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Papers on British policy and the Arab movement [169r] (343/380)
The record is made up of 1 file (187 folios). It was created in 1 Jul 1916-7 Dec 1918. It was written in English and French. 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.
3
assurances, yet circumstances might arise in which it would be impossible to
intervene by force on his behalf In such a case he would, of course, receive
the strongest diplomatic support. Colonel Cox was to record in writing the
substance of the conversation, in the course of which this intimation was
made to the Sheikh.]
“ These assurances are given for yourself, and are intended to extend to your
male descendants, so long as you or they shall not have failed to observe your
obligations towards the Central Government, and shall continue to be accept
able to your tribesmen, to be guided by the advice of His Majesty’s Govern
ment, and to maintain an attitude satisfactory to them.”
A version of this statement was also handed to the Sheikh (at his express request)
for communication to his tribesmen. It differed from the other in the omission of the
words “to be acceptable to your tribesmen ” from the last paragraph, and in the fact
that it was not accompanied by the verbal explanation.
On the 8th December, 1910, the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs enquired
whether there was any truth in information which had reached him that the Sheikh was
under British protection. The British Minister at Tehran replied that the Sheikh was
not a British-protected person, but that His Majesty’s Government had special relations
with him, and would support him in the event of any encroachment on his rights.
It was decided by the Foreign Office that no further information should be
conveyed to the Persian Government regarding the Sheikh’s relations with His
Majesty’s Government.
On the 4th December, 1913, at a time when His Majesty’s Government were
contemplating the acquisition of a controlling interest in the Anglo-Persian Oil
Company, Sheikh Khazal asked Sir P. Cox for still further assurances on the following
lines (29456/14):—
(1.) That we would make the position regarding the succession more secure
by a modification of the wording of our assurances.
(2.) That we would, now that peace had been made between the Bakhtiaris
and himself, take cognisance of a definite compact of peace between them which
would render him immune from the necessity and expense of collecting a large
army annually each season for the protection of' his territory against their
aggression.
(3.) That we should endeavour to devise and take measures with the Persian
Government, and in such directions as may be politically possible, to secure to him
the status of local autonomy to which the history of the past entitled him, and
which he at present enjoys in practice, but on a precarious basis.
In a report, dated the 7th December, 1913, to the Government of India
Sir P. Cox conveyed these requests, and submitted that—
“ we should meet the Sheikh’s wishes as far as we can in the matter of the
wording of our assurance to him, and that instead of the words ‘ and be acceptable
to your tribesmen,’ we should substitute the words, ‘ and provided always that the
nomination of your successor from among your descendants shall be subject to
confidential consultation with, and the approval of, His Majesty’s Government.’ ”
He proposed to meet Sheikh Khazal’s other requests by negotiating on certain
lines with the Russian and Persian Governments.
The points raised in this report were still being discussed between 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.
and the Foreign Office when the outbreak of the war transformed the situation. The
disintegration of Persia and the encroachment of Russia, which had previously been
the main preoccupation of His Majesty’s Government in the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, were eclipsed
by the more immediate menace from Turkey and Germany. The Sheikh of Mohammerah
appears to have sent assurances of his loyalty to His Majesty’s Government soon after
a state ot war between Great Britain and Germany was declared (61684/61439/14, No. 1),
and it was clearly essential that we should reaffirm and strengthen our assurances
to him.
On the 6th September, 1914, the Government of India, in a telegram to 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.
repeated to the officiating Resident in the Gulf (61684/14, No. 1), made
the following suggestion :—
“It is asserted by the Sheikh of Koweit, and there seem reasonable grounds
to believe, that the Sheikhs of Koweit and Mohammerah, in collusion with certain
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About this item
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This file contains correspondence, memoranda, maps, manuscript notes, and other papers relating to the political and territorial settlement of parts of the Middle East following the First World War. Many of the papers were collected for the attention of the Middle East Committee (later named the Eastern Committee, following the mergence of the Foreign Office's Russia Committee and the interdepartmental Persia Committee) of the War Cabinet. Contributors include officials from the War Office, Foreign Office, Admiralty, and 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. , as well as indivduals such as Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence. Correspondence comes from representatives of the French and Italian governments as well as British officials in Cairo and other parts of the Middle East.
The papers deal with plans for the region presuming and following an Allied victory in the First World War and take into consideration the imperial ambitions of the victorious European Powers (France, Italy, Russia, Britain, and the United States) and the multitudinous commitments made by the British to various groups. The plans are based on evolving agreements rooted in the Sykes-Picot, or Asia Minor, Agreement between the British and French of 1916. Regions under consideration include the Hejaz (sometimes written Hedjaz), Syria, Northern Iraq, Southern Iraq, Palestine, Armenia, Turkey, the Idrisi state, Yemen, Persia, and Afghanistan. Various matters are covered in the file, but particular focus is given to plans for the Sherifian family of the Hejaz, led by King Husein [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī], which impacted upon policy in Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and the Arabian Peninsula. Other matters include the situation between Jews and Arabs in Palestine, wartime commitments to ruling shaikhs in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , the French position in the region, and desiderata of the Government of India for any peace settlement.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (187 folios)
- Arrangement
The file is arranged in chronological order from the front to the back.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front first page with 1, and terminates at the inside back last page with 187; 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 and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F112/277
- Title
- Papers on British policy and the Arab movement
- Pages
- 1ar:1av, 1r:14r, 14r:14v, 14v, 22r:59v, 62r:98r, 99v:120v, 125r:133v, 136r:165r, 166r:167r, 167av, 168r:173r, 175r:176v, 178r:187v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence