Coll 34/7 'Slavery: Slave Traffic and Gun-running: Right of search by H. M. ships in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf' [218r] (435/576)
The record is made up of 1 file (286 folios). It was created in 11 Dec 1929-3 Feb 1948. 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.
1
V^bfk. 3^
f.93ft> ftj
uS.
Persia, Muscat, Bahrein and Koweit. There nas always been
trouble in the Persian bulf as regards native vessels flying
the French flag (for example), and British action against
them was not taken.”
£ The matter was allowed to rest at this. The India
Office memorandum of 1928 on the arms traitic referred lo
the
firman
A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’).
accordingly as still in force, and no
developments took place until June 1929. In that month the
Minister of Court addressed a Note to Sir Robert Clive .m
which he made what amounted to a complaint against his
Majesty’s Government on the ground that a huge contraband
trade, mainly in British anus, was being carried on
unchecked across the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
into Persia, in spite of
the presence of H.M. Ships. Sir Robert Clive, who was not
fully seized of our treaty position, replied inter alia
that, so far as he Knew, H.M. Ships had no authority to
detain, in order to search for contraband, ships making
for the Persian coast within Persian territorial waters.
The Minister of court on the I2th June replied that ms
complaints had principally to do with preventive action on
the high seas. "I am," he added, ”in entire agreement with
Your Excellency’s view that H.B.M. Ships have no authority
to detain vessels in Persian territorial waters in search of
contraband. Clearly there is no question now of Persian
territorial waters, There Persian authority alone can be
recogiised ..." Sir Robert Clive was subsequently
instructed by the Foreign Office (telegrams Nos. 198 and
199 of 19th June) that the 1897 Agreement with Persia
certainly included Persian territorial waters. But he
appears to have made no subsequent cormnunication on the
subject to Taimourtache, and the correspondence would nojdoubt
be produced against us were we now to act on the view that
the
firman
A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’).
of 1897 was still operative. The Foreign Office
propose, however,Ojefore replying to the Admiralty letter, tr
About this item
- Content
Correspondence, memoranda, minutes, and notes relating to arms and slave traffic in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . Principal correspondents include officials at 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. , Foreign Office, Colonial Office, and Admiralty. Further correspondence, included as enclosures, comes from: the High Commissioner (later, 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. ), Baghdad; the Political 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Bushire; the Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Division; the British Legation, Tehran; Government of India, Foreign and Political Department; Commander-in-Chief of HM Naval Forces, Mediterranean Station; British Legation, Jeddah, and the Board of Trade.
The majority of the file concerns the discussion of arms smuggling in the region, with a particular focus on the right of HM ships to search vessels for arms and slaves. Matters that are discussed include the following:
- Arms traffic across the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. into southern Persia, thought to be supplying the Qashqai rebellion taking place there
- Persian complaints about British sympathy for the Qashqai rebellion
- Revision of naval instructions concerning powers to search and detain vessels in the region
- Arms traffic into Palestine via Akaba [al-Aqaba].
Papers of note included in the file include the following:
- Convention for the Control of the Trade in Arms and Ammunition, and Protocol, signed September 10, 1919 (folios 270-287)
- Record of an interdepartmental meeting held at the Foreign Office on the 24 April to consider the instructions to be issued to the Senior Naval Officers in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , regarding the search by HM ships of Arabian, Persian, and Iraqi vessels for slaves and arms (folios 92-103).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (286 folios)
- Arrangement
The file is arranged in chronological order from the back to the front.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 287; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 34/7 'Slavery: Slave Traffic and Gun-running: Right of search by H. M. ships in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf' [218r] (435/576), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/4094, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100066488402.0x000026> [accessed 30 June 2026]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/4094
- Title
- Coll 34/7 'Slavery: Slave Traffic and Gun-running: Right of search by H. M. ships in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:246r, 247v:256v, 259r:259v, 266r:269v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence
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