Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎31v] (69/1814)

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of the British Government, which, however, it was not considered necessary to
give formally, though tacit recognition has been given.
In this, the most recent case which has occurred, it will he observed that
the Chief ot his own accord asked for the recognition of the British Govern
ment, and probably m future cases the same course will be followed. It will
however, m my opinion, rarely be necessary or advisable for the Besident to
exercise any voice m the matter of these successions. Under present condi
tions, a Chief who can obtain and hold power may generally be held to be a
ruler acceptable to his subjects, otherwise he will not be able to hold his posi
tion for long, and if we begin to interfere in such matters and accept anv
degree of responsibility for the actions of the Chiefs, we may freq uently find
ourselves m embarrassing positions. I am inclined, therefore, to think that our
policy of non-interference in the internal disputes of the Trucial Chiefs and
in the matter of successions to Chief ships, is wise. No good reason for depart
ing from it has, I think, been shown, and no good object would be gained bv
doing so. ° J
a P 0S1 ^ 10n P res ent, with regard to these Trucial Chiefs, is without
doubt at least one of tacit predominance. This result is due to our policy in the
past, to the various engagements which we have entered into with the Chiefs,
and to the more intimate relations which we have had with them in conse
quence. Our position of “ overlordship ”, so far as it refers to the mainten
ance of the maritime. peace, to. the protection of our traders, and to the
observance by the Chiefs of their various engagements with us, is clear and is
undoubtedly accepted by the Chiefs without demur. As I have stated above
no infringement of the maritime truce has occurred for years, notwithstanding
the fact that land disputes, for the successful prosecution of which operations by
sea would be of great importance, have been by no means unfrequent.
This clearly shows that the Chiefs are well aware of the serious conse
quences which w ould result to themselves from any infringement of this truce.
° f • f ? Ct ° ur P ositicm of tacit predominance does enable us to
mteiteie m the interests of peace even m the internal disputes of the Arab
tribes. I he fact of a Chief knowing that any infringement of the peace at sea
wi at once render him liable to be called to account by the Besident makes
him think twice before he embarks on hostilities by land against another
Chief, and it frequently happens that the Besident is enabled to use his good
offices and thereby to bring about a peaceful settlement of disputes which
formerly would have been settled by force of arms. More than one instance of
this has occurred of late years. I will give a recent case as an example. Du
ring the visit which I paid last month to the Arab Coast, I learnt from the Chief
of A]man, that the neighbouring Chief of Umm-al-Gawain was on the point
of starting on an expedition against the Chief of Bas-el-Khaima. When I
Visited Umm-al-Gawain, I ascertained that the report w^as true and that the
expedition had been already organised and intended to start in a day or tw^o.
T f 1G dls P at ? 1 dld . not a Ppear to be very serious, though, from what I
was told, the Umm-al-Gawam people had a just cause of complaint against
Bas-el-Khaima. After some discussion and a due warning that no breach of the
mantime peace was to occur I.managed to prevail upon the Umm-al-Gawain
C m postpone the expedition until the result of the endeavours which I
promised to make for a satisfactory settlement of the dispute could be seen. I
have not yet heard whether the Besidency Agent has been able to bring about
such a settlement but it is probable that he has. I mention this ca^e (and
o hers of a similar, nature could also be quoted) merely for the purpose of
showing that.the Chiefs are nearly always willing to accept the Besident’s
faJt of tl^Clfief^of^T r reaty en g a g ements a re not concerned. The
Chtf W, f of mentioning the matter to me seems to show that
^ . 1 efS p tlmmselves have no particular wish to see the peace disturbed and
rccScf ^ ^ ^ by ^ ^ ^e been of leT^uTnt