File 4535/1928 Pt 8 ‘ – PERSIAN GULF – QUESTION OF ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTECTORATES OVER KOWEIT, BAHREIN, MUSCAT, TRUCIAL COAST.’ [‎85v] (164/194)

2. The ex-Sheikh Isa, still nominally sheikh, appealed to the Viceroy against
his deposition, and through his solicitors despatched a caveat to Government saying
that he was not bound by the acts of his sons. An appeal to the League of Nations
by Persia forwarding an appeal by Sheikh Isa or one of his relations on the lines
of the Persian protest in 1869 would, I think, place u's in a difficult position. While
I do not consider this a very likely event now, owing to our better relations with . A
Sheikh Isa, it does not seem to be sound politics to leave so important a matter to
chance; there are many other combinations to consider, such as Sheikh Hamad
himself changing his view with regard to us; interference by Ibn Saud with the
religious appeal; indeed, any of the possible derangements which can occur where
matters depend upon the personal element alone.
3. In studying the question of the development of our position in Bahrein to
its present condition many other matters arise, such as the still existing claims of
Persia, and in the past those of Muscat, the Wahabis, the Egyptians and the lurks,
all of which affect the validity of the Persian demands.
4. In order to prevent one despatch being too unwieldy 1 have found it necessary
to divide the subject into two despatches, the first dealing with the subjects mentioned
in the above paragraph, i.e., the international aspect, the second dealing with the
facts which led to our taking so intimate a part in the internal administration of the
islands and with the degree to which that interference has now reached.
The first despatch is bound to be a long one. When I say that the important
dates which we have to consider to-day are 1783, 1803, 1811, 1820, 1822, 1838, 1848,
1859, 1869, 1880, 1886 and 1892, while many other dates of almost equal importance
occur, it will be seen that a period is covered during which constant activity was
kept up which cannot be disposed of in a few pages, and of which activity every
incident which I quote has an important bearing on the decisions and the opinions
to be formed.
5. In this despatch, then, I will deal with the history of the sheikhdom for the
last 150 years, showing how Bahrein became involved in our policy in the Persian
Gulf and the facts upon which Persia bases its claim to the island, a claim which
she has never dropped though it is a century and a half since she has had any form
of jurisdiction in the place.
In actuality both the Wahabis and the Sultan of Muscat have had far more
recent possession of the islands, and the claim of Persia has been kept alive by purely
diplomatic or fictitious incidents which have occurred through the difficulties in
which the Sheikhs of Bahrein have found themselves, either in preserving their
independence, or in meeting the activities of rival pretenders to the sheikhdom.
The claims of Persia would not intrinsically stand the test of examination by a
committee of the League of Nations.
6. For the purpose before us it is necessary to go back to the year 1782, at
which date Bahrein was unquestionably in possession of the Persians, who had first
occupied it in 1602, when they expelled the Portuguese. How long they held it has
apparently not been determined, but in 1718 the islands were taken for a short time
by the Omani Sultanate. In the middle of the 18th century the Howalah Arabs
controlled the politics of the archipelago, but in 1753 the Persians definitely occupied
the islands. In 1783 they were once for all driven out by the Arabs, led by the
sheikhs of the Utah tribe, who still hold Bahrein to-day.
7. When it is said at anv time that the Persians held the Bahrein Islands, the
expression needs explanation/ Until as recently as 1854 Bushire, from whence the
sea power came, was held by an Arab sheikh under Persian sovereignty, and to this
day the Persian islands of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. are occupied by Arabs and Arab sheikhs,
who are similarlv Persian subjects. These are the men who supplied th£ ships and
the crews which acted for the Persians in Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. history; the Persians have
never been seamen. , .. . , T . . A
8 Thus in 1783, Bahrein was held by the Arab Sheikh Nasir of Bushire, under
the orders of the Persian Government, then settled at Shiraz. The garrison, when
attacked by the Arabs from the southern mainland, was commanded by Sheikh
Nasir’s son, and after a siege of two months’ duration, the latter capitulated on the
27th July, and the garrison were permitted to return to Bushire. .
Henceforward, the archipelago was ruled by the A1 Khalifeh section of the
Utabi tribe, a fact which gave umbrage to the Jatahmieh section of the tribe, who
withdrew to Qatar on the mainland, whence the Utah had come, and who, for many
years to follow, supplied claimants or joined in with other claimants for the attacks
on the ruling sheikhs.