'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.' [‎152v] (309/386)

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Persian. Government to piace a suitable house in Pushire at my dispO;»al (they
had explained that there was no other), that we should revert lo the original
arrangement agreed to by the Persian Government, and that the Ala-ed-Dowleh
should accompany me from the landing stage 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. , which
should he treated as my official quarters for the day, and should pay me his
visit there, after which I should at once return it to him m his official resi
dence at the Charburj. Sir A. Hardinge telegraphed in this sense to Tehran,
and had no doubt of being able to settle the matter without difficulty. Colonel
Kemball was to precede me by two days to Bushire and to arrange matters locally
•cuifli flip A1 a,-cd-Dowdell.
8. Meanwhile two other small incidents occurred in connection with my
reception, in both of which I readily accommodated myself to the views of the
Persian Government. At each point in my journey the local Chief or Chiefs,
including the Sultan of Maskat, wdio is an independent sovereign, had come
off to pay the first visit to me on the Hardinge. Sir A. Hardinge represented
this to the Persian Government, and enquired whether the Ala-ed*Dowleh
would propose to do the same. The Persian Government declined to pay the
compliment, and I said no more about it, conscious that it w r as an act of
courtesy alone, upon which I could not insist.
9. The next point arose in connection with the salute. The Viceroy of
India is entitled in Indian waters to a salute of 81 guns. This compliment had
been extended to me when I left British India and visited the Portuguese pos
sessions of Diu and Goa three years ago, though of course I could not claim it
at either place. It had similarly been given upon my arrival at Maskat and
Kow r eit and at every point in the Gulf. When I arrived at Bunder Abbas, the
Persian Governor o*f the Gulf Ports asked how many guns he should fire on my
behalf. Sir A. Hardinge informed him of the practice that had hitherto been
observed, and he willingly conformed to it by firing a salute of 31 guns at that
place.
Sir A. Hardinge accordingly asked the Persian authorities what they
proposed to do at Bushire. They had previously stated that I was only entitled
to 21 guns, which they proposed to give me, hut they now r replied that they had
no objection to firing *31 guns, provided that the salute of their Governor-
General (which by the British rules is fixed at 19 guns) was also raised to 31.
I had no objection to this arrangement, hut the Admiral infoimed me that
under the Regulations he had no authority to carry it out, and that he could
not fire more than the stipulated number of guns for the Persian Governor.
Sooner than create any trouble, I accordingly yielded to the Persian position,
and consented to he received with the 21 guns which they olfered to me.
10. These proceedings filled the time until my arrival on the morning of
December 2nd at Bushire. Sir A. Hardinge had not had time in the interim
to receive any replies to his telegrams to Tehran—since the Shah, to whom
reference had to be made, was absent on a tour to Kum. But no doubt was
entertained by any one that the original plan would he carried out without
objection. Upon arrival at Bushire I heard from Colonel Kemball that the
Ala ed-Dowleh absolutely declined, without special instructions from the Shah,
to enter 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. , or to visit me there. In the course of the
discussion between him and the Ala-ed-Dowleh two compromises had been
suggested. One was that on my way from the landing place to 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.
I slrould stop at the Charburj to drink tea with the Governor General, who
would then accompany me to 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. . Tins was a transparent attempt
to place me in the position of paying t m first visit to him. Indeed, in that
case I should within the space of a few hours have visited him throe times
[(a) for the tea-drinking, {b) for the return visit, (<?) for the dinner], while he
would only have visited me, the guest of the Persian Government, once. The
other compromise was that, although I had all along been told that there w as
no house in Bushire fit for my reception except the Charburj, a house
occupied by the late F. O. Karguzar at Bushire should he hastily got ready lor
my reception, and should he treated by me as my official residence lor tho
day. As this seemed to he an equally transparent attempt at the last moment