"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٣‎٨‎٣] (١٧٨٢/١٥٣٨)

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■' duties,
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1^
1849
parties nj^
Shi'ali
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l, ®!
il
tie Cms
a cnriocs ab
b.
oe
ier,
of of
tract of comtijMtiiii
island of'Alii
undertook sepfflKi^;
'bes surroia
1 indammtoij pre®
outdone by ^
1383
ments; but the Porte rejected it, and the Persian Governments
acceptance of it was conditional.
The Turkish Commissioner had gone so far as to propose, in February
1850, that the collection of taxes by the Persian authorities at Muhammareh
should cease, and that the Persian employes and troops there should be
withdrawn, the place not having yet been formally * ceded to Persia;
and later he pressed for the removal of Shaikh Jabir, whom the Persians
had recognised as Governor, and made other irritating demands. In
reply, moreover, to the admittedly " vain and impolitic substitution of the
Royal Persian flag for the local colours which had marked the Shah^s
government of that town f for upwards of sixty years,^ Turkish war vessels
appeared on the scene and maintained for a time what was virtually a
naval blockade of the Karun River.
Towards the end of 1851, however, on its being rumoured that
Persian troops were on their way to re-inforce Muhammareh, the Turkish
Commissioner agreed in writing, being then at Zohab with the rest of
the Commission, that pending a final settlement no innovation should be
made by either claimant in the Muhammareh district—in other words,
that the status quo, which favoured the Persians, should be maintained.
A special point was the possession of the island of Muhalleh [i.e., Haji
Salbuq), on which the Persian authorities had installed an agent; and it
was agreed, as the Turkish representative denied the island to be a part
of 'Abbadan, that the Persian functionary should be provisionally
withdrawn.
It was not the pleasure, however, of the Turkish Commissioner or of
his Government that the temporary arrangement reached should
continue. This was clear from the conduct of Ma^shuq Pasha, the
ruler of the new Basrah Pashaliq, who now took two refugees from
Muhammareh territory under his protection and patronage. They were
Sulaiman-al-Ghadhban and Musa-al-Jandil, of whom the former was
provided with a place of abode on the Turkish side of the Shatt-aVArab
opposite to Haji Salbuq Island in disregard of the protests of Shaikh
Jabir, while the latter was settled in a confiscated house at Basrah,
formerly the property of Haji Jabir, and made havoc as a pirate of
native shipping on the lower Shatt-al-'Arab
* It had been relinquislied to Persia by the Treaty of Erzeroum, under which the
Commiasion were working, but Dervish Pasha probably hoped to find means of
stultifying the Treaty,
f Sc* Muhammareh.
1861.
1852.
!