.
2. It was inconvenient for me to go to Lusail within a reasonable time
after the receipt of this note; I therefore deputed my Interpreter, Mr. Inamul
Hak, to visit Sheikh 'Jasim, instructing him only to receive the old Chief’s
message, and not to give any reply in my name. Mr. Inamnl Hak reached
Lnsaif on the 23rd October 1906, and left the following day for Doha in the
boat by which he had travelled from Bahrein, as he would otherwise have
been detained at Lnsail for an indefinite time waiting for a means of return.
3. Shaikh Jasim’s message transpired to be connected with the affairs of
Abdul Aziz bin Saood. The latter had requested his friend to communicate
with me, because he suspected that the Chief of Koweit had been represen
ting his cause to the Government of India in lukewarm manner and it seemed
possible that Sheikh Mubarak was afraid of his own importance being over
shadowed if Abdul Aziz succeeded in achieving his ends.
4. The resources of Nejd are stated to have been strained to the utmost
bv the recent internecine wars, and Bin Saood considers that the oases of Hasa
and Katih-were always the most profitable possessions of his TVahhabi ances-
torsHeis anxious, therefore, to recover the two districts and he proposes
that a secret understanding should be arranged between the British Govern
ment and himself, under which he should be granted British protection from
Turkish assaults at sea, in the event of bis ever succeeding in dnving he
Turks, unaided, out of his ancestral dominions. In return for this protection
the Amir is willing to bind himself to certain agreements (probably similar to
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