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File 2830/1914 Pt 1 'Persian Gulf: Sponge Fisheries. Sponge Exploration Syndicate.' [‎27r] (58/488)

The record is made up of 1 volume (240 folios). It was created in 18 May 1905-11 Dec 1916. It was written in English and French. 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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A
No. 1,367 A., dated the 25th June 1906.
Prom— Major P. Z. Cox, C.T.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 The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ,
To The Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign Department.
With reference to the correspondence ending with Foreign Department
09 * Pro - No - r>93 in Secret E > 1900, Nog. 634- endorsement* No. 1348 E.-B., dated 27th
fi r i* i March 1906, I have the honour to reoort
2 Just as I was leaving head-quarters, Mr. Malcolm, learning that I
business 11 ' 0 Pr ° Ceed Slm a ’ aSked f ° r “ interview with ™ urgent
He informed me that Mons. Hatinoglou, the representative of the Sponge
Exploration Syndicate, had been dining with him the evening before aSd
"'hi e . discoursing expansively on the bright prospects of his Syndicate had
explained that their present concession dealt specially with sponges but that it
was expected as a matter of course, that the acquisition of pearl-fishing privi-
leges would lollow in due course. r
Under these circumstances, Mr. Malcolm said that he had come to remind
me of the old concession which he, with a reputable British Syndicale at his
bach, had practically acquired from the Persian Government, but of which
Colonel Ross had managed to procure the withdrawal by means of pressure
applied upon the Persian Government at Tehran. He remarked that his
treatment by the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. in regard to this matter had alwavs remained a
sore point with him, but that it was an old story now, and he did* not wish to
trouble me w ith it, what hn desired to say was that he believed he was still in
a position to form a powerful syndicate of British merchants, and to secure
the grant of a similar concession to that which he had succeeded in obtainino-
before.
He continued that, in view of the change of conditions brought about by
the Hatinoglou concession, he hoped that His Majesty’s Government might
he prepared to modify their attitude in his favour, and that, as he learnt that
I was proceeding to Simla, he had come to ask me to “sound ” the Government
of India on the subject.
3. In reply, I said that he, Mr. Malcolm, was, I knew, aware of the,
altitude which the British Government had always maintained in regard to the
Gulf Pearl Fisheries, and that I had no reason to think that the Sponge
Syndicate’s concession had caused them to modify that attitude, but that I
would not fail to lay his representation before the Government of India.
The history of Mr. Malcolm’s former negotiations of 1890 is on the records
of the Foreign Department, having been communicated under Bushire Resi-
+ Fro. No. 358 in Secret E , June 1894, Nos. 351- dency letter No. 32,f dated 21st April
36 °- 1894, and I need do no more than refer to
that correspondence.
4. With such a weak syndicate to deal with as that which Mons.
Hatinoglou represents, I always felt that a possible and convenient course would
have been to have procured the withdrawal botii of the Maskat and Persian
concessions the moment we heard of them. I am afraid, however, that they
must now be regarded as accomplished facts, and indeed the Persian concession
has already excited a good deal of notice and comment in official circles in
Bushire, and probably in other ports, owing to the uncertainty which exists as
to whether this Syndicate, at one time reported to be “ British ” and at another
“ Greek ”, does or does not give cover to some mysterious political move on the
part of Great Britain in the Gulf.
In any case, there can he no doubt that the existence of this concession
considerably alters the aspect of the Pearl Fishery question and of our position
in regard thereto.

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Content

The volume concerns the attempts of a British company called the Sponge Exploration Syndicate to obtain concessions for the fishing and exploitation of sponges in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . However, the papers indicate that it was felt by British officials that the real object of the company was to exploit the Gulf's pearl banks, which entailed the risk of infringing Britain's treaty obligations with the Arab states.

The principal correspondents are the Foreign Office; Major Percy Zachariah Cox, acting as Consul-General for Fars, Khuzistan etc., and 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. ; officials of the 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. and the Government of India; the Viceroy of India (the Earl of Minto); and the Sponge Exploration Syndicate Limited.

The papers include: letters of application for concession rights from the company; the granting of a concession to the company by the Government of Persia; the granting of a concession to the company by the Sultan of Muscat; a report by the British Museum, on the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. as a possible area for successful sponge fisheries (folios 175-176); the involvement of the company with the rulers of the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ; and the rights of British-protected Arabs. The volume also contains an Admiralty chart of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. on folio 50.

The French language content of the volume consists of an agreement on folios 129-131.

The date range gives the covering dates of the main items of correspondence. This is mainly dated 1905-09, with one item dated 1916. The correspondence also includes enclosures dated 1892 (folios 214-215).

Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, year the subject file was opened, subject heading, and list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 1).

Extent and format
1 volume (240 folios)
Arrangement

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

The subject 2830 ( Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. : Sponge and Pearl Fisheries) consists of two volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/456-457. The volumes are divided into two parts with each part comprising one volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 242; 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 and French in Latin script
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File 2830/1914 Pt 1 'Persian Gulf: Sponge Fisheries. Sponge Exploration Syndicate.' [‎27r] (58/488), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/456, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100038235550.0x00003b> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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