'SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS AND MEASURES OF THE VICEROYALTY OF HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON OF KEDLESTON VICEROY AND GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA. PART I - The Persian Gulf.' [‎23r] (50/92)

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Lord Lansdowne, the British Minister for Foreign Affairs, proposed after con
sulting the Cabinet that the whole question of the French flag in Oman
should be referred to the Hague Tribunal: the suggestion was accepted by the
Government of the French Republic and the Sultan’s prisoners were informally
released. A formal agreement for the transference of the dispute to the Hague
having been executed in London on the 13th October 1904, the case was in
due course brought to the cognisance of the Tribunal and was finally decided
by it on the 8th of August 1905. The award demolished the whole system of an
imyrrium, in imperio which the French had laboriously erected in Oman.
Practically all grants of the French flag made after the 2nd of January 1892,
that is to say the large majority, were declared invalid; the transfer of the
French flag* even when regularly granted, to new owners or vessels w r as prohi
bited ; and it was distinctly laid down that the possession of the flag, could not
in any circumstances confer rights of exterritoriality or exemption from the
Sultan’s jurisdiction on shore The question now appears to be all but closed
in so far as Oman is concerned, and it is improbable that the grant of
of French flags will now be attempted in the other districts of the Gulf which
are not covered by the Tribunal’s decision. At the time of Lord Curzon’s depar
ture from India the local execution of the award had not been altogether
completed.
It is a remarkable fact that the stringent measures of 1899, assisted by the
subsequent appointment to Maskat of Captain Cox, a Political officer of unusual
qualifications whom Lord Curzon personally selected, had the happiest effect
upon the attitude of the Sultan towards the British Government, and that after
the crisis his entire influence was thrown into the British scale, while his rela
tions with the British representative were marked by exceptional cordiality
and confidence. In October 1899 payment of the subsidy was resumed, and in
1900 the financial obligations of the Sultan to the British Government w r ere
completely liquidated out of the accumulated arrears of the subsidy. At the
beginning of 1903 Saiyid Taimur, the eldest son and heir apparent of the
Sultan, attended the Coronation Durbar A public or private audience held by a high-ranking British colonial representative (e.g. Viceroy, Governor-General, or member of the British royal family). at Delhi on his father’s behalf; and
at the end of 1903, as we have already seen, Maskat was honoured by a visit
from the Viceroy of India, at which Saiyid Faisal was invested with the G. C.
I. E. The changed sentiments of the Sultan were clearly proved by his
behaviour after the massacre on Masirah island in August 1904 of the ship
wrecked crew of the British ship “Baron Inverdale,’ , for he proceeded in person
to the scene of the tragedy and by persevering inquiries and personal exertions
at length succeeded in bringing several of the chief offenders to justice. The
reconciliation with Britain also reacted favourably on the Sultan’s political and
financial position. In the interior he was enabled to extend his authority in
several directions ; the unruly port of Sur, which in 1898 had risen against him,
was in 1901 brought under a proper degree of control; and a rebellion organ
ised in the Rustak valley in. 1903 by some of the Sultan’s hereditary enemies
failed ignominiously for want of support. At the end. of 1899 the Sultan,
influenced by British advice, undertook a reform of his customs administra
tion ; and this, though partial only, resulted in a substantial increase of his
revenues. Notwithstanding considerable loans accepted by the Sultan from the
Government of India af ter 1900 for various useful purposes, including the
purchase of an armed steam-vessel, his liabilities, which in 1895 amounted to
some $200,000, had by 1905 probably been reduced; but the extent of his
indebtedness to private creditors is necessarily uncertain. The " Nur-el-Bahr ”
has done good service in strengthening the Sultan’s authority over the ports of
Oman.
The question of the rendition of Gwadur by the Sultan of Maskat to the
Khan of Kelat, which had been discussed about 1860 and again in 1885 and
1891, was revived by Lord Curzon in 1902 in consequence of recent indica
tions* that the attention of Russia had been attracted to Gwadur; it was
however decided that no immediate steps in the matter were necessary. In
1903 the Khan of Kelat requested but did not obtain the good offices of the
British Government to assist him in recovering Gwadur, and in 1904 a frivolous
claim to the place was advanced by the Jam of Las Bela and was discouraged.