'Administration Reports 1905-1910' [‎102r] (208/616)

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AND THE MA SKAT POLITICAL AGENCY An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. FOR THE YEAR
British interests have been adversely affected by the movemeat in Effect on British
several ways. By the insecurity which has prevailed on the trade routes ; by mterests •
the anti-foreign attitude of the local Anjumans and vernacular press; by the
fact that the reduction of their emoluments and the meddling of the same two
mischievous forces with their executive duties have undei mined the authority
of the officials responsible for Government, and have obliged or encouraged
them to be less conciliatory than heretofore in their dealings with us.
It now seems impossible for a local Governor to assert his authority in
any effective direction without bringing a hornet's nest about his ears.
"Whenever he attempts to do so, some individual with a private grudge or an
axe to grind, or one of the petty Anjamans, at once despatches a missive to
the National Parliament or inspires a scurrilous article against him in a local
vernacular paper. The governing official in a few days receives a telegram
from the Parliament or from the Central Government telling him to satisfy
the parties and calling on him for exp 1 anations.
The Derya Begi who, notwithstanding periodical depositions, never seems
to remain absent from the Gulf stage for long and who in spite of national
failings is undoubtedly the most conciliatory Governor we have had in recent
years, has repeatedly expressed his exasperation of late at the humiliating
position to which he has been reduced, and at the impossibility of exercising
effective authority.
In fact the grant of the privileges of a free press and the right of public
meeting have resulted in the south in the generation of what may be termed a
" Young Persian Party, " recruited from those of tne rising gmeration who
have received some measure of education ; the class most stirred by the
nationalist propaganda. With exaggerated notions of its own importance and
of " the glorious history of the Persian nation," this element has devoted its
energies to the formation of innumerable mushroom societies or " Anjumans *'
and the conduct of vernacular leat et newspapers wherein the doctrine of
^Persia for the Persian, " has been enthusiastically preached to the ignorant
peasant and petty trader. In the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. it will be understood that the
only palpable foreign influence with which the general public has been
familiar in the past has been that of Great Britain, and the natural result is
that-the brunt of all the preaching and pamphleteering falls upon ourselves.
There is further Utile room for doubt that the proceedings of this Young
Persian element have been encouraged both by German and by .Russian
agents notwithstanding the entente, not so much at Bushire as at Lingah
and Bunder Abbas. The two powers named have practically no subjects or
protected persons to look after in the Gulf region, or anything but steamer
borne trade and have therefore nothing to lose or fear from the spread of the
new doctrine. On the other hand there are many questions with which we are
directly identified locally which are necessarily unpopular with the native
community as affecting the amenities of their daily life. Such as the strict
enforcement of quarantine, the active suppression of slavery and the arms
traffic; and the protection of inhabitants of the Arab principalities under our
influence from Persian oppression or extortion.
During the past year the energies of this nationalist element have
especially been employed in putting pressure on local Governors to refuse to
accept British intervention, as heretofore, on behalf of subjects of Bahrein and
the Truciai Coast, and several troublesome incidents have occurred in
consequence.
Reports from Lingah especially have furnished cause for a good deal of Lingah Affairs,
anxiety to the 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. during the year, chiefly in connection with the
undermentioned subjects —
(a) The hostility of a self-constituted Zabit of Kais island to British
subjects, culminating in his firing on a dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. flying the British
flag and having on board the Deputy of the 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. Agent at
Lingah.
(ft) The arbitrary arrest, despoliation and castigation of a Bahreini by
the Deputy Governor and his refusal to admit the intervention
of the British Agent. ,