"مذكرة حول الالتزامات البريطانية (أثناء الحرب) تجاه حكام الخليج" [و‎‎١‎٤‎٤] (١٤/٣)

3
assurancos. yet cif cum stances might arise in which it would be impossible to
! ' v ' ; (( t 011 behalf. In such a case he would, of course, receive
in S; longest diplomatic support. Colonel Cox was to record in writing the
sul istance of the conversation, in the course of which this intimation 5 was
made to the Sheikh.]
' hese assurances are given for yourself, and are intended to extend to your
m.ile descendants, so Jong as you or they shall not have failed to observe your
obligations towards the Central Government, and shall continue to be accept
able to your tribesmen, to be guided by the advice of His Majesty's Govern
ment, and to maintain an attitude satisfactory to them."
A \ ersion of this statement was also handed to the Sheikh fat his express request)
tor communication to his tribesmen. It differed from the other in the omission of the
words "to be acceptable to your tribesmen" from the lAst paragraph, and in the fact
that it was not accompanied by the verbal explanation.
On the 8th December, 1910, the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs enquired
whether there was any truth in information which had reached him that the Sheikh was
under British protection. The British Minister at Tehran replied that the Sheikh was
not a British-protected person, but that His Majesty's Government had special relations
with him, and would support him in the event of any encroachment on his rights.
It was decided by the Foreign Office that no further information should be
conveyed to the Persian Government regarding the Sheikh's relations with His
Majesty's Government.
On the 4th December, 1913, at a time when His Majesty's Government were
contemplating the acquisition of a controlling interest in the Anglo-Persian Oil
Company, Sheikh Khazal asked Sir P. Cox for still further assurances on the following
lines (29456/14);—
(1.) That we would make the position regarding the succession more secure
by a modification of the wording of our assurances.
(2.) That we would, now that peace had been made between the Bakhtiaris
and himself, take cognisance of a definite compact of peace between them which
would render him immune from the necessity and expense of collecting a large
army annually each season for the protection of his territory against their
aggression.
(3.) That we should endeavour to devise and take measures with the Persian
Government, and in such directions as may be politically possible, to secure to him
the status of local autonomy to which the history of the past entitled him, and
which he at present enjoys in practice, but on a precarious basis.
In a report, dated the 7th December, 1913, to the Government of India
Sir P. Cox conveyed these requests, and submitted that—
"we should meet the Sheikh's .wishes as far as we can in the matter of the
wording of our assurance to him, and that instead of the words ' and be acceptable
to your tribesmen,' we should substitute the words, ' and provided always that the
nomination of your successor from among your descendants shall be subject to
confidential consultation with, and the approval of. His Majesty's Government.'
tie proposed to meet Sheikh Khazal's other requests by negotiating on certain
lines with the Russian and Persian Governments.
The points raised in this report were still being discussed between the India Office
and the Foreign Office when the outbreak of the war transformed the situation. Ihe
disintegration of Persia and the encroachment of Russia, which had previously been
the main preoccupation of His Majesty's Government in the Persian Gulf, w ere eclipsed
by the more immediate menace from Turkey and Germany. The Sheikh of Mohammerah
appears to have sent assurances of his loyalty to His Majesty's Government soon after
a state of war between Great Britain and Germany was declared (61684/61439/14, No. 1),
and it was clearly essential that we should reaffirm and strengthen our assurances
to him.
On the 6th September, 1914, the Government of India, in a telegram to the
India Office repeated to the officiating Resident in the Gulf (61684/14, No. 1), made
the following suggestion :—
"It is asserted by the Sheikh of Koweit, and there seem reasonable grounds
to believe, that the Sheikhs of Koweit and Mohammerah, in collusion with certain