'SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS AND MEASURES OF THE VICEROYALTY OF HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON OF KEDLESTON, VICEROY AND GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA IN THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT. I. JANUARY 1899-APRIL 1904. II. DECEMBER 1904-NOVEMBER 1905. VOLUME IV. PERSIA AND THE PERSIAN GULF.' [‎130r] (264/386)

No. 66 (Secret—External), dated Simla, the 2nd May 1901.
From—The Government of India in the Foreign Department,
To—The Right Hon’ble Lord Georgs F. Hamilton, His Majesty’s Secretary of
State for India.
"With reference to Your Lordship’s Secret despatch No. 30, dated the
23rd November 1000, regarding the selection of a British naval base in the
j ^ w v. -mm Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , we have the honour to for-
enclosure*. ward a copy of a letter* from our Political
Besident in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , which gives cover to a report upon the islands
of Hormuz, Kishm and Hen jam, by Lieutenant Hunt, who was till lately
Vice-Consul at Bunder Abbas.
2. We are strongly of opinion that, in the event of the Russians occupying
Bunder Abbas or any other Persian harbour near the entrance of the Gulf, or
acquiring political or naval privileges there, such as would constitute a violation
of the understanding of 1834-, our Naval Officer Commanding in the Gulf
should have instructions at once to plant the British flag upon the three islands
of Hormuz, Henjam and Kishm. We would occupy Hormuz, not with the idea
of making it our principal naval station, but in order to prevent its being taken
by Russia°, and because its possession would give us command of Bunder Abbas,
lleniam and Kishm in our opinion must necessarily be taken together. The
smaller island is required because the best available harbour in this part of the
Gulf appears to be that which lies between it and Kishm, and Kishm is
necessary to us because we already possess a plot of British territory upon
it at Bassidore, and because it would be indispensable as a base of supplies
for Heniam. Your Lordship is aware of the conditions under which we hold
possession of Bassidore. Though we no longer use the place as a coaling depot,
we keep an agent there, who flies the British flag, which seems, for the present,
to be all that is required, as an assertion of our proprietary rights. There are
no independent local Chiefs or authorities in the islands with whom we could
enter into relations. With the exception of the tract in our possession at
Bassidore, the islands are under Persian authority, and since Lieutenant
Hunt’s visit, the Kalantar of Kishra, Sheikh Hasan, is said to have been
superseded at the instance of the Director-General of Customs in Southern
Persia by another official.
3. The harbour of Khor ash Shem or Elphinstone’s Inlet upon the western
side of the Musandim promontory possesses many advantages,but we consider it
less suitable for our ultimate naval station at the mouth of the Gulf because of
its distance from the main track of steamers and from the Persian coast, its
total lack of supplies, and the uncivilised character of the aboriginal inhabitants
of Musandim. We should, however, see no objection, in the contingency
contemplated, to the simultaneous hoisting of the British flag on the isthmus
of Maklab, between Khor ash Shem and Ghubbeh Ghazireh, not necessarily
with the view of ulterior occupation, but in order to anticipate seizure by any
other Power. The isthmus might, we think, be annexed without seeking
permission either from the Sultan of Maskat or from the Arab tribes, m the
same manner as it was occupied by the Eastern Telegraph Company in 1869.
2
No. 192 (Secret—External), dated Simla, the 23rd October 1902.
From—The Government of India in the Foreign Department,
To—The Right Hov’ble Lord George F. Hamilton, His Majesty’s Secretary of
State for India.
With reference to the correspondence ending with Your Lordship’s
Secret despatch No. 23, dated the 30th May 1902, on the subjeet of the selec
tion of a naval base in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , we have the honour to forward, for
Your Lordship’s consideration, copies of the papers noted in the enclosed list. ,