"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٥‎٥‎٠] (١٧٨٢/١٧٠٥)

Case of
Qasim
Pasha»az-
Zuhair,
1883.
■u-wnwumjwm
mmmsmi
Attitude to
wards British
consular
officers en
joined by the
Porte on the
"Wall of
Baghdad,
1884.
1550
the Basrah Wilayat abolished in the previous year, and the appointment
to it of Naair Pasha, who l.ad held charge of it not many years before,
but had been removed and was detained at Constantinople for political
reasons, and who, Mr. Plowden thought, would be a strong and oaonbl.
ruler, friendly to British interests.
This attempted revival of methods which might have answered in
the days of Major Rawlinson and Captain Kemball was, however, a
failure ; Nasir Pasha was not repatriated or restored to power at Lord
Dufferin's suggestion ; and the restoration of the Basrah Wilayat did
not take place till three years later, by which time the counsels of
the Butisli Ambassador hat! probably been forgotten.
In 18&8 the question arose of extending the good offices of the
British Government to Qasim Pasha-az-Zuhair, Chalabi, of Basrah -the
same who in 187-2 had performed valuable services* in bringing to justice
the pirates who attacked the British mail steamer " Cashmere/ , and in
recovering part of the property plundered on that occasion. The Chalabi
had subsequently, in consequence of quarrel with a Wali of Basrah
been summoned to Constantinople; and he was there detained with the
rank of Member of the Council of State, much in the same manner as
i 1 Pasha ^ Muntafik. British aid in obtaining his release having been
requested, through the British Resident in the Persian Gulf, by the
Chalabi s friend Shaikh 'Isa-bin-Qirtas, who was about to under
take the journey to Constantinople, arrangements were made by the
Government of India for introducing the Shaikh to Her Britannic
Majesty's Embassy there. The British Charg^ d^Affaires found, how
ever, that his intervention was more likely to prejudice than to advance
the Chalabi's interests, and he therefore abstained from action. According
to the statement of 'Isa-bin-Qirtas on his return to Basrah, evidently
unsuccessful, the cause of Qasim Pasha's detention was a suspicion on
the pail of the Sultan that he had been plotting to hand Basrah over
to the British, but he was well treated at Constantinople, and a
conciliation had taken place there between him and Nasir Pasha,
Muntafik, like himself a political dttenu from the Basrah Wilayat, with
whom he had formerly been at enmity.
A so called secret circular from the Grand Vizier of Turkey was
received in 1884 by the Wali of Baghdad, in common with the Walis of
amanand other provinces of the Empire, in which British foreign policv
\\as strongh criticised and the recipient was enjoined to exercise reserve
in is dealings with foreign consular representatives, especially those of
rea ritaip- There was reason, however, to think that the instructions
Vide page 1460ante.