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File 2830/1914 Pt 1 'Persian Gulf: Sponge Fisheries. Sponge Exploration Syndicate.' [116r] (236/488)
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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
As regards the liaskat Concession, I suspect that it
was obtained chiefly with the idea that the production of it
by natinoglou before Arab Sheikhs further north would facili
tate the acquisition from them of similar Concessions covering
the waters of the Gulf as far as Bahrein , admittedly one of
the main objectives of the Syndicate and probably the chief
one.
The Sheikhs concerned having been duly warned, a
fact ol which Hatinoglou must have heard through his Agents,
the Syndicate will no doubt let Maskat waters alone for the
present, as being lessfiikely to afiord a lucrative prospect
ing ground and ?vrill confine their energies to the exploit
ation of waters covered by their Tehran Concession.
The ilaskat Concession in itself I do not regard as
of much individual importance ; I objected to it rather from
the fear of what it would open the way to. ±nit in case it
should, later on, come into evidence On its separate merits,
I fear that the first condition of it, relied upon by the
Secretary of State in the correspondence under reference,
would prove of little or no help to us, owing to the fact
that we should not, i imagine, have the co-operation of the
Sultan, seeing that strict observance of the condition would
be opposed to his personal interests.
I think it may be taken for granted that in a
matter like this His Kighnesr Seyyid Faisal would not be
prompted
About this item
- 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 View the complete information for this record
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File 2830/1914 Pt 1 'Persian Gulf: Sponge Fisheries. Sponge Exploration Syndicate.' [116r] (236/488), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/456, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100038235551.0x000025> [accessed 7 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/456
- Title
- File 2830/1914 Pt 1 'Persian Gulf: Sponge Fisheries. Sponge Exploration Syndicate.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:9v, 11r:11v, 13r:18v, 21r:33v, 36r:49v, 51r:70v, 73r:83v, 85r:89v, 90v:98v, 99v:128v, 132r:157v, 165r:199v, 203r:209v, 211r:220v, 223r:233v, 236r:238v, 241r:241v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence