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File 4011/1923 Pt 2 'PERSIAN GULF: NEGOTIATIONS 1928 HENJAM' [934r] (1874/1934)
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.
the ual P ° siti011 “d"wii?enab a ie X’ Go^mment Maj “ty^
Legation to come to a definite decision as to what li™ 1 + • „ ri s 1Via J est y
to the imits ° f -
31. The establishment of the Persian Customs at Heniam created ereat ex
oitement among the Arabs. It was clear to them that the customs was establish-"
ed for no revenue purposes, but for a political purpose, that is, in order to assert
the Persian sovereignty over the island. The Arabs who belong to the same
tribe as those of Debai, were in no mood to tolerate this exercise of sovereigX
and were very much inclined to attack the Customs Mirza. The latte? how!?er
established himself close to the telegraph station and depended for hisXIter
on our tanks The Arabs who looked up to the British for protection like heir
brethren at Debai, did not evidently look favourably upon the protection afford
edto the Customs MiiBa. The Arab Sheikh spoke to Lieutena, sX“
in lebruary If Oo ot jus determination never to acknowledge • Pm
sian sovereignty but was told by the Assistant Resident not to create anv
trouble 01 disturbance until lie wrote to him or came personally to see him after
receiving an answer to the reference of his case to the Resident. Some definite
statement of our policy or attitude had soon to be made to the Arab Sheikh: to
tell him that he is a subject of Persia and that we have nothing to do with him
and at the same time to let the Persian Mirza reside within the shelter of the
telegraph station was calculated to impair our relations with the Arabs and also
to endanger the safety of our telegraph station. There was no reason more
over why we should assume any responsibility for the subsistence or safety of an
official, who, except as a spy upon ourselves, had no raison d’etre on the island.
In these circumstances the Viceroy asked Sir A. Hardinge whether it would not
be advisable to inform the Persian Government that they must either remove
the Mirza without delay from the neighbourhood of the station (which would be
tantamount to withdrawal from the island) or permit us to post an Indian guard
for the protection of onr men.
32. The proposal for sending a guard to Henjam had been made by Sir A.
Hardinge when on 24th December 1904 he notified the establishment of a customs
post there. He, however, subsequently asked that the despatch of the guard
might he postponed, as it would probably suggest the idea that the telegraph
station was a cloak to military occupation and he detrimental to the settlement
of the question of the Henjam-Bandar Abbas extension.
33. In the circumstances reported in April 1905, the Government preferred
to insist on the Customs Mirza being removed, as that would mean a return to the
status quo, recovering our prestige with the Arabs and dispensing with the cost
of a guard (Telegram from the Viceroy to Sir A. Hardinge, dated 6th May
1905).
Sir A. Hardinge replied on 7th May 1905 :—
‘ ‘ If we ask for removal of the Mirza or establishment of an Indian ghard to protect
our station, the Persian Government will undoubtedly reply with an offer to send Persian
troops for the security of both. This will not improve matters. Perhaps the customs
Mirza would leave the island without waiting for instructions from M. Naus, if the Arabs
were to threaten to kill him. This has happened on the Trans-Caspian Frontier. Do you
think we need go out of our way to protect the Mirza ? We can always send an Indian
guard for ourselves once the Telegraph agreement is signed.”
The following measures were then taken to protect our position at
Hen jam :—
I British men-of-war were ordered whenever passing up and down
the Gulf to call at Henjam [and occasionally at Lingah and
Bandar Abbas]—see telegram from Naval Commander-in-Chief
to the Government of India, Marine Department, dated loch May
1905.
II.—Mai or Cox was told to inform the Customs Mirza, as suggested by
him, that the water-supply at Henjam was low and that he could
not be permitted to draw from our tanks anv longei ( e egram
dated 19th May 1905).
When Major Cox visited Henjam in June 1905, he found a third incumbent
in the customs post. He had made arrangements to get wa er rom
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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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