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File 4259/1912 'Persian Gulf: Turks and lighting and buoying' [‎115v] (235/242)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (119 folios). It was created in 1912-1914. 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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8
conference of Erzeroum, but they have also had recourse to the great store of
information collected by the well-known savant Major (afterwards Sir Henry)
Rawlinson, who was well acquainted with the country, and made a profound study
of the territorial position in the Mohammerah region, based upon historical facts and
the deeds of title relating to each particular plot of land. ^ Moreover, much information, ft
which was not at the disposal of the Commissioners at Erzeroum, has been traced in
the voluminous records of the East India Company, who carried on direct trade with
Bussorah from the year 1635. These records are especially illuminating in regard to
the conditions which actually prevailed on the waters of the Shatt-el-Arab during
the 17th and 18th centuries.
The accompanying maps indicate the line of the frontier as it has been locally
observed for a century or more. For facility of reference, the line may be followed
firstly, from the neighbourhood of Hawizeh to the point where it strikes the Shatt-
el-Arab, and, secondly, along the course of that river until it reaches the sea.
By reference to the accompanying map No. 1, the village of Shu’aib will be
observed at a point 15f miles on a bearing of 8 degrees north of west from Hawizeh :
it is a settled village of the Beni Salih, containing some 500 inhabitants living in
permanent dwellings. The whole country, comprised approximately in a triangle
formed by lines joining Hawizeh, Shu’aib, and Kuskh-i-Basri, is regularly occupied
and cultivated by the tribes of Beni Salih and Beni Sakain, who are not nomadic, in
the ordinary sense of the term, but are settled inhabitants.
These tribes, who exclusively inhabit, and where possible cultivate, the triangular
tract above referred to, have belonged from time immemorial to Hawizeh, which has
been a recognised district of the Persian province of Khuzistan or Arabistan for, at any
rate, four centuries. They pay revenue to their tribal sheikhs, who formerly passed
it on in tribute to the “ Maula ” ruler of Hawizeh, who in turn paid it to the Persian
Government, but, since 1902, this tribute has been collected through the agencv of
the Sheikh of Mohammerah.
To the eastward of the marsh on which the village of Shu’aib is situated, and
southwards, as far as human occupation prevails or is possible, there is not the
slightest sign of Turkish influence or jurisdiction, nor of Turkish status.
The British Resident in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. has recently visited the Hawizeh district,
and his investigations have served to confirm the information which His Majesty’s
Government already possessed. Apart from the sheikhs and tribesmen of the Beni
feahli and Beni Sakain, Sir Percy Cox came in contact with many old inhabitants
who could speak with long experience in regard to the territorial status quo. The view
universally expressed as to the frontier was as follows
, }• T *? a £ whatever is the western boundary of the Hawizeh is, ipso facto, the
rentier ot Persia: m other words, that the Hawizeh district is included within the
confines of Persia.
2. That the “Hawizeh district” comprises those lands which are regularly
occupied and cultivated by tribes belonging to it, and paying revenue to Persia,
i a 1 .’ 011 abo\e premises, the boundary locally recognised is that shown
in 6 011 ^ w *h he noticed that the line (which is formed by
^ ^i 0 e T^ arsa ’ ami is thus a natural frontier), after crossing the Ghor-el-Azem,
r U . he ehani i el of th .e marsh just west of Shu’aib, continues in a
( J ie ? I0n mfid it reaches a point due west of Kuskh-i Basri, whence it breaks
Iht K 1 in! P ace ’. and then proceeds direct to the Shatt-el-Arab at Di’aiji. The reason
existfwp f 1 aSri , 18 recognised as an angle of the boundary is referable to the
, , t ; 'i a "i" 11 :1 v ® 111 raln water at Yafair; the limit of cultivation and
fron, P f hrJ’L, rlbeS T U ,v n l ler HawlZel1 in this Action is regulated by the distance
and this limii ^ G a ^ air ’, a *' which they can safely dwell and keep their flocks,
extensive S i™ C f 0Usld f ed be r <*ched Kuskh-i-Basri, where the ruins of an
extensive building of great age form a convenient landmark.
informalion^ re^anhnghthe fronder ^of Tla** 1 P £ SS f ssion of P recise aud trustworthy
uncertain antlinrfi; .i wt on ” 1 ® r °I Hawizeh, have no occasion to appeal to more
Ottoman Governmp V ^ not without interest to recall to the Imperial
not usually nr, ,.rl 1 * 1Jervish Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , whose estimates of Turkish claims were
(printed in Cons an J 7 T deratl0D ' admits “ Chapter XIII of his book
Government to ln\- ,■! - °*V tbat h would be hardly right ” for the Ottoman
h rExScv , t ' ‘ m 11 the ° 0Un u try 0f Hawizeh - ^gh, in the subsequent chapter,
excellency expresses the view that it “ might be useM ” for Turkey to claim it as

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Content

The volume comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, and notes, relating to lighting and buoying installed by the Turkish Government in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .

Correspondence discusses concerns over the erection of a Turkish lighthouse in Fao and the basis upon which a protest could be lodged. Also discussed is the deployment of a Turkish lightship in the Shatt al-Arab, through the replacement of the old Turkish vessel ( Kilidi Bahr ) by a new lightship ( Jaffari ) and the ramifications of the correspondence with the Turkish Government about this matter. Dredging of various marine navigation channels by the Turkish Government is discussed. Part of these discussions and negotiations involved the creation of a Shatt al-Arab Navigation Commission.

The principal correspondents include the Viceroy (Charles Hardinge), 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. ; HM Ambassador to Constantinople (Sir Gerard Lowther); and HM Consul at Basrah (Francis Edward Crow).

Extent and format
1 volume (119 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 119; 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.

Written in
English in Latin script
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File 4259/1912 'Persian Gulf: Turks and lighting and buoying' [‎115v] (235/242), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/305, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100035885758.0x000024> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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