Coll 30/90 'Persian claim to the island of Bahrain' [‎107v] (219/1062)

22
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To Teh.,
No. 22,
30.3.1870.
have remarked that Persia and Great Britain had an equal interest in the mam-
tenTnee of peace by sea and that Persia had therefore no reason to object to he
punishment of the delinquent. But he protest^ m strong terms against the
Resident's action in prevent n ^d a™stinger p“^ w^ “ade by th!
communication with the bheikh ana a sun suon^ci p P ,vh an stive
Persian Minister in London. The Government of India m the exhaustive
reports they submitted on the Resident’s action, urged, after a review of the
history of the islands, that the Shah had no legitimate control over the sheikh
of Bahrein: that his Government had, nevertheless, encouraged ihe piratical
fqoiinn in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. bv sending letters of recognition to the piratical
leader; that in styling Sheikh Md. bin Abdullah Chief of Bahmn the Persian
Government ignored the facts that he had never held sway in Bahrein, belonged
to the younger branch of the ruling family and so had neither by right nor
possession cfaim to this title: and that, so far from the Shah having any just
cause of complaint against the Resident, the Persian Government should be
called upon to give some explanation of the conduct ot its officeis in encouraging
a piratical expedition which was prejudicial to British interests m the Persian
Gulf and for the successive appointment by them of Ah bin Khalifa and Md. bin
Khalifa to the sovereignty of a district over which they haa no legitimate control.
The Government of India added that they had no confirmation of the alleged
overtures of Sheikh Ali bin Khalifa to Persia (paragraph 87 above), as to which
further enquirv was being made of Her Majesty’s Minister (see paragraphs 94-
95 below), but m any event could not admit c ‘ that such overtures, made without
its knowledge and consent, can in any way affect its treaty relations with
Bahrein.’’
British Reply to Persia, March 1870
93. Her Majesty’s Minister was therefore instructed by the Foreign Office
that it appeared possible that Her Majesty’s Government, instead of furnishing
explanations to Persia, might have cause to complain of the proceedings of the
Persian authorities in endeavouring to communicate with a piratical chief who
had been guilty of a breach of the Maritime Truce, and who had attacked the
Chief placed in power at Bahrein by the British Government,’ and was
informed that no notice would be taken of the complaints against the Resident
until the Persian Government gave a full explanation of the intercepted letters.
Supplementary Reports by Her Majesty's Minister, Teln % an, April 1870
94. On 6th April, 1870, the Minister at Tehran reported as follows to the
Government of India :—
“ In my Despatch No. 81. ... I reported that the Firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). of appoint
ment was originally in the name of Ali bin Khalifa, but that, on hearing of
his death, it was altered in favour of his brother, Md. bin Khalifa. This
information had reached me from a relation of . . . one of the principal
Persian officials in Shiraz, and not . . . from the Persian Minister for
Foreign Affairs. When further intelligence reached Shiraz from the Gulf
and it was supposed that Md. bin Abdullah would retain possession of
Bahrein, the Firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). was probably again altered in his favour, as it was to
him that it was eventually forwarded. In conversation with the Persian
Minister this afternoon, His Excellency admitted that this was probably
the case. He said that Mirza Mehdi Khan on leaving Tehran had received
general instructions for his guidance respecting the Bahrein question, but
that the details were settled at Shiraz and the Firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). was issued in the
name of the Persian Governor of Pars and not in that of the Shah. The
name inserted in this document had certainly, he said, been altered once to
his knowledge, and it was not unlikely that it had been changed a second
time before being forwarded to its destination.
“ With regard to the overtures said to have been made by Ali bin
Khalifa to the Persian Government, as reported in my Despatch No. 81, I
have the honour to state that that information also reached pie from a
private source and not from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. His Excel
lency has, however, asserted very positively to me to-day that Ali bin Khalifa
had repeatedly written to the Persian Government professing allegiance to
the Shah and that a number of letters containing assurances of this kind
are now in his (the Minister's) possession.
“ It appears to me that on the receipt of a correspondence which passed
last April between Her Majesty’s Government and the Shah’s representative