'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.' [‎33v] (71/386)

and in particular to meet the demand for sanitary precautions on the coast of
Persia which followed the outbreak of bubomc plague in India m 1896. In
i«Q7tle Persian Government delegated their sanitary powers in respect of the
Idmle^Persfan coast to the British Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. Surgeon at Bushire, and consent,
ed^that British medical subordinates should he placed m sanitary charge of the
ports of Mohammerah, Bushire. Lingah, Bandar Abbas and Jask ; tins was an
event of no small political significance, for it not only emphasised the
predominant interest of Great Britain m Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. affairs, but also
removed a pretext of which the Russians were ready to ava. themselves for
political interference at the Gulf Ports. In 1899, a small outbreak of plague
bavin 0 ' occurred at Bushire, an expert was despatched from India to cope with
the situation; the prospect of compulsory sanitary precautions excitea a
popular disturbance at Bushire, hut it was repressed by the local authorities
without having attained serious proportions, and the disease did not spread
beyond Bushire town where it shortly died out. Except for this slight con
tretemps the sanitary arrangements worked smoothly at all the Persian ports,
la 1903 an endeavour by the Persian Imperial Customs to supplant the British
medicalWaff in the sanitary control of the Persian ports was defeated ; and a
further attempt, made in 1904 by the doctor of the French Vice-Consulate in
coniunetion with the Customs authorities, to restrict the functions of the British
Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. Surgeon at Bushire to the harbour and shipping was equally unsuc
cessful. Both of these efforts to annul the arrangement of 1897 were coun
tenanced by the Persian Government, and the encroachments of the Customs
officials did not finally cease until a stern diplomatic protest had been addressed
by the British Minister at Tehran to the Persian Government.
The introduction of sanitary precautions at Mashat and Gwadur was
attended by some difficulty on account of the opposition of the Sultan of Oman ;
hut that potentate was gradually brought to a reasonable view of the
situation and in 1900 he voluntarily placed his preventive establishment under
the control of the British Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. Surgeon at Maskat. A sanitary system was
also introduced at Bahrein in 1897 under British advice, but its benefits were
more than neutralised by the covert opposition of the Sheikh, and in 1900 the
Government of India were constrained to insist upon its abolition ; in 1905, on
the reappearance of plague in Bahrein, a subordinate of the Indian medical
establishment was sent there to take charge of measures which the Indian Gov
ernment had resolved to introduce, but the disease disappeared before his arrival
and no further steps were taken. The Victoria Memorial Hospital in Bahrein,
founded by private subscription in 1901 and opened in 1905, was taken over by
the Government of India who are now responsible for its maintenance ; and in
1904 a dispensary was opened at Koweit in connection with the British Political
Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. established at that port.
In view of the endeavours of Mussia from 1900 onwards to capture a
larger share of the trade of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , in view also of the increased
^ . ... , mercantile activity in the Gulf of Ger-
many and other nations, it was important
that no means of strengthening the predominance of British commerce should
be neglected. The steps taken to foster British trade included the execution
of new marine surveys, the acceleration of passenger communication and
mails, the improvement of telegraphic facilities, and the despatch to Persia of
two commercial missions which also served to some extent the interests of
trade in the Gulf. A number of these measures w r ere advantageous to foreign
as well as to British merchants, but the prestige of their execution remained
with Great Britain, and British trade being the largest in volume benefited most
by the improvements. The subject of the commercial missions has already been
disposed of and we accordingly deal here with the remaining subjects only.
The principal points in the Gulf at which it was sought to increase the
conveniences for merchant shipping were Bushire, Koweit, Bahrein and the
Marine surveys. mouth of the Shat-el-Arab ; the survey
of the southern approach to Bassidore,
which has already been mentioned under another heading, was also in part
commercial. The resurvey of Bushire harbour was chiefly for the purpose of
ascertaining whether large vessels could he brought into the inner anchorage;
it was carried out in 1904 with the consent of the Persian Government; and
the result was to show that, while the deepening of the inner harbour and its