Coll 34/7 'Slavery: Slave Traffic and Gun-running: Right of search by H. M. ships in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf' [255r] (509/576)
The record is made up of 1 file (286 folios). It was created in 11 Dec 1929-3 Feb 1948. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
CONFIDENTIAL.
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.
- T
B. 410.
P. 540(5/26.
Arms Traffic in the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, 1908-1928.
Introductory.
1. The Foreign Odiee (Supplementary) Memorandum of 1908 deals with
the earlier history of the arms traffic in the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
. At the date-
of that Memorandum the States, other than Muscat, bordering on the
Gulf, had declared the trade illegal, or had agreed with His Majesty’s
Government for its suppression. 'The absence of any restrictions on the
import and export of arms from Muscat, which was prevented from imposing
restrictions by its treaties with foreign Powers, had, however, led to the
concentration of the traffic in that State, and so to a situation which the
Government of India and His Majesty’s Government, vitally interested in
checking the flow of modern arms of precision to Afghanistan and the
North-West Frontier
Region of British India bordering Afghanistan.
of India, regarded with the utmost gravity.
2. The period now under review is marked by the conclusion of
arrangements which have effectively curbed the arms traffic in Muscat and
by the reduction to insignificant dimensions of that traffic in the Gulf as a
whole. The present Memorandum proposes briefly to set out the treaty
engagements and agreements concluded on the subject between IIis Majesty’s
Government and the States bordering on the Gulf, and, after a reference to
the Arms Traffic Conventions of 1919 and 1925, to refer to the more
important developments in the Gulf between 1908 and 1928 in connection
with the suppression of the trade in arms.
Treaty Engagements, &c., of States bordering on the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
.
3. With the exception of the King of the Hejaz and Nejd, the rulers
whose States border on the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
at the present date are bound by
treaty or agreement to prohibit and suppress the arms traffic in their
territories. The import of arms into Persia was prohibited by the Shah in
1881, and again in 1900. In 1897 Her Majesty’s Government secured from
the Persian Government a
firman
A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’).
, under which the Shah empowered Her
Majesty’s ships in the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
to examine and search all merchant
vessels in the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
and confiscate and hand over to the Persian
Government all prohibited arms found on board. This
firman
A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’).
remains
in force.
On the Arab littoral of the Gulf, the Sheikh of Bahrein agreed in 1898 to
prohibit the traffic in arms in Bahrein territory ; the Sheikh of Koweit gave
a similar undertaking in 1900, as did the Trucial Chiefs in 1902. The
import of arms into Turkey (and so, up to 1914, into El Hasa and El Katr)
was prohibited in 1862 ; and the Sheikh of El Katr, under his treaty with His
Majesty ’s Government of 3rd November 191(5, undertook the same obligations
in the matter as the other Trucial Chiefs. By a Proclamation of 1898, the
Sultan of Muscat, who in 1881 had prohibited the import of arms at
Gwadur, his dependency on the Makran coast, authorised British and
Persian war vessels to search British, Muscat, or Persian vessels for arms in
Muscat waters, as well as Muscat vessels in Indian and Persian waters, and
to confiscate arms and ammunition intended for Indian or Persian ports.
In 1903 he empowered British (and Italian) vessels to search Muscat vessels
suspected of carrying arms on the high seas; and in 1912 an agreement
was reached with His Highness by His Majesty’s Government for the
establishment in his State of a warehouse regime, the result of which has
been to dispose of the Muscat arms traffic as a serious issue. Ibn Sand
alone of the rulers whose States border on the Gulf remains unfettered by
any agreement in the matter.
The Arms Traffic Conventions of 1919 and 1925.
4. Save in the case of the Sheikh of El Katr, the engagements referred
to in the preceding paragraph had been concluded before the European
3158 75 10.28
About this item
- Content
Correspondence, memoranda, minutes, and notes relating to arms and slave traffic in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . Principal correspondents include officials at 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. , Foreign Office, Colonial Office, and Admiralty. Further correspondence, included as enclosures, comes from: the High Commissioner (later, 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. ), Baghdad; the Political 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 the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Bushire; the Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Division; the British Legation, Tehran; Government of India, Foreign and Political Department; Commander-in-Chief of HM Naval Forces, Mediterranean Station; British Legation, Jeddah, and the Board of Trade.
The majority of the file concerns the discussion of arms smuggling in the region, with a particular focus on the right of HM ships to search vessels for arms and slaves. Matters that are discussed include the following:
- Arms traffic across the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. into southern Persia, thought to be supplying the Qashqai rebellion taking place there
- Persian complaints about British sympathy for the Qashqai rebellion
- Revision of naval instructions concerning powers to search and detain vessels in the region
- Arms traffic into Palestine via Akaba [al-Aqaba].
Papers of note included in the file include the following:
- Convention for the Control of the Trade in Arms and Ammunition, and Protocol, signed September 10, 1919 (folios 270-287)
- Record of an interdepartmental meeting held at the Foreign Office on the 24 April to consider the instructions to be issued to the Senior Naval Officers in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , regarding the search by HM ships of Arabian, Persian, and Iraqi vessels for slaves and arms (folios 92-103).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (286 folios)
- Arrangement
The file is arranged in chronological order from the back to the front.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 287; 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 in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 34/7 'Slavery: Slave Traffic and Gun-running: Right of search by H. M. ships in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf' [255r] (509/576), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/4094, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100066488402.0x000070> [accessed 29 March 2024]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/4094
- Title
- Coll 34/7 'Slavery: Slave Traffic and Gun-running: Right of search by H. M. ships in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:246r, 247v:256v, 259r:259v, 266r:269v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence