‘Persia – especially Seistan’ [‎269r] (536/949)

13
lency will, I presume, leave Sharjah during the night of the 21 st and Bunder
Abbas will be made by daylight on the 22nd.
The Deputy Governor of Bunder Abbas is a person of no importance. He
is merely a servant of the Busbire Governor, but he is the representative of the
Persian Government, and I presume will be received by the Viceroy on board
the Hardinge. His visit will have to be returned, but not by the Viceroy who
will depute an officer to return the call on his behalf.
I do not know if His Excellency will land to see the town or the Vice
Consulate at Naband which is two miles from the town. This latter place is
close to the shore and can be visited by boat from the ship. I presume I shall
receive instructions on this point. I would also like to know if a deputation
from the British Indian traders at Bunder Abbas should be received bv His
Excellency. ^
Regarding the visits to the islands near Bunder Abbas I do not think
that I need say anything. The visit to Bassidore may perhaps have to be made
in the Lawrence, as I am doubtful if a ship of the Eardinges size can get in
there safely, but this is a matter for the consideration of the naval people.
The visit to Lingah does not require any comment by me.
From Lingah to Bahrein is 240 miles, and if Lingah is left at 4 p.m. on the
25 th, Bahrein will easily be made in the afternoon of the 26 th. Possibly it
may be more convenient to His Excellency that the reception should be held
on the following morning. If so, I would suggest that the Chief’s eldest son
should be deputed by his father to visit the JLardmge on arrival in company
with the Assistant 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. to inquire after His Excellency’s health
and find out what time will suit His Excellency to receive the Chief’s visit. A
launch should be sent from one of the ships to bring off the deputation to
inquire after the Viceroy’s health. If it suits His Excellency the Chief’s visit
might be arranged for the morning of the 27th at any hour convenient to His
Excellency. The Chief’s visit could be returned the following morning on
shore at the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. by an officer deputed by the Viceroy. I do not know if
His Excellency will wish to land at Bahrein, but I presume you will let me
know if such is the case. At Bahrein itself there is really nothing worth
seeing, the landing is always inconvenient, and the only sights of the place are
the wells some 3 miles inland and the mounds at Ali about 7 miles from the
town. Neither of these places are particularly interesting.
Now as to the political aspect of the visit to Bahrein, the status of Bahrein
is well known to the Government of India, and it is not necessary for me to
enter into the datails of it now. The Chief of Bahrein will, I feel sure, have no
desire for any new form of engagement to be concluded with him. All that he
wants is to be left alone and to be allownd to end bis days in peace. Any
expansion or modification of the status quo, which would tend to curtail the
Chief’s authority in any way and make our protectorate more apparent, would,
I feel sure, be against the Sheikh’s wishes. He has now all he wants. He is
protected against attack ; his son’s succession has been assured, and, so far as
the internal administration of his inlands are concerned, he is virtually independ
ent, subject of course to the benevolent supervision of the Assistant Political
Agent.. I am inclined, however, to think that the time has now come when the
expansion of the status quo is desirable from our point of view, however much
such an expansion may be distasteful to the Chief. Bahrein of recent years
seem to have attracted more attention on the part of the foreigners, and I con
sider that we should take some steps to make our protectorate more apparent
The most suitable way of doing this will be, in my opinion, to put the customs
question on a more satisfactory footing. We have, I consider, ample grounds
for taking such a step. The maintenance of the Chief’s independence is solely
due to us, and now that we have promised to recognise the succession of his
eldest son we have become to a certain extent the guardian of the interests of
this son and are, I consider, fully justified in trying to secure for this son, as
far as possible, a prosperous and unembarrassed succession. The present Chief’s
affairs are in anything but a satisfactory condition, and are bound, so far as I
can see, to go from bad to worse. He has many people dependent on him for
support, and the number of these will gradually increase : moreover he has the
usual extravagant ideas of hospitality of which full advantage is taken. The