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File 4535/1928 Pt 2 ‘Persian Gulf Negotiations 1928. Status of Tamb. (and Abu Musa)’ [‎16v] (41/1078)

The record is made up of 1 volume (535 folios). It was created in 31 Jul 1928-29 Mar 1932. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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2
Henjara lease a number of unacceptable conditions and restrictions have been
introduced. All that His Majesty’s Government ask for in Henjam is the ease lor a
term of years and at a reasonable rental of a amall part of the island, including the
wireless*station, with recreational and storage facilities for His Majesty s ships and
without the imposition of irritating restrictions or the establishment of a military force
and a needlessly large force of police, with all the attendant possibilities of fric^n
and petty incidents. , , , • j j • i t t
His Majesty’s Government consider that they have, indeed, given ample proof of
their friendly and conciliatory spirit in these negotiations, lo their great regret, they
cannot see that the Persian Government have really endeavoured to meet them half
way. Even if the recent anti-British press campaign about Bahrein was not offacially
inspired it is felt that the Persian Government had all the means at their disposal to
check it,’ if they wished our negotiations to proceed in that essential atmosphere of
g00d Your Highness will not, I trust, conclude from the foregoing that Mr. Henderson
declines to discuss the treaty if you come to Eondon. My object in wilting is to make
it clear to your Highness that the suspension of our negotiations cannot, in the opinion
of my Government, in any way be ascribed to an intransigent or unreasonable attitude
on their part. On the contrary, my Government cannot avoid feeling that after
two years of negotiations, in s*pite of the very considerable concessions they have
expressed their willingness to make, the Persian Government have hardly taken these
negotiations in the same spirit of goodwill and with the same real anxiety to succeed
as "they have themselves. If that is so, further discussion in London would be of little
avail. * If that is not so—and 1 still have confidence in your Highness’s expressed
desire to place our relations on a new basis of friendly and sympathetic understanding—
I beg that you will endeavour to give some tangible proof of the desire of the Persian
Government to meet us, which would justify a resumption of negotiations in London.
For instance, a settlement of the Henjam lease, entirely free from onerous restrictions
and conditions, would go far to convince my Government of the genuine desire of the
Persian Government to come to an early and lasting settlement.
In conclusion, I need hardly add ihat, as our negotiations are not broken off but
onlv temporarily suspended, my Government confidently counts on the maintenance of
the"present status quo, and I should much appreciate an acknowledgment from your
Highness giving this assurance.
t> u m i Arii'
Enclosure 3 in No. 1.
Aide-memoire.
L’EOHEC temporaire qu’ont subi dernierement les negociations anglo-persanes
pour un traite general semble du en grande partie a la difficulte de s’entendre sur la
question de File de Tombe. II convient done d’exposer brievement Phistoire de cette
ile, qui est aussi celle de Bu Moussa et de Sirri, sauf pour la periode posterieure a 1887.
Jusqu’au milieu du 18 e siecle, 1’histoire de ces trois iles est obscure. Situees
comme elles le sont en pleine mer et jouissant d’une importance strategique tres
appreciable, il est pen probable que les Portugais, et plus tard les Hollandais, en
maitres qu’ils etaient successivement du Golfe Persique, aient manque de s’en emparer,
mais la preuve definitive de leur possession fait defaut. Par contre, il existe des
documents qui prouvent de fa§on indiscutable que depuis cette date jusqu’a la fin du
19® siecle ces iles ont appartenu aux cheiks de 1’Oman, et que pendant cette periode la
Perse n’y a jamais exerce un contrble de fait. Vers la fin du 19* siecle—et e’est sur
cette consideration que la these persane semble etre basee—les cheiks de Lingah,
devenus sujets persans par suite de la consolidation du pouvoir central, ont continue a
administrer ces iles, ainsi qu’ils Favaient fait du temps de leur independance. Ceci
s’explique tres simplement par le fait que deux des trois iles, savoir Tombe (avec
Nabiou-1 ombe) et Bu Moussa, se trouvent sensiblement plus rapprochees de Lingah
que de 1’autre littoral du Golfe ; il est done tout naturel que le pen de soins
administratifs qui s’imposaient dans ces petites iles plus ou moins desertiques ait
ete confie des le commencement aux Jowasimi de Lingah, et comme ceux-ci ont garde
en tout temps une grande mesure d’independance et que le Gouvernement persan de
cette epoque n’a jamais formule d’objection, ils ont continue a sen charger par la
suite. Mais c est sans contredit en leur qualite de cheiks jowasimf, et non point en

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Content

The volume contains papers relating to the ownership and sovereignty of the islands of Tamb and Abu Musa (and Little Tamb and Sirri) in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and negotiations for a general treaty between the United Kingdom and Persia [Iran]. The papers mainly consist of correspondence and India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Political and Secret Department minute papers.

