'Extracts from Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia by J G Lorimer CIE, Indian Civil Service' [‎40r] (84/180)

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Early in 1900 it was discovered that a friendly correspondence was in progress Intrigue of
between the Shaikh ol Abu Dhabi and the Darya-Baigi, the Persian Governor of t ^ e Governor
the Gulf Ports; the matter was brought to the notice 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 in of the Persian
Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. by the Shaikhs of Sharjah and Dibai, in whose minds the intrigue the^ 8
evidently excited apprehension. The object of the Darya Baiga was probably to Shaikh of
detach Shaikh Zaid from the rest ol the I rucial Shaikhs for the purpose of Abu Dhabi,
preventing an Arab attack upon Lingeh, a contingency of which the Persian officials 1900 - 01 -
still lived in dread; and the Abu Dhabi Shaikh, on his part, had probably no
deeper motive than to obtain favourable consideration of claims by some of his
subjects to property in Persia and good treatment for his vessels upon the Persian
Coast. Local rumour, however, connected the affair with the efforts of Russia
to obtain a toothold in the Gulf, and in any case it was impossible to ignore so
flagrant a violation by a Trucial Shaikh ol his Exclusive Agreement with the British
Government. When the negotiations were detected the Shaikh had already sent
two horses as a present to Lingeh, had differentiated himself from his neighbours
by the adoption of a green flag in place of that prescribed by the Treaty of 1820,
and had received a sword ol honour from the Shah of Persia along with a commen
datory epistle, bearing the royal seal, which was publicly read in an assembly
at Abu Dhabi. A remonstrance however sufficed; the direct dealings of the Shaikh
with Persian officials instantly ceased; and the use of the new flag was also, but
not so immediately, discontinued.
In February 1901 a Dibai boat, which, in returning from Sohar, had been Principle
obliged by stress of weather to take shelter at Hanjam, was seized for technical affirmed of
reasons by the Persian Imperial Customs. The boat and its general cargo were [ he re P r jr sen -
soon released in virtue of representations made by the British 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. ; Trucial 0 16
but restoration of seven rifles and 900 cartridges found on board, the personal Shaikhs
property of the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi, was only obtained in 1903 through the British abroad by
Minister of Tehran. By this case, which the Government of India regarded as a the British
test of the right of Great Britain to act on behalf of the Trucial Shaikhs in external
affairs, the British Legation in Persia were made aware for the first time of the
existence of the Exclusive Agreement of 1892; and the right in question, subse
quently admitted, as we have seen, by France, may be considered to have been
definitely assumed upon this occasion.
The next question to arise between Trucial 'Oman and Persia was one of Attempted
importance, for it involved, to some extent, the naval position of Great Britain annexation
in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . The establishment of control over Lingeh by the Persian
Imperial Customs had, in 1902, driven much of the trade of that place away to anc i xunb
the opposite side of the Gulf, especially to Dibai; and thereafter, with a view to by Persia,
the creation on Bu Musa of a trade emporium untrammelled by Persian official 1904.
interference, some merchants of Lingeh began to suggest that the island should
be made a port of call by the British steamship companies. Bu Musa had formerly
been ruled by the hereditary Arab governors of Lingeh in the capacity of Qasimi
Shaikhs, not of Persian Officials, and after the abolition of the Arab governorship
of Lingeh, the title of the Shaikh of Sharjah to possession of the island was
indubitable. Nevertheless it was feared that actual and prospective loss of trade,
if not further-reaching political considerations, might tempt the Persian Govern
ment to some act of annexation; and the attention of the Government of India
was drawn in this connection not only to the island of Bu Musa, but also to that
of Tunb, of which the status was precisely similar. In the result the Shaikh of
Sharjah was advised to hoist his flag on both islands, and in the summer of 1903
he did so. The sequel proved the precaution to have been necessary. At the
end of March or the beginning of April 1904 the Persian Customs steamer
" Muzaffari," carrying M. Dambrain, the European Director of Persian Customs
at Bushehr, visited Tunb and Bu Musa; the Sharjah flags were lowered; the
Sharjah flagstaff's were dismantled; and two Persians were placed on each
of the islands as Customs guards. It subsequently appeared that these high-handed
proceedings, though carried out by a Customs officer, had been initiated by the
Mushir-ud-Dauleh, Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs, most probably under
Russian advice; in the case of Bu Musa, the Minister, who evidently perceived
the international bearings of the enterprise, had shown marked hesitation in giving
the order to occupy. Serious representations were at once made in the proper
quarter by the British Minister at Tehran, and in the end the Customs guards were
withdrawn and the Persian flags, which had been hoisted, were removed by order
of the Persian Government; this was done on the 14th of June 1904, and a few
days later the Trucial flag was replaced on both islands to the general satisfaction
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