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Coll 30/90 'Persian claim to the island of Bahrain' [403r] (818/1062)
The record is made up of 1 file in 3 parts (519 folios). It was created in 25 May 1934-23 Sep 1948. 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. .
Transcription
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PERSIA
3
11. I have accordingly the honour to request you to take the enclosed papers
into your consideration, and to advise, in the light of the facts stated in the
historical memorandum (Paper A), the various arguments which have been
employed on either side in the course of the discussion of this question, and of
any other considerations which may appear to you to be relevant, whether, in
your opinion, Persia possesses any rights in or over Bahrein, and if so what the
nature of those rights is.
12. The question of the future policy of His Majesty’s Government in regard
to Persia, as to which the Ministerial Middle East Sub-Committee may have to
take important decisions at any moment, may be to a considerable extent dependent
upon the nature of your opinion on the above point, and Sir John Simon would
therefore be grateful if it were possible for you 'to furnish your opinion at a very
early date.
I have. &c.
G. W. RENDEL.
List of Papers.
(A) Historical memorandum prepared by
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.
.
(B) Notes exchanged with Persian Government between 1927 and 1929.
(C) Letter from Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs to Secretary-General of the League of
Nations, dated the 13th January, 1929, communicating copy of note to His Majesty’s Minister
at Tehran.
(E>) Copy of letter from Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs to Secretary-General of the
League of Nations, dated the 17th January, 1930.
(E) Copy of letter from Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs to Secretary-General of the
League of Nations, dated the 24th July, 1930, enclosing copy of note to His Majesty’s Minister
at Tehran, dated the 23rd July, 1930.
(F) Letter from M. Sepahbodi, Persian representative to the League of Nations, to
Secretary-General of the League of Nations, dated the 14th October, 1932.
(G) Letter from Secretary-General of the League of Nations, dated the 12th June, 1934,
communicating copy of note from Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs to United States Minister
at Tehran, dated the 22nd May, 1934.
(H) Two circular letters "from the Director of the International Bureau of the Universal
Postal Union, dated the 26th January, 1938, and the 20th April, 1933, communicating a protest
from the Persian postal authorities and the reply of the Indian postal authorities respectively.
Report.
The Persian claim to sovereignty over Bahrein appears to be based upon the
view that from time immemorial the islands were Persian territory, and that by
virtue of the fact that Persia has never expressly recognised their independence,
coupled with various assertions of sovereign right on the part of Persia, and of
admissions from time to time of the Persian claims on the part of the rulers of
Bahrein and of His Majesty’s Government, Persian sovereignty has never been
lost.
The facts as narrated in the historical memorandum prepared by the India
Office do not, in our opinion, support this view. There is no satisfactory evidence
of any kind that at any date before 1783 Bahrein was incorporated in Persian
territory. The most that can be said is that there was a period of Persian
occupation at the beginning of the 17th century, and that for a short period in
the 18th century a de facto control was exercised by a Persian Governor.
Whether this control ever acquired the character of de jure sovereignty may be
doubted, but, in our opinion, the expulsion of the Persian garrison in 1783 never
to return makes it impossible to rely upon what had happened before that event.
The later history of Persian claims to sovereignty over the islands affords no
evidence of any recognition either by His Majesty’s Government or by any other
sovereign power of Bahrein as Persian soil. The Bruce Treaty of 1822 cannot
be relied on, while the three treaties of 1809, 1814 and 1857 appear to us to be
wholly silent as to Persian rights over Bahrein. The British note of 1869 is the
high-water mark of any admission of Persian rights. Even this note, however,
falls far short of a recognition of sovereignty, and nothing said or done thereafter
gives any support to Persian claims.
About this item
- Content
The file concerns the claim of the Government of Iran (generally referred to as the Government of Persia) to territorial sovereignty over Bahrein [Bahrain].
The papers include: the Iranian claim in the light of the Bahrain oil concession; representations by the Government of Iran to the League of Nations, and the involvement of League in the dispute; summary of diplomatic correspondence, 1927-29 (folios 506-511); 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. 'Historical Memorandum on Bahrein', dated 14 July 1934 - a historical summary of the political status of Bahrain, and Persian claims to sovereignty; the submission of the question by 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. to the Law Officers of the Crown, 1934 (folios 466-472), and the report of the Law Officers of the Crown (folios 400-403), stating their opinion that Persia had no rights of sovereignty or suzerainty over Bahrain; the view of the Foreign Office (subsequently adopted) that references in public pronouncements to the independence of Bahrain needed to be qualified by the statement that the ruler was 'in special treaty relations with His Majesty's Government' (folios 378-380); the status of Tamb and Abu Musa (folio 361); the imposition of Iranian import duty on aviation oil supplied to Bahrain (folios 315-316); the views of 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. on the dangers of submitting the question to international arbitration (folios 308-314); similarities to the dispute between the United States of America (USA) and the Netherlands over Palmas Island [Miangas or Palmas, Indonesia] (e.g. folios 306-307); the views of the Government of Saudi Arabia (folios 268-270); the issue of passports and visas; transcripts of articles in support of the Iranian position in the Iranian and Arabic language press; the effect of the Bahrain nationality and property laws; Italian propaganda in support of the Iranian claim (folio 243); comparison with the Falkland Islands (folio 210); the refusal of the Iranian postal authorities to accept mails from Bahrain (folio 186); the involvement of the United Nations Organisation; Foreign Office 'Memorandum on Bahrein', dated 13 January 1947, substantially based on 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. 'Historical Memorandum on Bahrein' of 1934 (folios 97-126); Soviet propaganda over Bahrain (folio 57); the presence in Tehran of a person claiming to represent the Bahrain National Party (folios 50-54); and correspondence dated 1948 concerning the size and position of the Persian community in Bahrain, including a letter on the subject from Charles Dalrymple Belgrave, Adviser to the Government of Bahrain (folios 25-37).
The file contains significant correspondence from the Foreign Office, HM Minister, Tehran (later the British Ambassador to Tehran), and 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 French language content of the file consists of approximately thirty folios of diplomatic correspondence and newspaper extracts.
The file also contains copies of earlier correspondence, dated 1927-31.
The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 file in 3 parts (519 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: this file consists of three physical parts. The foliation sequence commences at the front cover of part one with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover of part three with 525; 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. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-524; these numbers are printed, but are not circled.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 30/90 'Persian claim to the island of Bahrain' [403r] (818/1062), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3810, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100059426987.0x000013> [accessed 1 April 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/3810
- Title
- Coll 30/90 'Persian claim to the island of Bahrain'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:29v, 38r:50v, 53r:117v, 118v, 121v:122v, 126r:149v, 152r:166v, 169v:177v, back-i, front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 180r:197v, 199r:209v, 210v, 211v:221v, 223r:227v, 230r:231v, 233v:234v, 235v, 235r, 236r:238v, 240r:240v, 242r:245v, 247r:248v, 250r:251v, 255r:257v, 262r:272v, 274r:276v, 280r:280v, 282v:294v, 295v:345v, 348r:350v, back-i, front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 353r:374v, 378r:394v, 396r:424v, 427r:427v, 428v, 431v:433v, 440r:443v, 445r:446v, 448r:450v, 452r:454v, 457r:494r, 496r:501v, 509v:513v, 515r:518v, 520r:524v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence