‘Persian Gulf Gazetteer. Part 1. Historical and political materials. Precis of Turkish expansion on the Arab littoral of the Persian Gulf and Hasa [Al-Hasa] and Katif [Al-Qaṭīf] affairs.’ [12] (24/160)
The record is made up of 1 volume (80 folios). It was created in 1904. It was written in English. 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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
12
Ottoman Ambassador to France, and forwarded to the Foreign Office in 1&72
by bir B. Frere, then on his way to Zanzibar as special envoy.
In this memorandum,'after observing that from what had passed he inferred
that the Porte had " signified to France its claim to the entire seaboard of
Arabia, extending from Suez to the head of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, and therefore
including Oman or the principality of Maskat." Dr. Badger continued : —
" The claim of Turkev to the Provinces of Yemen and Nejd, and to the intervening
maritime provinces, including Oman, is foundpd on the fiction that a lineal descendent of the
Ambasside Khalifahs of Baghdad invested Salim II, afrer his conquest of E^-ypt and his suc
cesses on the shores of the Red Sea, with the sovereignty over the whole of Arabia. It is
indisputable, however, that during the existence of the dynasty nearly the whole of Arabia
had revolted from its authorities and set up native principalities and ehiefdoms, which have
maintained their independence until the recent attempts made by the Turks to subjugate them
in Yemen and Nejd. All that they can fairly lay claim to is the seaboard of Arabia from
Suez to Mokha which they have held with occasional intermission since their first conquests
in the Red Sea in the 16th century. As regards Oman, the native annals of the province
incontestably prove that it became independent of the Baghdad Khalifate in the loth century
and has never since been subject to foreign rule except for a short time to the Persians. The
same is tueof the Arab chiefd 'ms in the Peisian Gulf; whose history is intimately connected
with that of Oman ; moreover, it is indisputable that neither the Turks nor the Egyptians
have ever exercised any jurisdiction over the territories referred to, and that the Turks
themselves, in 1847, virtually admitted the independence of the Imams and other Arab chief-
d^ms in the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, is proved in the follo wing extract from a Vizerial letter addressed
to the
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
of Baghdad on the subject of the slave trade as given in Aitchison's Treaties,
Volume VII, page 192 :—
" Votre Excellence sait qu'il a dan ces environs la des Gouvernements, et des Imams
independant# et, cela etant, des chatiments dont il s'agit^ ne peuvent pas etre appliques a leurs
batimeuts/'
But preposterous as their claims may be, there is every probability that the Turks will lose
no time in endeavouring to enforce them. The result of partial success would be to introduce
a fresh element of complication and strife into the Eastern Sea without any corresponding
advantage either to the Turks themselves or to the threatened maritime Native States and
chiefdoms, or to the British Government."
48'B. It would seem that the Sublime Porte had at this time in view the
Holy Ottoman Empire. idea of rev i viD g ^ the whole of the Arabian
P en i ns ^a its religio political empire, what
may be called the Holy Ottoman Empire, in analogy of the Holy Roman
• see Bryce 's Holy Roman Empire. Empire* a fusion of an ideal Universal
Church, the fiction of the Bo man Empire
and a feudal monarchy, which claimed even an independent France, as a
fief under its Imperial Lordship. International arrangements took place
among many of these states of the Holy Roman Empire or between many of
them and states outside the Empire, without the cognizance of, or in opposition
to, the Imperial Power or the Roman Pontiff, a process which mi^ht as well
and is in fact repeated in our days in the Holy Ottoman Empire.
About this item
- Content
Part 1 of a Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. gazetteer of historical and political materials, a précis of Turkish expansion on the Arab littoral of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and Hasa [Al-Hasa] and Katif [Al-Qaṭīf] affairs. The précis was prepared by Jerome Antony Saldanha, whose preface (under which his surname is erroneously spelt Saldana) is dated 25 November 1904, and published by the Government of India Foreign Deptartment, Simla, India.
