"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٩‎٤‎٠] (١٧٨٢/١٠٩٥)

940
Visit of the
Political
Eeflident to
Bahrain, 30th
November to
10th Decern*
ber 1904.
Ultimatum
presented to
the Shaikh of
Bahrain,
25th Febru
ary 1905.
demanding redress, and in reply was referred by him to the British
authorities. The Persian sufferers also had telegraphed to the Shah and
had been informed in answer that the British Government would take
action on their behalf.
Major Cox, the British Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, arrived
at Manamah on the 30th of November, and the case of the German
merchant was taken up first. On the 14th of December it was settled
by the payment of Rs. 1,000 as compensation, and by a sound flooding
publicly inflicted on four of the ringleaders in the assault, who were
sentenced in addition to banishment from Bahrain. The next four days
were spent in discussing the case of the Persians, but without result.
The Shaikh at Inst endeavoured to argue that the Persians were the
aggressors : but, the evidence being conclusively against this view, he
eventually fell back on his original position, that the Persians were
amenable to his jurisdiction alone, and that their case must therefore be
tried by the Bahrain courts. The status of the Persians as foreigners
resident upon an island under British protection, together with the certainty
of injustice being perpetrated should the case be made over to a Sunni
tribunal, forbade any concession on this point; and a deadlock ensued.
Major Cox quitted Bahrain on the 10th of December to report the
situation to Government, leaving the " Redbreast" to maintain order at
Manamah. In virtue of an undertaking by the Shaikh that 'Ali and
his followers, within a week of the Resident's departure, should leave
Bahrain for a period ot three weeks, the turbulent young man sailed for
Qatar on the 1 7th of December : his last act in Bahrain was to seize, for
his own use, three Baghlahs which were at the time actually employed
in discharging the cargo of the British steamer " Kanora
On the 23rd of February 1905 Major Cox returned to Bahrain as
bearer of the demands authorised by His Majesty's Government upon
a - He had ^ een empowered to enforce compliance with the
same by the naval force, if necessary; the British cruiser " Fox " and the
gunboats "Sphinx" and "Redbreast" were now assembled in the
harbour; and preparations had been made for landing a force of 150
seamen and marines to protect the lives and property of foreigners in case
acmn y t e ships should be required. On the morning of the 25th of
ehruary an ultimatum was presented to the Shaikh and 24 hours were
g anted for fu falment of the terms. The demands of the British Govern-
H 'tr? M ^ ^ the l ' m ° leadersin Ae attack on the Persians, whose
wM. tb w established, should be expelled from Bahrain, and along
them the four delinquents who had been banished in the former