File 1855/1904 Pt 9 'Koweit:- Relations with Turkey. Sheikhs claim to Bubiyan, Warba & Umkasr' [‎307r] (215/228)

The Right Hon’ble St. JOHN BRODRICK,
His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India,
In his Secret despatch No. 196, dated the 17th December, His Excellency
the Viceroy briefly mentioned his recent visit to Koweit and the Khor Abdulla,
and the prospects of the shores of this waterway as a future possible railway
terminus. "We now have the honour to address you in greater detail on the
subject.
2. It will be within the recollection of His Majesty’s Government that
early in 1902 it was reported that the Turks had established a post at the head of
the Khor Abdulla. The Commander of H. M. S. “ Sphinx”, who was sent to
enquire into the matter, visited the locality between the 14th and the 19th of
Eebruary, and reported that, in addition to a position wdiich they had occupied
at Um Kasr, the Turks had, for the first time about a fortnight previously,
stationed a force of some 20 men on the south-east corner of Bubiyan island.
This unwarranted encroachment was at once brought to the notice of your
predecessor, reference was made to the importance of the positions seized, and it
was proposed by the Viceroy that the Turks should be told that they must at
once leave Bubiyan, even if no protest were offered against the occupation of
Um Kasr. On the 26th March, Lord George Hamilton telegraphed that
it was considered inadvisable to raise irritating discussions about the move
ments of Turkish troops to places to which the Sheikh’s title would be difficult
to prove, and it was explained that His Majesty’s Government did not wish to
obstruct the prolongation of the Baghdad Railway to the Gulf, whether at
Koweit or elsewhere. It was added, however, that their assistance would
he conditional upon British capital receiving, in respect of construction,
materials, and management, at least equal shares with any other Power. In the
event, no action was taken to assert the Chief’s claims beyond an intimation
to the Porte that their action was regarded as constituting a disturbance of the
status quo, and that the occupation of the places in question could not be
regarded as in any way prejudicing the Sheikh’s rights and authority over
them; and the Turkish posts still remain at Um Kasr and A1 Geit, where they
were then established.
3. The importance of the question lies in its relation to the future
probable terminus of what is known as the Baghdad Railway. Article I of the
Convention, dated the 21st January 1902, between the Turkish Government
and the promoters of this enterprise provides that the projected railway shall
run from Zobeir to a point on the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. to he determined by mutual
agreement between the Ottoman Porte and the Company, and there appears to
he no doubt that the Turkish advance of 1902 to the shores of Khor Abdulla
and the island of Bubiyan was designed to enable the concessionaires to secure,
without reference to His Majesty’s Government, what was already recognised
by the German Engineers, and has since been generally acknowledged to be,
the most suitable terminus on the Gulf. The first section of the line is now,