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‘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.’ [‎107] (119/160)

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. .

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107
within limits to be settled by tbe British Government, and its absolute repudi
ation beyond those limits. Ordinarily, the Turks should be held reponsible
for the maintenance of a proper police within their own jurisdiction, but
British operations in Turkish territorial waters would he permissible in special
feases with the previous consent of the local authorities.
iii.~-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. was against any definition of the limits of Turkish
jurisdiction. Mere pretensions to sovereignty on the part of the Turks should
not be allowed to hamper British action. But where Turkish authority has
been, or may hereafter be, effectually established in any part of the coast
north of Odeid—the islands of Bahrein being excepted—it must be recognized.
Purther, provided that no obstacles were interposed to any operations which
might be necessary to preserve the peace of the seas and to punish marauders,
and that no interference was attempted either with Bahrein or the Trucial
Chiefs from Odeid to Has-el-Khyma or with Maskat, the Turks may be left to
establish Ottoman authority as far south as Odeid.
The proposals of the Government of India differed essentially from those
of the Eoreigfl Office, in that the latter would ordinarily not permit British
operations within Turkish jurisdiction. The practical effect of this difference
would be found to depend upon the extent of the territorial limits within
which the Foreign Office must be prepared to recognize the existence of estab
lished Turkish^ authority. The Foreign Office did not absolutely reject'the
Indian idea of a joint police. There is an apparent inclination to give
the Turks another trial,, and to wait the result of the renewed and more vigor
ous measures which they have promised to initiate.
414. The views of the Inflia Office, it will be seen, had undergone a com
plete change. In Sir' L. Mallet's letter, dated 1st August^ Lord Cranbrook
concurred generally in the proposals of the Government of India, more especi
ally in the suggested definition of the limfts of Turkish authority. In Sir L.
Mallet's subsequent letter the inexpediency of any such definition constitutes
the distinctive feature of Lord Cranbrook's policy, and special stress is laid
Upon it.
415. Another point to notice was the suggestion made by Lord Cranbrook
in respect to the instructions to be issued for the guidance of naval officers
in the Gulfi
416. In March 1879 Colonel Boss wrote to Captain Wodehouse, Com
manding Her Majesty's Ship Teas£er\ intimating that the Government of
India had accorded their sanction and approval to naval action against pirates
along that portion of the Turkish Arabian coast, of late infested by robber
bands, whether within or beyond Turkish territorial waters, to the extent of
thorough examination of the coast referred to, recovery of Bahrein vessels
stolen by the Bedouins, and removal beyond their reach of boats likely to be
seized and used for further depredations.
417. Ther^ sanction was : given on the condition that the naval officers and
the Kesident in the Gulf were in accord on the subject, and on the under
standing that no expedition would be undertaken on the mainland, subject
to Turkish authority beyond the reach of the guns of Her Majesty's ships.
418^ Captain Wodehouse referred these instructions to the Naval Com-
mander -in-Clnef^ and in due course they were submitted by the Admiralty to
the Foreign Office, with an enquiry whether it was the desire of Her Majesty's
Government that the course directed by the Indian Government should be
adopted. Lord Salisbury felt a difficulty iii the absence of further explana
tions in expressing concurrence in the measures proposed. He apprehended
that in the absence of treaty stipulations, Her Majesty's ships could only deal
^with piracy jure gentium, that is piracy committed in the high seas beyond
the territorial waters of Turkey," and that any expeditions by them on the
mainland, although within reach of the guns of Her Majesty's ships*

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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
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‘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.’ [‎107] (119/160), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C238, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023514031.0x000079> [accessed 13 March 2025]

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