File 4535/1928 Pt 8 ‘ – PERSIAN GULF – QUESTION OF ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTECTORATES OVER KOWEIT, BAHREIN, MUSCAT, TRUCIAL COAST.’ [‎70r] (133/194)

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inquired ” (i.e at the mouth of the Gulf) “ should not be either at Bunder
Abbas or on the adjacent islands but on the Ras Musandim promontory or
the Arabian shore. There would otherwise be risk of our being driven bv
military force from our necessary naval base. Moreover, the only anchorages
which can be trusted are on the Arabian shore.” ^ M
07 Ahnost simultaneously the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. had suggested that
it inight be desirable to choose Ras Musandim as a site for a lighthouse in
preference to Little Quoin," and the Government of India, in the light of the
expression of the views of the Admiralty quoted above, were prepared to
A Sie f i? the substitution “apart from the considerations arising from the
Anglo-brench Declaration of 1862.”t *
(18. In April 1913 the Government of India reported that the Director,
Royal Indian Marine, saw technical objections to the selection of Musandim
as the site for a lighthouse on the grounds that “thick weather over
Musandim is the rule rather than the exception . . . further . . worst
tides experienced anywhere in the Gulf and its approaches are found round
Musandim Island. |
69. In May the Admiralty expressed the view that “ while a naval base
on the Musandim Peninsula would theoretically be in a somewhat better
stiategical position for the control of a railway passing along the northern
shore of the entrance to the Gulf, if threatened by a hostile advance from
tlie north-west, practical considerations point rather for the present to the use of
Men jam . . with Basidu as a subsidiary base. It does not appear necessary
to contemplate the actual fortification of a naval base in this region so long
as we retain the command of the sea in Eastern waters.”8 This disposed
o the question of a station on Musandim; and it was agreed that the
lighthouse m contemplation should be erected on Little Quoin as beino-
preferable from the strictly navigational standpoint.
i —^ e 1 re _ a PP i ear 1° have been no developments until in February 1927
the I olitical Resident|| indicated that Khassab was of value, not merely ]n
connection with the air route, on which it would constitute a jumping off
ground for Gwadur on the Makran coast, but for strategical reasons, since
the country possessing it can practically command egress from and ingress
to the 1 ersian Gulf. Sir L. Haworth therefore favoured the purchase of
Rhassab from Muscat, possibly for about £12,000, and the establishment
of a Gibraltar at the head of the Gulf.” He regarded this as practicable
vis-a-vis^ h ranee, m view of the right of pre-emption enjoyed bv His
Majesty s Government under the Exclusive Agreement of 1891.
t i- 1 ' have been expressed on the subject by the Government of
India. With the Persian challenge to the position of His Majesty’s Govern
ment m Basidu and Henjam the possibility of establishing, if not a fortified
uise, at any rate a station, in the Musandim Peninsula or on one of the
adjoining islands, on two of which (Telegraph Island and Sheep Island) the
British flag has for a short period been hoisted in the past, becomes of more
immediate importance. But, financial and strategical considerations apart,
the extent to winch His Majesty’s Government are free agents vis-d-vis
r ranee, who though aware of, is not a party to, and has never formally
recognised, the Exclusive Agreement of 1891, will call for careful examina
tion before a decision can be taken.
(c) The Cession of Gwadur.
,< 2. It was decided in 1868 after exhaustive examination that no attention
need oi could be paid to the claims to Gwadur, a dependenev of Muscat in
Makran, ou the Persian littoral of the Gulf, of the Khan of Kalat or of
tle ,,:Volr* klS ' 11,18 decislon was reaffirmed by the Government of India
in 1928.^|
^ ie c l !ies R ()11 of its retransfer to Kalat at a price was raised bv the
1 oliUcal Agent, Muscat, in 1921, when the financial situation of Muscat was
critical, but the Government of India were instructed** that no overtures
should be made to the Sultan of Muscat without prior reference to His
Majesty s Government, and the matter dropped.
* Tel. from Pol.
Res. to G. of I.,
Jan. 3 1913, P. 700.
t Tel. from Viceroy
to S. of S. for I.,
Mar. 12 1913, P. 951.
+ Tel. from Viceroy
fo S. of S. for I.,
April 26 1913,
P. 1663.
§ Admiralty to
F.O., May 1 1913,
P. 1733/28.
i| Desp. 1 from Pol
Res. to G. of I.,
Feb. 19 1927,
P. 1575.
Letter from G.
of 1. to A.G.G.
Baluchistan, July 18
1928, 1*. 4140/28.
** Tel. 1176 from
S. of S. for I. to
Viceroy, Sept. 1
1920; Viceroy to S.
of S. for I., 1182 S.,
Oct. 9 1920,
P. 6271, 7513.