'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.' [‎30v] (65/386)

47
x-l • vwv+onnA of keet)in w the Musandim promontory
Home auhorities upon the im P 0 ^ of the han( f s ° f a r i va l European Power,
with its excellent anchorages • political status of that district and to
Lord Curzon’s attention was b P e advisable to take there. The polU
the measures of precaution vv hie ° id d ith re f e rence to the Declaration
tical situation i^'Z^rslfand ftench Governments mutually bound them-
of 1862 by which the Britis c Sultan of Oman; for, if the territory in
selves to respect the mdependen Sultanate, action there by Britain
or France—but not nece^ } ‘Lui inn t committing themselves to any par-
result the Government ot Indn , ^ ^ re0 ommended that possession
ticular view as to the owne^ of M^mhm.jeoomme ^
Bh0Uld tl^t e S e 5e 0 ars a nrev,Wv by Um Indo-European Telegraph Department,
rf aetion wUd be preserved to the British Government in respect of it fore,gn
interference being at tl,e same time excluded in virtue 6f au agreement between
the Trub'iaf Chiefs and Great Britain; whereas, if in consequence of d.sturhanoes
then in*progress it were to pass to the Sultan of Oman, it would become sub-
ject to the provisions of the Declaration of 186-.^
Both proposals of the Government of India revived the sanction of His
Maiestv’s Government; but, at the end of 1903, before that relating to Elp un-
stone Inlet had been carried into effect, Lord Curzon made a personal inspec ion
of the Musandim districts and immediately on his return to India placed
further suggestions before the British Government. He first drew attention
to the excellence of an anchorage, enclosed by the islands of K > slim ’ Llrak
and Hormuz and extending up to Clarence Straits, as a place of rendezvous
for a fleet that desired to command the entry to the Gulf and to prevent the
acquisition of Bunder Abbas and the neighbouring islands by a foreign Power,
hut he did not regard it as a site where a coaling station was likely to be es
tablished nor as one which would call for defence. Lord Curzon then proceeded
to discuss the best means of preventing the occupation by foreign powers of
the fine harbours of Elphinstone Inlet and Malcolm Inlet and of the anchorage
of Khor Kawi situated between Sheep Island and the main; he advised that
action should he taken by placing flagstaffs on Telegraph Island, on the
Maklab isthmus, and oil Sheep Island. His proposals were approved by
His Majesty’s Government and in November 1901 the flagstafis were duly
erected. A difficulty subsequently arose as to the pattern of flag to be
flown and, while this question was still undecided, fresh facts came to light
which showed that the Musandim districts could not be regarded otherwise
than as a part of the Sultanate of Oman and therefore as subject to the
Declaration of 1862. It was accordingly decided to do away with the flag-
staffs, and those on Maklab and Sheep Island were removed in November 1905 ;
that on Telegraph Island was left in situ pending further consideration of the
question. At the same time proposals which had been made by the Government
of India to construct a light-house either on Musandim or on one of the Quoin
Islands, partly in the interests of navigation and partly to strengthen the
position of Great Britain in Musandim, were suffered to fall into abeyance.
In the course of these strategical discussions the British station at
Bassidore on Kishm island necessarily
Bassidore. attracted notice. It was found that the
British flag had not hitherto been hoisted there except on Sundays and upon
special occasions, and the Government of India accordingly directed that it
should in future be flown every day from sunrise to sundown. The limits of
the station were also investigated and found to be indefinite, and Lord Curzon
suggested to His Majesty’s Government that it was possible, and might l>e
advisable, to claim for it the same boundaries as had belonged to the earlier
Portuguese settlement. Steps were taken to discourage immigration into
Bassidore and the growth of a free port, which might have resulted in serious