'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.' [‎33r] (70/386)

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success and appreciably strengthened the ties which unite the Arab prin
cipalities of Eastern Arabia to the British Empire. The demeanour of the
Sultan of Maskat was that of a loyal feudatory of the British Crown rather
than of an independent sovereign ; and by the Sheikh of Koweit the Viceroy’s
visit was regarded as finally binding him to the British cause and as setting the
seal upon the protection and overlordship of the British Power.
The foundation of new consular posts in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. by the Russian,
Erench and German Governments was met by an even greater activity on the
British consular establishments, part of Eord Curzon s Government in
guards and residences. reorganising and extending their politico-
administrative arrangements. A Vice-Consulate was created at Bandar Abbas
in 1900, and was raised in 1904 to the status of a full Consulate with jurisdic
tion extending from the Shibkuh ports on the west to the coast of Persian
Baluchistan on the east ; the Consul was also appointed Assistant Resident
for the Musandim promontory, for the Arab islands of Bu Musa and Tanb and
for the British station of Bassidore. The Bushire 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. and Consulate-
General was strengthened in 1904 by the addition of a Vice-Consul of the
Levant A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. service, and in 1905 by the creation of a Second Assistantsbip to the
Resident ; in 1905 also, by arrangement with Persia, the First Assistant to the
Resident and the 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 Mere invested with the rank of Consul
and Vice-Consul respectively for the ports of Southern Persia. In 1904 the
Vice-Consul at Mohammerah, a member of the Levant A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. consular service, was
promoted to the dignity of Consul ; and a Vice-Consulate for Arabistan, to be
held by a political officer of the Indian service, was instituted at Ahwaz. In
Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. a regular Vice-Consulate in charge of a native gentleman was
opened at Kerbela in 1903, taking the place of an honorary agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. which had
existed for a number of years, and in 1905 an additional subordinate officer was
attached to the Baghdad 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. for commercial work. A Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
was established at Koweit in 1904, a native news- agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. instituted in 1899
being at the same time abolished. In Bahrein an Uncovenanted Political
Assistant was substituted in 1900 for the native agent Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government. who had until then been
the custodian of British interests in the principality ; and in 1904 this officer
in his turn made way for an Assistant Agent who was shortly afterwards
invested with the local rank of Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. . Except where the contrary
has been stated the officers appointed to the new posts were all members of the
Indian Political Department.
Closely associated with the subject of political representation is that of the
military guards by which the safety of the consular and other officials is
assured and the dignity of their office maintained. The manner in which this
question was settled for the whole of Persia has already been described, and
here it only remains to add that, in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , the strength of the con
sular guards at Ahwaz and Bandar Abbas w^as fixed at 12 sabres and at 4
sabres and 16 rifles, respectively ; that an infantry detachment of 28 of all
ranks was provided for the protection of the Bahrein Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. ; and that
arrangements were made for increasing the numbers or improving the
composition of the 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. guards at Baghdad and Bushire. The improve
ment of British consular residences effected under Lord Curzon’s orders
has already been mentioned in its general aspect ; in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. region it
was exemplified chiefly in Bahrein where an excellent house for the Political
Agent was built in 19*01-02, at Basrah where a new double-storeyed Consulate
was completed in 1903, at Maskat where in 1904 a handsome block of build
ings on the sea front was added to the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. as quarters for the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
Surgeon and Telegraph Officer, and at Baghdad where a palatial new 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.
on the river bank, with numerous accessory buildings, came into existence
in 1904-05. Designs were also prepared for a Consulate building at
Bandar Abbas, for a Vice-Consulate at Ahwaz, and for a Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. at
Koweit. Almost the entire cost of the buildings completed during Lord
Curzon’s Viceroyalty was borne by the Government of India. In 1905 arrange
ments were made to provide the R.I.M.S. “Comet,” the despatch vessel of
the Baghdad 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. , with a motor launch.
"While the British political and consular establishments in the Gulf were
everyw here utilised to the utmost extent, the services of a British medical staff,
draw n from India, were requisitioned at
different points for semi-political purposes,
British sanitary organisation.