'Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. Vol I. Historical. Part IA & IB. J G Lorimer. 1915' [‎606] (749/1782)

606
Persian
claim to
Gwadar
waived and
abandoned,
1868-7J.
Makran and Baluchistan—the basis o£ claim being apparently the
conquests of Nadir Shah ; and in 1867 they constituted a serions obstacle
in the negotiations for the extension of the land line of telegraph to the
-westward of Gwadar. In a Persian official memorandum it was now
stated that "the Persian Government considered Kaij and Makran
integral parts of the province of Kirman and therefore undoubtedly
Persian territory," and that the ports of Gwadar and Chahbar " were
also placed by them in exactly the same category as other ports belonging
exclusively to Persia/' ^
Eventually however, in concluding the Telegraph Convention of
2nd April 1868, these claims were waived, without prejudice, by the
Persian Government; and they also, though not without reluctance
abandoned a contention which they had raised that the coast from
Gwadar westwards should be described in the Convention as a the
Persian Coast - ". The boundary laid down by General Goldsmid in
1871 between Persian and Kalat territory afterwards placed Gwadar
beyond the reach oi Persia; but it did not affect Chahbar, which, though
claimed by Persia, was still actually in possession of the Sultan of
'Oman.
British political representation at Gwadar, 1863-1873.
ment of an 6 s ^ ua ^ 1 ' on of Gwadar, near the point of contact between
Agsistaut several spheres of political influence, is peculiar, and the place may be
Political regarded in various different aspects : it is at once a dependency of the
AwiTiaes Sultanate of Oman, a locality of which the interests are closely bound
up with the affairs^ of Southern Baluchistan and particularly of the Kaij
district, a convenient point from which to survey the affairs of Persian
Makian, and a station upon the Makran section of the Indo-European
Telegraph Department's land telegraph, of which the headquarters
aie at Karachi, The multiplicity of the interests which thus exist
a Gwadar has not been without its effect on the nature of British
representation there, and has from time to time necessitated adminis-
changes which will presently be described ; but the institution of
a ri ish Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. was due, in the first instance, to the difficulties with
ersia which arose out of the construction of the land telegraph to
Gwadar m 1862-63.
a ' le P resen ^ a tive was, in the beginning, a European
ssis an Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , the cost of whose appointment was debited
o e ik o-European Telegraph Department; and the first incumbent
o ae posi ^as Lieutenant E. C. Ross, Adjutant of the 1st Baluch
egimen ,—afterwards Sir E. C. Ross ; 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. in the
rersian Gult,—who had been nominated by Mr. Mansfield, Commis-
swner in^ md, to be Assistant Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Kalat, but who was
m J . m c0nse< l uence of the threatened trouble with Persia over the
e !- l a P ? o proceed to Gwadar instead. He arrived there in April 1863.
tj ^ ime ^ under the authority from the Sultan of 'Oman for
anaing British troops at Gwadar to protect the telegraph, 100 Karachi