Most of the volume concerns the seizure of a dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. [sailing vessel] from Debai [Dubai] (according to the reports of British officials) near the island of Tamb (also spelled Tunb and Tanb in the volume) by Persian customs officials. The British Government considered the island of Tamb to be owned by the Shaikh of Ras al Khaimah, and the papers discuss the expectation of the Trucial Shaikhs that Britain should take action against Persia, in accordance with Britain’s Treaty obligations to the Trucial Shaikhs. Thus, the papers also concern: the British Government’s claim for compensation from the Persian Government for the Trucial Shaikhs and the passengers of the dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. ; the response of the Persian Government that Tamb was Persian territory and that therefore this incident took place in Persian territorial waters, and that the dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. was carrying smuggled goods; and the proposal that the British Government should immediately pay 5,000 rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. from Indian revenues as compensation to those affected by the Tamb incident, in anticipation of any settlement of the claim against Persia.

The Tamb incident raised the general question of the claim of the Trucial Shaikhs to the islands of Tamb and Abu Musa (the latter of which was considered by the British Government to be owned by the Shaikh of Sharjah) as well as Little Tamb and Sirri. Thus the volume also includes: papers relating to an article drafted by the British Government for inclusion in a forthcoming general treaty with Persia, under which Persia would withdraw its claim to Tamb, Little Tamb, and Abu Musa, in return for the Trucial Jowasimi [ Qawasim One of the ruling families of the United Arab Emirates; also used to refer to a confederation of seafaring Arabs led by the Qāsimī tribe from Ras al Khaima. ] Shaikhs relinquishing their claim to Sirri; and negotiations between the British Government and the Persian Government about this and other issues, as part of the general treaty negotiations with Persia.

The main correspondents are as follows: the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. ; the Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; the Admiralty; the Government of India Foreign and Political Department; the Foreign Office; the Commander in Chief, East Indies; 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. ; the Colonial Office; HM Chargé d’Affaires, Tehran, and HM Minister, Tehran.

The volume also includes a copy of the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. memorandum ‘Status of the Islands of Tamb, Little Tamb, Abu Musa, and Sirri.’, by John Gilbert Laithwaite, dated 24 August 1928.

In addition, the volume includes the following items in French: correspondence between Sir Robert Clive, HM Minister at Tehran, and Abdolhossein Teymourtache [Teymūrtāsh], the Persian Minister of Court, dated January to March 1930; correspondence between Clive and Mirza Mohamed Ali Khan Feroughi, the Persian Minister of Foreign Affairs, dated 9 August and 21 October 1930, and an Aide-mémoire by the British Legation at Tehran, dated 21 October 1930.

The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 volume (535 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.

The subject 4535 ( Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and Persia: telegraphs) consists of nine files (seven volumes and two physical files), IOR/L/PS/10/1266-1274. The files are divided into seventeen parts, with parts 1 and 3 comprising one volume, part 2 comprising the second volume, part 5 comprising the third file, part 7 comprising the third and fourth volumes, parts 8 and 11 comprising the fifth volume, parts 13 to 15 comprising the sixth volume, part 16 comprising the seventh file, and parts 10 and 17 comprising the eighth volume.

A location list on folio 5 of IOR/L/PS/10/1271 and IOR/L/PS/10/1272 states that part 4 is Coll 30/75 (IOR/L/PS/12/3792), part 6 is Coll 29/68 (IOR/L/PS/12/3644), part 9 is Coll 30/17 (IOR/L/PS/12/3727), and part 12 is P 4480/1923 Pt 2 (IOR/L/PS/10/1099).

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 532; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

A previous foliation sequence between ff 193-532, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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File 4535/1928 Pt 2 ‘Persian Gulf Negotiations 1928. Status of Tamb. (and Abu Musa)’ [‎16v] (41/1078), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/1267, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100079290334.0x00002a> [accessed 26 April 2024]

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