The preface is an historical outline of the struggle for political dominance in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , including Portuguese, British, Wahabi [ Wahhābī A follower of the Islamic reform movement known as Wahhabism; also used to refer to the people and territories ruled by the Al-Saud family. ] and Turkish expansion. The chapters (titles shown in italics) deal with the subject in an roughly chronological fashion:
1. Early history of Hasa and Katif , including: references to the area in Arabic writing; the first known Arab colonists; and early references to the area in British (East India Company) records;
2. Conquest of Hasa by the Wahabis and Turkish expeditions into Nejd [Najd] and Hasa, and their results 1800-1865 , including: conquest of the area by the Wahabis; Turkish expeditions to the area, 1811-19 and 1836-40; Amir Feysal’s [Fayṣal ibn Turki Āl Sa‘ūd] nominal dependence on Turkey, 1855; troubles in Katif, 1859-62; Turkish protest against British proceedings at Damaum [Dammām], 1862; the British war against Amir Feysal, 1865-66; obsolete title of award of Arabia by an Abbasid caliph to the Ottoman Porte; Ottoman ambitions in Arabia (Holy Ottoman Empire);
3. Turkish expedition to Nejd and Hasa, 1871-72 , including: origins of the expedition; intelligence from 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. , Colonel Lewis Pelly; British policy in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and effects of the Turkish expedition on that policy; Turkish assurances to Britain, communicated to Bahrain (spelt Bahrein throughout) by Pelly; Turkish promise of non-interference with the rulers of the Trucial coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ; narrative of the events leading up to and including the landing of the expeditionary force in Nejd; Turkish designs on Katar [Qatar], and their hoisting of the Turkish flag at Budaa [Al-Bidda]; Turkish naval activity in the Gulf, and Britain’s naval response; murder of a suspected Turkish messenger at Bahrain; reasons for the non-interference of the British Government in operations on land; further narrative of the expedition and affairs in Nejd; evidence of Turkish designs on Bahrain; Turkish assurances; relations between Turkey and Abuthabi [Abu Dhabi]; close of the Turkish expedition;
4. Internal affairs of Hasa and Katif, 1872-1904 , including: administration and internal organisation; and a list of governors at Hasa, including events of significance occurring during their rule;
5. Survey of the Katif coast, 1873-74 , including: British intentions and permission gained from the Ottoman Porte; complaints of British survey officers landing on the Nejd coast; written permission to land to undertake surveying.
6. Increase of Turkish military and naval forces in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and Turkish policy , including: a memorandum by Captain T Doughty on the state of affairs in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ;
7. (1) Trade Relations of Hindu and other traders of Bahrain with Katif, and their disabilities , and (2) Proposal appointment of a consular officer at Katif ;
8. Piracies , including: piracies in Katif and Bahrain waters, 1878; ; revolt in Hasa and piracies in Katif and Bahrain waters, 1878-81; Turkish responsibilities and jurisdiction for the purpose of suppressing piracies in Katif waters, 1878-81; piracies in Katif and Bahrain waters in 1883; piracies in Katif and Bahrain waters in 1886; piracies in 1887-88; piracies in 1891-92; piracies in 1899-1900; piracies in 1902 and the proposal of the Chief of Bahrain to maintain an armed dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. for the pursuit of pirates, 1902-03;
9. Murder of Sheikh Selman-bin-Diaij-el-Khalifa [Shaikh Salman bin Diaj Āl Khalīfah] , a cousin of the Chief of Bahrain and his party about 40 miles south of Katif. Question of satisfaction and compensation for it ;
10. Turkish designs on Oman and the rest of the East Arabian Littoral, 1888-1899 ;
11. Summary of British declarations against Turkish encroachments in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and of the Porte’s assurances, 1871-1904 .
The cover of volume, on which the title is printed, also has a number of different pencil and pen annotations, marking former external references or numbering systems (‘P.2557/29’, ‘No.5’, ‘C238’).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (80 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is arranged into eleven chapters, preceded by a preface. Each chapter is organised by subheadings, and its paragraphs numbered. The paragraph numbers are continuous throughout the whole volume, beginning on 1 at the start of the first chapter, and ending on 553/553A at the end of the eleventh chapter. A contents page at the front of the volume (ff.4-5) lists the chapters by their headings and subheadings, with each referring to paragraph, rather than page, numbers.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right hand corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
Pagination: The volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence, with page numbers located top and centre of each page.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/20/C238
- Title
- ‘Persian Gulf Gazetteer. Part 1. Historical and political materials. Precis of Turkish expansion on the Arab littoral of the Persian Gulf and Hasa [Al-Hasa] and Katif [Al-Qaṭīf] affairs.’
- Pages
- front, front-i, i-r:ii-v, 1:4, 1:2, 1:35, 37:40, 42:80, 82:108, 110:144, iii-r:iii-v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence