'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.' [‎34r] (72/386)

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approaches would he useless so long as the bar of the Shat-el-Arab continued to
regulate the draft of the vessels employed in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , the dredging of
a channel from the inner anchorage up to the wharves of the town would
be an advantageous and probably not a difficult operation. The Persian Gov
ernment, however, would not undertake the work of deepening the channel
themselves, nor would they permit it to be executed by the Government of
India. The harbour of Koweit was partially resurveyed in the season of 1904-
05, and steps were taken to ascertain whether the boat harbours of the town,
which were dry at low water, could be improved, but it was. found that this
could not be done without inordinate expense ; the investigations however led
to a fuller appreciation of the advantages of Bunder Shuweikh, a well shelter
ed boat anchorage three miles west of the town. In 1905 the Government of
India sanctioned the construction at their own expense of an improved beacon
at the entrance of Koweit bay in place of a private beacon which had been
erected there by a steamship company. In 1905 the buoys of the British
India Steam Navigation Company marking the entrance of the Shat-el-Arab
were moved by the Indian surveying vessel “Investigator ” to more suitable
positions, but international considerations obliged the Government of India to
decline a proposal that the management and ownership of the buoys should for
the future be vested in themselves. In Bahrein a fresh survey of Manama
harbour and its approaches was carried out in 1901*02, and in 1904-05
H.M.S. “ Redbreast ” -was employed in examining the Kaliya inlet of
Bahrein island which it was hoped might afford harbour facilities superior to
those of the exposed anchorage off Manama; the survey however showed that
the entrance was difficult and the holding-ground poor, and no steps were
taken for the utilisation of the inlet beyond the erection of a permanent beacon
to mark the entrance. All these operations were carried out at the . expense of
India, and, with the one exception noted, by vessels of the Royal Indian Marine.
The acceleration of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. steamer service in 1904 was a notable
achievement of Lord Curzon’s viceroyalty; it consisted in the establishment by
the British India Steam Navigation
Accelerated steamer service. Company, in return for an increased sub
sidy, of a fast mail line in addition to the existing slow cargo and mail line.
The extra subsidy on account of the rapid service was Bs. 3,00,000 per annum,
which was borne entirely by the Government of India; and the average speed
of the fast line was fixed for the future at 13, and of the slow line at 8 knots an
hour. Koweit was for the first time definitely included in the Company’s
ports of call, and Dibai, though not entered in the schedule of the contract,
is now re°ularly visited by the Company’s vessels. A postal subsidy of. Rs.
24,000 a year paid by the Government of India to the Euphrates and Tigris
Steam Navigation Company.for a weekly mail service in both directions between
Basrah and Baghdad was renewed in 1905 for ten years, this period to be
reckoned from May 1904. In 1901 the Government of India ceased to contri
bute to a subsidy which had hitherto been paid to the Euphrates and Tigris
Steam Navigation Company on account of their service on the Karun; the
former contribution of the Government of India to this subsidy was £1,000
per annum The amount saved, however, was not diverted from South-Western
Persia, but was applied instead to assisting the progress of land communica
tions in that quarter. The three subsidies to which allusion has just been
made constitute the only direct aid afforded by the British Government to
private commercial enterprise in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and they are only, given in
consideration of definite services rendered to the state and to the public.
The period during which Lord Curzon held office was remarkable for
the first considerable extensions of the telegraph system of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
which had taken place since 1869 ; they
Extensions of the telegraph. were stated by considerations of policy
and strategy as well as of commercial advantage. The inadequacy of the
communications between Maskat and the outside world was first of all remedi
ed by the laving of a cable from Jask to Maskat which was opened for traffic
in November 1901; iu this enterprise, approved though it was in principle by
His Majesty’s Government, no financial assistance was rendered by the British
Treasury. A second and perhaps more important scheme was propounded by