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'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.' [‎30r] (64/386)

The record is made up of 1 volume (189 folios). It was created in 1907. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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46
inspired by pan-Islamic propaganda, and it may have been due to an impression
that Britain was making use of her influence in the Gulf to give the struggle
then proceeding in Nejd an ending unfavourable to Turkish interests.
In order to impart a clear idea of the aims and methods of Britain’s principal
* • rivals in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. we have dwelt
at some length on their proceedings and
have abstained from reference to the counter-policy of the British and Indian
Governments. That policy it is now time to examine, and we proceed to consi
der it under two principal heads. Under the first head matters of which the
scope is co-extensive, or nearly so, with the Gulf are discussed, while the second
is concerned with those possessing a more restricted significance. The first head
falls naturally into divisions which correspond with the subjects of naval strategy,
naval organisation, naval and other demonstrations, political representation,
sanitary control, mercantile navigation and commerce, miscellaneous under
takings, pearl fisheries and arms trade; under the division of mercantile naviga
tion and commerce are included such matters as steamer, postal and tele
graphic services, commercial missions and concessions. The second head,
relating to the political affairs of particular localities, can be most conveniently
distributed according to territorial divisions. The multifarious activities with
which we are about to deal under these two heads were not all, by any means,
directed to the neutralisation of foreign influence, and some of them had a
non-political origin; but they all ministered to the consolidation of British influ
ence in the Gulf, and, in the measure in which they did so, they must be
regarded as of political importance.
The apparent intention of the Russian Government in 1900 to establish a
naval station in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , to-
British nava strategy. gether with the proceedings of the Trench
at Bunder Jisseh in the previous year, obliged the British Government to consi
der what counteractive measures would be required in case of a Russian, or of a
combined Russian and French, scheme being carried into effect. The question
thus raised was one to which Lord Curzon gave unremitting attention during
his term of office, more especially after his cruise in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. at the
end of 1903, by which he profited to make a study upon the spot of the physical
elements of the problem. His attention was from the first concentrated on the
entrance of the Gulf, command of which implied control of its internal
waters, and he early recognised that the cluster of islands lying off Bunder
Abbas together with the mountainous, deeply indented promontory of Musandim
on the Arabian side constituted the key of the situation. In 1901 Lord Curzon
recommended that, in the event of the Russians occupying any Persian harbour
near the mouth of the Gulf, or acquiring political or naval privileges there such
as would constitute a violation of the integrity of Persia, the British Naval
Officer Commanding in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. should have instructions at once to
plant the British flag upon the three islands of Hormuz, Hen jam and Kishm;
Hormuz would be occupied, not with the idea of making it a principal naval
station, but in order to prevent its being seized by Russia, and for the sake of
commanding Bunder Abbas; while Henjam was required on account of the
anchorage situated between it and Kishm, and Kishm must necessarily be
taken both as a base of supplies for Henjam and because of the British station
of Bassidore already existing there. The harbour of Elphinstone Inlet upon
the western side of the Musandim promontory was held by Lord Curzon to
possess many advantages but to he less suitable, because of its distance from
the main track of steamers and from the Persian coast, its total lack of supplies
and the uncivilised character of the aboriginal inhabitants of Musandim, for an
ultimate British naval station at the mouth of the Gulf ; he saw, however,
no objection to the hoisting, in the contingency contemplated, of the British flag
on the isthmus of Maklab between the heads of the Elphinstone and Malcolm
Inlets, not necessarily with a view to ulterior occupation but in order to
anticipate seizure by any other Power. His Majesty’s Government concurred
generally in the views enunciated by Lord Curzon, but in regard to the ins
tructions to he given to the Naval Officer Commanding they were of opinion
that these should not be of the nature of standing orders investing a local officer
with discretionary powers. In 1902, great stress having been laid by the

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Content

Printed at the GC [Government Central] Press, Simla.

The volume is divided into three parts: Part I (folios 5-47) containing an introduction; Part II (folios 48-125) containing a detailed account; and Part III (folios 126-188) containing despatches and correspondence connected with Part I Chapter IV ('The Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ', folios 28-47).

Part I gives an overview of policy and events in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. region during Curzon's period as Viceroy [1899-1905], with sections on British policy in Persia; the maintenance and extension of British interests; Seistan [Sīstān]; and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . Part II contains more detailed accounts of selected topics, including sections on British policy in Persia, customs and finance, quarantine, administration, communications, and British and Russian activity in Seistan. The despatches and correspondence in Part III include correspondence from the Government of India in the Foreign Department, the Secretary of State for India, and the Viceroy; addresses and speeches by Curzon; and notes of interviews between Curzon and local rulers.

Mss Eur F111/531-534 consist of four identical printed and bound volumes. However, the four volumes each show a small number of different manuscript annotations and corrections.

This volume contains manuscript additions on folios 11, 40-41, 47, and 142-146.

Extent and format
1 volume (189 folios)
Arrangement

The volume contains a list of Parts I-III on folio 4; a table of contents of Part I on folio 6; a table of contents of Part II on folio 49; and a table of contents of Part III on folios 127-129, which gives a reference to the paragraph of Part I Chapter IV that the despatch or correspondence is intended to illustrate.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 191; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'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.' [‎30r] (64/386), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/532, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100070112822.0x000041> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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