Political No. 23 of 1874, Forwarding a Copy of Papers Relating to the Projected Exploration of the Persian Gulf by a British Company to be Established for the Purpose of Pearl Fishing [‎263v] (18/20)

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3. I have warned Mr. Grant of the great danger and risk he would incur
by ^oino 1 to Oman in the present disturbed state of the country; and I believe
that he has quite abandoned all idea of prosecuting the scheme in hand any
further, at least for the present.
Enclosure No. 5.
No. 6836, dated Bombay Castle, 7th November 1873.
Prom—Secretary to the Government o£ Bombay,
p 0 Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department.
With reference to the letter from the Acting 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. to your address, No. 1296-166, of the 4th ultimo, regarding a
scheme entertained by some British merchants for obtaining supplies of pearls
from the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. banks, I am directed to enquire if it is the desire of
the Government of -India to discourage any attempt to develope these fisheries
by improved appliances through the agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. ol Europeans.
Enclosure No. 6.
No. 11, dated Jeypoor, 12th December 1873.
p rom Officiating Agent to the Governor-General for the States of Bajpootana,
To—Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department.
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Office docket No.
1465P. of j desiring me to report concerning the advisa
bility or otherwise of encouraging the development of the pearl fisheries in
the deeper channels of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
2. This question touches a large and complicated subject, viz., that of
proprietorship in the Arab pearl fisheries in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. in general,
together with our relations thereto.
3. The question may be viewed from two points, 1^, from a point purely
mercantile, and, 2nd, from a point of practical politics.
4. In so far as the mercantile question is concerned, it would of course he
advisable to leave the pearl trade, like every other trade, as untrammelled as
possible by authority.
5. But when we come to consider the question of the pearl fisheries in
relation to our police and political positions in the Gulf, the question of per
mitting persons other than the Arabs to fish on the pearl banks assumes a
different and a serious aspect.
6. Erom time immemorial the pearl banks along the Arab littoral of the
, Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. have been held to be the property of the Arabs in common. We
have accepted this condition of tenure, constituted ourselves arbitrators^ of the
maritime peace in the Gulf, and entered into trucial engagements, with the
Chiefs of the Arab Coast under which they are bound to refer all their disputes
by sea to us.
7. Hitherto, I am not aware that we have permitted either our own
subjects or foreigners to intrude on the pearl fisheries; on the contrary, we
have uniformly discouraged any interference, and on at least one occasion
have positively prohibited a British owned steamer fitted with a diving apparatus
from prosecuting her divings.
8. I understand that the present memorialists limit their intentions to the
fisheries of the deeper waters of the Gulf, but it must be borne in. mind that
the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. as a whole is a shallow sea. The deepest water, mid channel,
is only about 40 fathoms. On the Arab side of the Gulf the water is shoaled
far out into the sea. Eor instance in the neighbourhood of the Isles of Bahrein
and the Guttur Coast there is seven or nine fathoms water at from 15 to 25 miles
distant from the shore line, and it is in these depths that the Arabs habitually
dive. Along the Pirate Coast, the pearl banks with a similar depth of water