'Memoirs and Recollections of An Officer of the Indian Political Service' [‎25r] (49/156)

CHAPTER 5: THE PERSIAN GULF The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. 1937 - 1938
At the end of June 1937, I received order to report to the Honourable The Resident in
the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. to assume the post of his Under Secretary. Accompanied by my Pathan
bearer and Punjabi cook and my dog, I sailed from Karachi for Bushire on the Persian
side of the Gulf, which was the Headquarters of the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. . It was the
hottest time of the year in the Gulf, and it really was hot - much worse than Aden.
My new chief was Sir Trenchard Fowle, K.C.I.E., who had served in most of the Gulf
posts at one time or another. Under the East India Company, Bushire had been their
chief factory An East India Company trading post. or trading post for Southern Persia, and the Company had built itself
large offices and residential accommodation on the edge of the sea, which had sub
sequently been taken over to house the offices of the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. . Bushire
itself was an unattractive place with few local amenities. The hinterland was flat
and marshy, but then came a steep mountainous escarpment of four to five thousand feet.
Up this a so-called main road rose on its way to Shiraz, the capital of the province
of Ears. As a port, Bushire's chief disadvantage was that, owing to the extreme
shallowness of the coastal waters, ships had to anchor four or five miles out, and
were compelled to tranship their cargoes into dhows. On shore, harbour facilities were
rudimentary; nevertheless, Bushire was then the chief port of Iran in the Persian
Gulf. Despite the extreme heat and humidity during the summer months, air conditioning
was unknown. The houses in which the staff of the Resident lived were fitted in most
cases with electric fans, as were the offices. But there were many other drawbacks.
The drinking water from the local wells was so brackish as to be almost undrinkable
for Europeans. As a consequence, 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. had its own steam condensing plant
for distilling the sea water. But to function properly a sea water distillation plant
has to make use of cold water to condense the steam. However, in Bushire the trouble
was that, owing to the shallowness of the sea the temperature of the sea water during
the hot weather months was itself so high as to make sea bathing almost unbearable.
The result was that our distillation plant worked with much reduced efficiency. We
used the end product for cooking and drinking purposes, and bought it at so much a
four-gallon tin. For bathing and washing we had recourse to the brackish well water.
The Under Secretary’s house was in the compound 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. some miles inland at
a place called Sabzabad. It was tiny and was called "Hashti” the Persian word for
eight-sided. In years gone by there had been an eight-sided tent on the site and
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eventually a brick structure was built around the ten£, and the tent became a house.
The central dining room was still octagonal, and rooms had subsequently been added to
turn it into our bungalow.
There were few Europeans in Bushire. In the Political 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. , there was in addition
to Sir Trenchard, a Secretary and an Under Secretary (myself), a Foreign Office Vice