'Papers relating to transfer of Middle Eastern Affairs to the Colonial Office and creation of a new Department there, 1920-1921, with Cabinet notes of Milner, Montague, Churchill, self, and others' [‎56v] (112/136)

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7. Tins will entail the assumption by the new Department of all responsi i 1 ) or
the obligations resulting from the treaties which His Majesty s Government ia\e rom
time to time negotiated with the Chiefs of the various districts^ of Arabia, an e
responsibility for the negotiation of further treaties of this description, it wi a so
entail the new Department having an influential if not a determining voice jn
delimitation of the boundaries which have not yet been fixed, though the negotia ions
with the Principal Allied Powers would of course be conducted through the ok inary
diplomatic channels. ,
8. With regard to the north-eastern boundary of the area, for which we recommend
that the new Department should be responsible, we offer the following observations .
(1.) Kurdistan. —We understand that Article 64 of the treaty of Se\ies
provides that, if within a period of one year from the coming into force of the treaty
the majority of the Kurdish peoples inhabiting the areas between the Armenian am
Mesopotamian frontiers shall demand to be independent, and if the Council of t le
League considers them capable of such independence, Turkey will renounce all lights
and title over these areas. In this case no objection will be raised by the I nncipa
Allied Powers to the voluntary adhesion to such an independent Kurdish State of the
Kurds inhabiting that part of "Kurdistan (generally known as Southern Kuidistan)
which has hitherto been included in the Mosul \ ilayet.
We recommend that pending such a development the responsibility for
Kurdistan should be vested in the new Department.
0 .— (2.) Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. littoral. — These areas have for the last hundred years
or more been under the political control of the Government of India, exercised for the
past fifty years through an officer of the Government of India, with headquarters at
Bushire—with the title of 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. in the Persian Gulf—who also controls
the Northern (Persian) littoral as well as certain inland Consulates in South
Persia. The Gulf is thus dealt with as a single administrative unit for all purposes.
Posts at Bushire and on either side of the Gulf are interchangeable. The officers at
each political agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. (including an Arab 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. ag^nt at Sharjah, on the Irucial
coast) correspond with the Government of India through 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. at
Bushire. This post is always held by an officer of many years’ experience of the
Gulf, assisted by an adequate staff.
10. All the accounts of the stations in the Culf are dealt with at Bushire, where
there is a Treasury of the Government of India. The currency of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. is
almost exclusively Indian and the amounts involved are very large [c.g., the Bahrein
pearl trade alone aggregates over 4,000,000/. annually).
Almost all trade is with India ; the Gulf lives almost wholly on cereals imported
from India. Indian merchants handle the bulk of the trade.
11. Quarantine, Postal and Telegraphic Services, Public Works, Lights and Buoys,
Naval duties, Military detachments and Political and Administrative personnel through
out the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. are provided, controlled and partly paid for by India. The transfer
to the new Department of the Arabian littoral would entail an additional burden on His
Majesty’s Treasury and could scarcely be accomplished without much contusion and
possible friction. At the same time, we realize that the fact of I bn Saud’s territory
having an outlet on the Gulf renders it essential that the new Department should have
a deciding voice in all (questions of policy affecting the littoral.
12. We accordingly recommend that the Arabian littoral of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
should remain under the control 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ;
that this officer should be appointed as at present by the Government of India,
but should be authorized to communicate direct with the Colonial Office on
matters concerning the Arabian littoral ; that the functions of the Government of
India in respect of the Arabian littoral should be confined to administrative and
purely local matters, and that the prior concurrence of the Colonial Office should
be obtained by them to any measures of political significance ; and lastly, that the
relations of His Majesty’s Government with Ibn Sand should be conducted
exclusively by the new Department through 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. at Bushire in
the first place. It may also be desirable to provide that the 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. at
Bahrein, whom we understand to be the official in direct touch with Ibn Saud,
should in cases of urgency be communicated with direct by the new Department.