'Précis of correspondence regarding the affairs of the Persian Gulf, 1801-1853' [‎131r] (261/344)

Part VI—Chap. XLIX.
241
445. The Bombay Government strongly supported the proposal for a peace
in lieu of truce in their letter No. 14)7, dated 24tli November 1852. We
shall quote their observations :—
2. The Right Hon^ble the Governor in Council desires me in forwarding these
documents to observe that the success of the maritime truce, now about to expire, has, it is
believed, been complete and that the benefits resulting from it, to all parties, undeniable. It is,
therefore, an object of great importance that the present peaceful relations maintained among
the Chiefs of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. with each other, and with the British Government, as the
acknowledged paramount power, shall not be interrupted.
3. The Right Hon'ble the Governor in Council considers the proposed treaty for a peace
in lieu of a truce to be unobjectionable, and is of opinion that the execution of such an agree
ment is highly desirable ; I am accordingly instructed to request that you will submit, for the
consideration of the Most Noble the Governor-General in Council, the suggestion of this
Government, that it be allowed to authorize the Resident to conclude an agreement on the
terms he has recommended, using his best endeavours to carry through the measure with as
little delay as possible.
4. Should the Government of Ind^ authorize the above course. His Lordship in Council
purposes to instruct the Resident, in the event of the Chiefs evincing a serious disinclination to
such a treaty, or opposing to its conclusion, any obstacles which that officer may be unable
himself to overcome, to refer the subject again for the consideration of Government; taking
care in such a case that the truce is not suffered to expire, but renewed for such short intervals
as may give time for a reply to the references he may find it imperatively necessary to make.
5. The Right Hon'ble the Governor in Council is of opinion that the usual annual presents
to the Chiefs in token of their adherence to their engagement should not be discontinued, and
be made subservient to the maintenance of British influence.
446. The Government of India approved of the proposal.
447. An agreement was accordingly concluded with the Chiefs on the
See Aitchieon's Tr«tie., VoW x. Arabian coast to be in force in perpetuity.
In a letter dated 11th May 1853, Captain
Kemball reports the particulars of the interviews he had with the respective
Chiefs on the occasion of concluding the general Treaty of Peace and throwing
as it does much light on the condition of affairs at the time, it is quoted at
length below:—
Having this day completed the tour of the ports of Oman in prosecution of which I left
Bassidi re on the 3rd instant, I have the honour to report, for the information of Government,
the particulars of my interviews with the Maritime Chiefs on tlie occasion of concluding the
General Treaty of Peace, w T hich is referred to in your instruction No. 447 of 31st December
last. An Arabic draft of this engagement duly authenticated by the seals of the contracting
Parties, as also an English version, are herewith transmitted.
2. On the 4th instant the Clive arrived off Shargah, and in the course of the day I
received the visit of Sheikh Sultan bin SuggarAfter reproaching the Chief with the
detention to which his protracted stay at Brymee had subjected me, I observed that having
already apprized him by letter of the light in which his proceedings would be viewed by the
British Government, I had only now to rejoice that the apparent efficacy of my remonstrances
should have obviated a recourse to more serious measures in order to vindicate its policy, and
to support the interests of an old and faithful ally. This allusion to his schemes my visitor in
the first instance repudiated, asserting on the contrary the friendship he had always enter
tained for the Imaum, In proceeding to Brymee he said he had only followed the example
of Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon and the other Maritime Chieftains and was prompted thereto
merely by the desire to counteract intrigues which, he apprehended, they might set on foot to
injure him; but on my remarking that, if such were the case, the fact of his exclusion from the
subsequent negotiations, and the ascendancy gained by his rival Saeed bin Tahnoon in the
Councils of Abdulla bin Fysul would be inexplicable, he admitted that the faithless treatment
he had experienced at the hands of the Imaum had certainly provoked him to espouse afresh
the cause ot 55yed Ges Bin Azan and, in furtherance of his objects to avail himself of the
co-operation of a party whose power was adequate to the control of the other tribes. His
Highness, he declared, when persuading him on the last occasion to join his side, had promised
him an annual donation of 8,000 dollars, but no sooner were his aims accomplished than he
withdrew trom his engagements. In acting therefore as he did, he had sought only to obtain
what he conceived to be his right, and that his intentions extended no further I must myself
be sufficiently convinced, when I considered that it would be quite as hurtful to his interests as
to those of His Highness that the Wahabees occupied Sohar. Here I thought proper to remark
that although the British Government as a rule did not interfere in the internal concerns of the
Arab tribes so long as their differences were confined to themselves, still, if a third party
interposed to disturb its arrangements, it could not be denied the privilege o! asserting its
views. f lhe Sheikh then assured me that on receiving my letter he had immediately disbanded
his followers, and relinquished absolutely the designs to which he had before lent himself j so