'SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS AND MEASURES OF THE VICEROYALTY OF HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON OF KEDLESTON VICEROY AND GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA. PART I - The Persian Gulf.' [‎13v] (31/92)

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the snme evening the “ Laurence ” and the “ Sphinx ” rejoined the rest of the
fleet at a rendezvous at sea on the way to Bushire.
Bushire, which was reached on the morning of the 2nd of December, was
the scene of an incident by which the success and completeness of the tour were
to some extent impaired. It had previously been arranged that the Ala-ud-
Dauleji, Governor General of Fars, who had been appointed to receive the
Viceroy on behalf of the Shah, should conduct His Excellency from the landing
place to a British consular building, which Lord Curzon would occupy and
from which he would return the visit of the Persian Governor General.
Bunder Abbas was originally fixed as the place of meeting, but subsequently
Bushire was substituted. Later the Persian Government prevailed on Lord
Curzon to accept the use of a Persian house while on shore, and to agree that
on landing at Bushire he should be conducted by the Ala-ud-Dauleh to the
Persian Government House. Next it became apparent that the Persian
Government would not consent to the first visit being paid by the Ala-ud-Dauleh
except on condition that Lord Curzon occupied a house provided by themselves,
and that in any other case they expected the first visit to be paid by the Viceroy.
JVIoreover. the Persian Government House at Bushire, where it was proposed
that the Viceroy should lodge, was occupied by the Persian Governor General,
and in these circumstances the intended exchange of visits was reduced almost
to an absurdity. At the last moment the Persian authorities proposed to
arrange another house at Bushire for Lord Curzon, but a point had been
reached at which it was necessary to vindicate the dignity of the Viceroyalty
and Governor-Generalship of India, and after a consultation between Lord
Curzon and Sir A. Hardinge it was decided to insist upon adherence by the
Persian Government to the spirit of the original programme, by which the
Ala-ud-Dauleh was bound to pay the first visit to the Viceroy at a British
consular building. The Persian authorities at Bushire having declined to
accede to this demand, the British Charge d’Affaires at Tehran was instructed
by telegram to inform the Persian Government that their positive refusal to
authorise the ordinary courtesy of a first visit at the British 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. made
the question one of principle, involving the dignity of His Majesty’s Govern
ment, on which the Viceroy could not compromise, and that Lord Curzon was
accordingly compelled to abandon the idea of landing at Bushire and would
sail for India on the next day. No answer having been received to this com
munication, the “ Hardinge” with the squadron left Bushire on the evening of
the 3rd of December, and the incident became the subject of a diplomatic
discussion; this discussion lasted for some months and ended in the discomfiture
of the Persian Government, who posed as the aggrieved party and demanded
reparation which they were not able to obtain. Before leaving Bushire Lord
Curzon received on board the “ Hardinge ” a large deputation of British
subjects and residents who presented an address of welcome ; the Viceroy took
advantage of the opportunity to describe in his reply the past history and
present condition of British commercial relations with Persia and especially
with Bushire. At Bushire Sir A. Hardinge took leave of Lord Curzon, and the
squadron also dispersed. H.M.S. “ Fox ” however, which had already proceeded
to Pasni, remained on duty with the Viceroy.
The 4th of December was occupied by the voyage down the Gulf, which
was made at a speed probably unprecedented in these seas ; Jask was reached on
the morning of the 5th. and Pasni in British Mekran, where a Darbar A public or private audience held by a high-ranking British colonial representative (e.g. Viceroy, Governor-General, or member of the British royal family). was held
for the notables of Western and Southern Baluchistan, on the morning of the
6th of December. This was the first visit paid by a Governor-General of India
to any place in Mekran. The next day the “ Hardinge ” re-entered Karachi
harbour after a cruise of exactly three weeks.
The Viceregal tour was a striking exhibition of British power and influence;
it was without a precedent in the history of the Gulf, and it is likely to remain
for long an event without parallel in local annals. In Persia, it is true, it had
an ending which was not calculated to improve the relations of that country
with Great Britain, but on the opposite coast of the Gulf it was a complete
success and appreciably strengthened the bonds which unite the Arab prin-
cipalit’es of Eastern Arabia to the British Empire. The demeanour of the
Sultan of Maskat was that of a loyal feudatory of the British Oown rather
than of an independent sovereign ; and by the Shaikh of Koweit the Viceroy's