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File 4011/1923 Pt 2 'PERSIAN GULF: NEGOTIATIONS 1928 HENJAM' [904v] (1815/1934)
The record is made up of 1 volume (962 folios). It was created in 6 Jul 1926-25 Jan 1934. 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.
authority m Maskat if His Majesty the Shah were to entrust his confidence in the present
Ruler by releasing Bandar Abbas on reasonable terms, considering also how very desirable
it is that the British Government should be enabled to strengthen its influence at Msfihat
by the successful exercise of its good offices in the matter, His Excellency in Council Xires
me to expiess the hope that you will continue your endeavours, as opportunity may offer
to bring about so desirable a result, or, at all events, to prevent the question beum finally’
closed by a decision adverse to Saiyid Turki’ s hopes. "
“ His Excellency in Council is induced to urge this more strongly by the consideration •
that, on receipt of your telegram of 10th September, a communication was made through
the Bombay Government enquiring whether Saiyid Turki would be prepared to send
an Agent to Tehran to negotiate and conclude the lease, and to that communication a
favourable answer has been received. Your Excellency will easily understand what
embarrassments wall arise if, after communications have been made which gave rise to a
reasonable explanation of a favourable issue to the negotiation, His Excellency in Council"
is under the necessity of informing Saiyid Turki that the Persian Government decline to
renew the lease."
October 1871 Colonel Pelly submitted in detail the views of
His Highness the Sultan on the question of a release of the Bandar Abbas. He
said :—
“ The g is t of His Highness* arguments seems to be that he would he very desirous
of ie-cessing the Bandar Abbas districts, provided he could do so on the terms accorded
to the er-Sultan Saiyid Salim ; provided, further, that the negotiation for the lease could
be carried through without extravagant outlay at the Court of Persia ; and provided
lastly, that, if practicable, the negotiation should be entirely in the hands of Colonel Pelly,
or officer of similar rank, the Maskat Envoy being merely present for form’s sake.”
51. Mr. Alison charged Mr. Hickson with a message to Sadr Azam, the
Shah’s Prime Minister, with the view of renewing the subject of the lease of
Bandar Abbas, and reported (15th December 1871) that the Sadr Azam’s
language was unfavourable, but (as requested by the Government of India), he
would not omit aii 3 r good opportunity of bringing this matter before the Shah’s
Government.
52. To Mr. Dickson Sadr Azam said that he did not believe that the Shah
meant strictly what his reply did literally convey. He entered into the early
history of the question, recounting how previously an Agent of one of the
Imams imprisoned a Persian Governor of Bandar Abbas for whose release Her
Majesty’s Government refused to intercede, and which was only obtained by a
renewal of the lease. He said it would be humiliating to the Persian Govern
ment, who can perfectly maintain their country, to have to rent a possession to a
family, who, after having professed their allegiance to Persia, cast upon it the
grossest indignity. Persia, he added, would always value England’s friendly
advice and do her best to meet the wishes of Her Majesty’s Government and
would protect British traders : any Agent of the Imam would not be officially
recognized, though lie would be treated with proper respect.
M r - Alison reported on 18th December 1871 the appointment of Ahmed
Snah of Minab, to the Government of Bandar Abbas, in the room of Haji Ahmed
Khan who had been dismissed.
53. The
native agent
Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government.
at Lingah reported the intention to sell the landed
propert y of Haji Ahmed Khali (his houses having been sold already), who was
way viowLf-nmi opinion nrithu (.nbjnot.^ ,
Saiyid Turki’s desires (I) to place a Maskat Agent at Bandar Abbas and (II)
to lease that port and its dependencies from Persia.
54. On the 30th January 1878 Colonel Miles reported :—
The M azir Saiyid Said, during a recent conversation with me, mentioned that
His Highness Saiyid Turki was anxious to have an agent residing at Bandar Abbas, and
solicited my views and opinion on the subject. “
Saiyid Saic^that the position of His Highness’s subjects at Bandar Abbas, of whom
t icre was a considerable number, engaged in trade and other occupations, was not alto
gether satisfactory, as the treatment received by them at the hands of the Persian author
ities and the protection afforded them in their dealings with others were not such as His
Highness considered they ought to be, and it was thought th^estahlishing an agent at
that port would be beneficial to the interest of all Oman subjects in Southern Persia.
