Notes Prepared for Reference during Curzon’s Tour of the Persian Gulf, and Other Papers on Persia and the Persian Gulf [‎42r] (83/678)

STATUS OF BAHREIN. SUCCESSION TO THE CHIEFSHIP. PRO.
POSED APPOINTMENT OF A BRITISH CUSTOMS OFFICER.
106 to h m! atUS ° f Bahrein iS discussed in Aitchison’s Treaties, Yol. X, pages
,.J. n 1861 tlie . °f Bahrein entered into an engagement to keen the
P - eaCe ’ Whlle the undertook to ‘‘take the necessary stens
cour^ of rict'TwT f ° r eV6 ^ i , nj " y pr ° TCd t0 have been infli0,e d. or “
couree ot infliction, by sea upon Bahrein, or upon its dependencies in the
2. In 1880 * the Chief signed an agreement undertaking to “ abstain from
• AitcMson’s Treaties, Voi. x, pages 120 - 121 . entering into negotiations or making
the consent nf tho tw? u n trea ties with any foreign Powers without
for the establishment by any oth™ 0^™ [“VrA^h oTSmfSc
ol itish^tfoTernment -less with Snsen?
3. The Turkish Government have from time to time nut forward
claims to sovereignty over Bahrein, but this we have all along opposed. On
Not 664 )? rnal August 1888 ’ No8 - 579 - 671 ( p ro. the 26th Januaryf 1888, Lord Salisbury
nonle “ Ymir to our Ambassador at Constanti-
that anv attemnt^ f 7 ! ls / utho ^ed to state, if you think it desirable,
In en JP^ to effect a landing at Bahrein will be opposed by force”
In 1893 Lord Eosebery wrote! to the British Ambassador at Const,nti'
t Secret e., May isoi, No. 241 . nople — “ The Chief of that island (Bahrein)
if io r,, % • j under the protection of the Queen
Eobr 3 n l " adml . sslb ! e - as Your Excellency observes, th,t the natives of
lltl l l S '? u d ’ when ln Ottoman territory, be treated as Turkish subjects
and I have to request you so to inform the Porte. Her Majest", GovemmeS
1 1 extend their protection to the subjects of the Chief of Bahrein whenever
there may be occasion for it”. The' last attempt§ to assert Tnlkilh supre-
§ Secret e.. May 1898, Nos. i-6. macy appears to be that made in 1898
Maiestv’s GnvprnTnrmf f fN when the Porte drew the attention of His
ff iti! 7 • t to the rumoured appointment of a British Vice-Consul
o tte r po;fe nd b t?thene r? ty - fa 0486 this appointment being made
p. bemg applied to for an Exequatur. The right of the Turkish
Government to interfere was emphatically denied.
4. In 1899, when the question of recognising the Sheikh Hamed as the Chief’s
II Secret e„ March 1899, No. so. successor was under consideration, Colonel
desiraWe, if we recognise the succession of Sheikh Hamed-bin-Es^^o the
Sljeikhship, to declare our protectorate over Bahrein, and thus put an end to
all pretensions on the part of other Powers. The Sheikh ought, P I think io flv
protection ^ ^ be f ° rma117 n ° tified that Bahrein is under on?
In reply, the Government of India, who had referred to the Secretary of
State, announced that Sheikh Hamed would be recognised, and added—“ Without
at this juncture, definitely extending a British Protectorate over Bahrein the
eminent of India are prepared to consider proposals to improve the arrange
mcnt for the discharge of local political duties in the island. The appointmeni
ot an officer to superintend the Customs might afford suitable meansT
beenreplaced e bv < Mr l r' e ,itf ti ™A?i! :lt ’ T h ° Was ° ar looal re P r ' s entative, has
P v . r. Gaskm. Nothing, however, has been doae in regard to the
Secret e„ October 1901 , No. 368 . Customs, although, in May 1901, Sir N
of a British subject as Director of the B^rSomsuSuch an a'ppolntme'nj
would seem to the Turks a material proof of our authority over the island ”