'SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS AND MEASURES OF THE VICEROYALTY OF HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON OF KEDLESTON, VICEROY AND GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA IN THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT. I. JANUARY 1899-APRIL 1904. II. DECEMBER 1904-NOVEMBER 1905. VOLUME IV. PERSIA AND THE PERSIAN GULF.' [‎8v] (21/386)

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W been supreme, and a British Consul-General exercised a predominant local
influence. Shiraz was the seat of an Indian Agent. At Bushire a British
Resident and Consul-General presided over our interests in the Gulf. Kerman
was the site of a temporary British Consulate wdiich had recently been
created. Seistan had newly attracted the notice of the Indian Government;
a trade route had been opened from Quetta to the Persian border, and officers
had been despatched to safeguard British interests at Nasratabad. Meshed was
the seat of a British Consul-General; and despite its proximity to the Russian
frontier, and its remoteness from every British base of commerce, had
formed for many years the centre of a substantial British trade. I he Imperial
Bank of Persia had agencies at Resht and Tabriz, Ispahan and Yezd, Shiraz
and Bushire, and at Meshed.
But there are two regions which require a special notice. The first is the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . The second is Seistan.
In the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. now, as in 1899, the northern shore and territorial
waters are included in the dominions of
special interest in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . p ers i a ; its western and southern coasts
are partially owned and partially claimed by Turkey, or are in occupation of
Arab tribes, w T ho prosper under the veiled protectorate of Great Britain. The
islands in the Gulf are owned either by Persia or by .Arab Chiefs. Bahrein,
the most important, is under British protection. Next in note is Kishm; the
island is owned by Persia; but Great Britain possesses an enclave at Bassidore
by virtue of grant from the Imam of Maskat, to whom the island originally
belonged. At Jask a reserve of British territory exists under an agreement con
cluded in 1887 between the British and Persian Governments; here and at
Charbar small detachments of Indian troops are stationed for the protection
of our telegraph officials. The peace of the Gulf, first enforced after a long
and arduous struggle with the Arab pirates who infested its southern coast, ia
still maintained by British ships and British authority. British trade possesses
almost a monopoly of the foreign commerce. Indian merchants from Shikar-
pur and other parts of Sind have settled in considerable numbers at Lingah,
Bunder Abbas, Bushire, and Bahrein, and handle the bulk of the foreign trade.
More than one Anglo-Indian carrying company, the “ British India ”, the
“Bombay and Persiaand the “ Anglo-Arabian and Persian Gulf”, have
maintained for years a merchant steamer service between Karachi and Basrah,
touching at the Gulf Ports on the w r ay. Por some years prior to 1899 British
trade amounted to over 80 per cent of the entire commerce of the Gulf ; while
British vessels numbered more than 80 per cent of the steamers which
entered and cleared from the Gulf Ports. The maintenance of the sub
marine cables of the Indo-European Telegraph Company from Fao to
Jask, and of the land lines from that place to Karachi, has tended to increase
an already preponderant influence. At the north-west extremity of the Gulf,
the still independent Sheikh of Koweit has bound himself and his successors
not to receive the representative of any other Power than Great Britain and
not to alienate any portion of his territory to the Government or subjects of
any other Power. At and outside the entrance to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , but included
within the same political sphere, the Arab State of Maskat has for years
been controlled by British influence; its trade is in Anglo-Indian hands ; and
its Ruler, though supported by the joint declaration of Great Britain and
France of 1862, has not merely for years been subsidised by the Government of
India, but in 1891 entered into a formal engagement not to alienate any
portion of his dominions to any other Power. Such, briefly summarised, is the
position that has been won by Great Britain in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , not without
the expenditure of many millions of money and the sacrifice of many valuable
lives, in its vindication we have more than once been called upon to enter into
military occupation of ports or islands in the Gulf. The island of Kharak
was occupied by Indian forces from 1838 to 1842, and again in 1856-57.
Bushire was held during the latter years, as also were Mohammerah and
Ahwaz upon the Karun. The occupation of these places was an illustration
of the vigour with which in past years our ascendancy has been maintained.
Their abandonment was a proof of the reluctance which has invariably been
displayed to emphasise or to perpetuate these responsibilities.