‘Foreign Department Notes. Arms Traffic in the Persian Gulf.’ [5v] (10/22)
The record is made up of 1 file (11 folios). It was created in 1909. 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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s
We agree that for the present we should confine ourselves to naval activity adopting the
proposals of the Admiral [vide paragraph 9 of Mr. Reynolds* note) with one important modi
fication, viz., that the blockade should be maintained for a full year. Arms are now sent over
weekly and stored on the Mekran coast until the Afghan caravans come down.
We also advise that an officer of the Intelligence Branch be attached to the detachment at
Jask with a view to organise a regular system of intelligence ; and that Mr. Gregson of the
North-West Frontier
Region of British India bordering Afghanistan.
Police be put on special duty to work between the frontier and Karachi.
He has special knowledge. He, of course, would be in close communication with the
officer at Jask. Much can be done to make the trade more difficult and dangerous. Many of
the men who own the caravans are financed by the bankers of Dera Ismail Khan district
and come down through that place to Karachi.
There is reason to hope that the gun-running business will languish if an effective
blockade is kept up for a year. The business is sensitive and it is run with borrowed money.
For this reason the more and the sooner we advertise that we are going to have a naval
blockade the better.
It can be considered later, in communication with the Minister at Tehran, whether a
garrison should be placed again at Robat, and, if so, in what strength. Perhaps it will be
sufficient to withdraw the telegraph officer from Dehaneh.
The case may go, in the first instance, to the Army Department. The Foreign Depart
ment and our two greatest frontier experts consider the position to be so grave, and to be full
of so much danger in the future, that any expenditure incurred now to prevent the situation
developing further will be in the nature of insurance against larger expenditure. We thinfc
that there is still time to take effectual preventive action. Had we been able to come to terms
with France such action could have been taken at a smaller cost. We waited in this hope.
Action should no longer be delayed. It would seem desirable to address the Secretary of
State by telegram.
S. H. Butler, —5-7-09.
Army Department (Confidential).
Memorandum showing the papers forwarded to 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.
with the Foreign
Secretary^ letter No. 28 M., dated the 8th July 1909.
The Chief of Staff’s Division may see with reference to General Mullaly’s note, dated
the 4th June 1909, in Marine Department B, July 19U9, Nos. 1263-1264.
S. C. B.,—8-7-09.
Secretary has seen.
E. W. S. K. Maconchy,—8-7-09.
Chief of the Staff's Division.
About this item
- Content
Printed copies of correspondence and memoranda relating to the arms traffic in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. :
- a letter from Leonard William Reynolds of the Government of India, dated 29 June 1909 (ff 2-3)
- a confidential letter from the British Minister to Belgium, Arthur Henry Hardinge, to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Edward Grey, dated 3 May 1909 (f 4)
- a letter from the 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. at Maskat [Muscat], Robert Erskine Holland, dated 5 July 1909 (ff 4-5)
- a memorandum written by Wilfrid Malleson of the Intelligence Branch, Indian Army Headquarters, dated 10 July 1909, also signed by the Officiating Chief of Staff in India, Herbert Mullaly, and the Chief of Staff in India, Beauchamp Duff (ff 6-7)
- further copies of correspondence signed by Malleson, Mullaly, Duff, and others including the Commander-in-Chief in India, Horatio Herbert Kitchener, and the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, Spencer Harcourt Butler (ff 8-10)
- a confidential memorandum written by Robert Erskine Holland, dated 27 June 1909 (f 11)
- Extent and format
- 1 file (11 folios)
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 11; 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.
Pagination: this part also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
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- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/20/289/A
- Title
- ‘Masqat Arms Traffic. 1908–1909.’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:35v, 38v:61v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence