Coll 30/33 'Persian Gulf, Trucial Coast. Policy of H.M.G. List of Trucial Sheikhs' [‎309r] (617/818)

o. There are various causes which have contributed to the
failure of the present methods- Firstly, there was some
hesitation at first in deciding which were the most suitable
places at which to establish landing-grounds, and it is only
recently that a definite decision has been arrived at on this
subject. As a result facilities have first been asked for at
. i* 1 ;. place a iid ^nen at another and no definite steps have been
ta±cen to obtain them anywhere except that 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. iv;ent
has stored some petrol in his own godown at Shargah, and a
dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. containing petrol has been moored in the creek at Ras-al-
111 aina n. The result has been that the attitude of the British
Government has been completely lisunderstood by these primitive
and bigoted Shaikhs, .and they have undoubtedly now-a-days a
totally erroneous conception of the power and readiness, in the
last resort, of the British Government to enforce its demands.
Secondly, ridiculous as it may seem, 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. Agent infor
med me recently that they have heard accounts of the League of
nations wliich they had gathered was some super- government of
whom the British Government were afraid and which would no
xonger permit the latter to adopt, in future, the methods which
it hc*d ad opt a u in the past. Thirdly, thase views have been
strengthened by events on the Persian Coast. They have seen
that the 3 riti sh Government no longer adopts towards the
Persian Gcvern.xnt the line they adopted formerly. Such instan
ces as that of the treatment accorded to the Sheikh of Ifohammer
ah: the refusal of the Persian authorities to recognise Britiaa
passports issued to Bahrainis and others: their refusal to
ow.it tne nationality of Bahrain subjects at Moha iwerah and
elsewhere: the Tanb incident: all these have created an impress
ion on the minds of the pri litive Arabs on th£ Opposite coast
that the British Government are no longer as powerful now as
formerly. Finally must, be added the fact that the Resident has
for some year^been deprived of his despatch vessel and has,
m consequence, seldom been able to visit them and when he did