Notes Prepared for Reference during Curzon’s Tour of the Persian Gulf, and Other Papers on Persia and the Persian Gulf [‎5r] (9/678)

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expansion or modification of the quo, which would tend to curtail the
Chief’s authority in any way and make our protectorate more apparent, would,
I feel sure, he against the Sheikh’s wishes. He has now all he wants. He is
protected against attack ; his son’s succession has been assured ; and, so far as the
internal administration of his inlands are concerned, he is virtually independent,
subject of course to the benevolent supervision of the Assistant 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. .
I am inclined, however, to think that the time has now come when the expan
sion of the status quo is desirable from our point of view, however much such
an expansion may be distasteful to the Chief. Bahrein of recent years seeny^ to
have attracted more attention on the part of the foreigners, and I consider that
we should take some steps to make our protectorate more apparent. The most
suitable way of doing this will be, in my opinion, to put the Customs question
on a more satisfactory footing. We have, I consider, ample grounds for taking
such a step. The maintenance of the Chief’s independence is/solely dua to us,
and now that we have promised to recognise the succession of his eldestfson, we
have become to a certain extent the gWrdian of the interests of this son, and
are, I consider, fully justified in trying to secure for this son, as far as possible,
a prosperous and unembarrassed succession. The present Chief’s affairs are in
anything but a satisfactory condition, and are bound, so far as I can see, to go
from bad to worse. He has many people dependent on him for support,
and the number of these will gradually increase : moreover, he has the usual
extravagant ideas of hospitality of which full advantage is taken. The conse
quence is that he is generally hard put to it to provide himself with funds,
and as you are aware, he has had to farm his Customs for some years ahead
in. order to provide himself with money fp^i his current expense. The
Hindu Customs farmers have, of course, taken full advantage of the position
and are reaping large profits, which, if the Chief were a sensible man, ought
to go into his own pockets. It is useless to argue with him in,this matter : he is
satisfied with matters as they are, and the fact that his son will succeed to an
embarrassed property does not trouble him in any way; “ after me the deluge ”
is his motto; all he wants is to be left in peace for the remaining years of his
life, and he trusts to fate and the British Government to arrange matters after
his death. This, in my opinion, is fair to no one, and I think that the Chief
should now be told that the system of farming his Customs does not commend
itself to the Government of India and must be changed. There is no desire to
curtail the Chief’s independence in any way; all we want to see is that the Chief
himself should be relieved from his difficulties, and that the affairs of his State
should not be embarrassed when his son succeeds him. We have no desire to
take over the management of his Customs : this will remain in the Chief’s hand
as heretofore. All jthat is desired is that the Customs should be efficiently
managed in the interests of the Chief himself and of trade generally. As the
Chief has no one who is sufficiently conversant with Customs matters, we desire
to lend him the services of a trained Customs officer, who will reorganise the
department for him, and be under his orders generally so far as the manage
ment of the department is concerned.
This is not the place to enter into details of the scheme which will, of
course, have to be dealt with officially, and which will, I feel confident, present
no insuperable difficulties, if the .Chief’s sentimental objection that his inde
pendence is being aimed at is disregarded, as it may, in my opinion, very fairly
be. Sooner or later the change must be made, and although, from motives
of personal regard for the Chief, I would prefer that his inclinations should
not be so directly opposed and that the change should come after his death,
still, for all we know, he is good for another twenty years of life, and I am
satisfied that early steps in the matter should be taken both from consider
ations of the political situations at Bahrein and of the future welfare of the
islands. With the Customs virtually in our hands, that is to say, managed
by us for the Chief’s benefit, we should be able to remove various incon-
veniences^uch as, for instance, the high transhipment fees, we should gain
more knowledge of the trade situation, and we should make our protectorate
clear to the Turks and to the world at large. It is possible that it may not
he deemed necessary or advisable that this matter should be brought forward
during the Viceroy’s visit. I have, however, considered it necessary to place
my views before you, as you have asked me to indicate whether any