I said that, if the Sultan desired it, I should be happy to communicate his wishes
in the matter to you for the favour of your advice, and the Minister replied that His Highness
would be much obliged by my doing so.’-
About this item
- Content
This volume relates to British policy regarding the Gulf island of Henjam [Jazīreh-ye Hengām], occupied in part, on and off, by the British since the late nineteenth century.
Interdepartmental correspondence refers to the establishment of a British telegraph station on the island in 1868, following a concession from the Persian Government, which was abandoned in 1881 but re-established in 1904. The correspondence also acknowledges that further developments since then, including the establishment of a wireless station and a naval coal depot, represent an encroachment by the British Government.
The main topic of discussion is the extent of the British claim (or lack thereof) to Henjam, and the continued use of the island as a fuelling and recreational station for British naval forces in the Gulf.
Related matters of discussion include the following:
- The possibility of consolidating the British position at Henjam by offering to surrender Basidu to Persia
- The British response to Persian forces expelling the Arab Shaikh of Henjam from the island in May 1928, in retaliation for the Shaikh attacking and looting the island's customs office the previous year
- The drafting of a protocol (as part of wider Anglo-Persian negotiations, which are referred to throughout) in 1929 between the British and Persian governments, setting out the terms for the British Government's surrender of its claims to Basidu and Henjam, in return for continued access to facilities at Henjam, possibly in the form of a lease
- The consideration of alternative locations for a naval station, in the event of it being necessary for the British to relinquish their hold on Henjam
- Whether the British should be prepared to offer the Persian Navy docking and refitting facilities at Bombay or Karachi, on 'favourable terms', in return for their continued use of the facilities at Henjam
- A request from the Persian Government in September 1932 for the immediate withdrawal of the British naval establishment, following the Persian Government's decision to use Henjam as the location for six recently purchased naval vessels
- The possibility of the British naval depot at Henjam being relocated either to Basidu or Bahrein [Bahrain].
The volume features the following principal correspondents: the British Minister in Tehran, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and officials of the Admiralty, the Foreign Office, and 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. . Other notable correspondents include the following: the 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 Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; the Viceroy of India; the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India; the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs; officials of the British Legation at Tehran and the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department.
Also included in the volume are the following: a précis of printed correspondence relating to British positions at Basidu and Henjam, covering the period 1821-1905 (ff 898-941); an 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. memorandum entitled 'Henjam. Position and Rights of His Majesty's Government in the Island of Henjam', dated 26 September 1928 (ff 723-726); copies of the minutes of two meetings of the Committee of Imperial Defence's Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East, dated 17 December 1931 (ff 249-262) and 10 October 1933 (ff 12-28); a copy of a memorandum by the Admiralty and the Foreign Office on the British naval depot at Henjam, dated 23 February 1932 (ff 197-208).
The French language material consists of correspondence from Belgian customs officials writing on behalf of the Persian Government, as well as articles from the aforementioned draft protocol, and correspondence between the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs and the British Minister at Tehran. English translations are included in some but not all cases.
The volume includes two dividers which give the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence (ff 4-5).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (962 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
The subject 4011 ( Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Negotiations) consists of two volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/1094-1095. The volumes are divided into two parts, with each part comprising one volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 964; 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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File 4011/1923 Pt 2 'PERSIAN GULF: NEGOTIATIONS 1928 HENJAM' [904v] (1815/1934), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/1095, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100081391301.0x000010> [accessed 31 March 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/1095
- Title
- File 4011/1923 Pt 2 'PERSIAN GULF: NEGOTIATIONS 1928 HENJAM'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:7v, 10r:46r, 47v, 49r:60r, 61r:68v, 71r:104v, 106r:117v, 119r:192v, 194r:241v, 243r:283v, 285r:288v, 290r:368v, 370r:401v, 405r:406v, 408r:422v, 425r:471v, 475r:487v, 489r:490v, 492r:516v, 521r:532v, 534r:565v, 572r:610v, 612r:612v, 615r:627r, 629r:654v, 660r:668v, 678r:692v, 694r:792v, 794r:802v, 805r:812r, 813r:854v, 855ar:855av, 855r:859v, 862r:870v, 873r:877v, 880r:911r, 912r:921r, 922r:922v, 924v:932r, 933v:939v, 940v:963v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence