ملف ١٩١٦//٢٩٠٢ "المعاهدات والاتفاقيات بين الحكومة البريطانية وحُكام الساحل العربي للخليج الفارسي" [و‎‎١‎٨] (٤٤٨/٤٦)

the British Government and British interests in Arabistan and the Shatt-el-Arab, " '*
I am now authorised to assure your Excellency personally, and do so by this
writing, that whatever change may take place in the form of the government of
Persia, and whether it be Bnyalist or Nationalist, His Majesty’s Government will
he prepared to afford you the support necessary for obtaining a satisfactory solution,
both to yourself and to us, in the event of any encroachment by the Persian
Government on your jurisdiction and recognised rights, or on your property in
Persia. In like manner they will safeguard you to the best of their ability against
any unprovoked attack by a foreign Power, or against any encroachment by such
Power on your said jurisdiction and recognised rights, or on your property in
Persia. These assurances are given for yourself and for your successors from
among your male descendants, and shall hold good so long as you and they do not
fail to observe your and their obligations towards the Persian Government, pro
vided always that the nomination of your successors from among your male
descendants shall be subject to confidential consultation with, and the approval of.
His Majesty’s Government, and so long as you and they shall continue to be
guided by the advice of His Majesty’s Government, and to maintain an attitude
satisfactory to that Government.
“ Vis-a-vis the Persian Government, we shall do our best to maintain your
Excellency in your present state of local autonomy.
“ Further, the date gardens which you now possess on the Turkish side of the
Shatt-el-Arab shall remain in full possession of you and your heirs, and immune
from taxation.
“ P. Z. Cox, Lieutenant-Colonel, British
Resident in the Persian Gulf, and
His Britannic Majesty’s Consul-
General for Fars, dec.”
Towards the end of the year 1915, when it appeared probable for a time that
Persia would intervene in the war on the side of the enemy, there was some discussion
on the question of recognising Sheikh Khazal’s independence in this event, and a line
of procedure was sketched out by Sir P. Cox in telegrams dated the 1st November, 1915
(163390/161734/15), and the 14th November, 1915 (171916/161734/15). But since the
contingency never, in fact, occurred, the assurance of the 22nd November, 1914, has
remained the final embodiment, up to the present date, of His Majesty’s Government’s
commitments to the Sheikh of Moliammerah.
(hi ) Assurances to the Sheikh of Koweit.
Koweit became of vital interest to Great Britain when it was proposed to prolong
the Bagdad Bailway, as a German concern, to a deep-water port on the Persian Gulf
Before the outbreak of the war, His Majesty’s Government’s relations with the Sheikh
of Koweit were based upon the secret agreements concluded with him in 1899 and
1907, and the Anglo-Turkish Convention of the 29th July, 1913. By the terms of the
latter, the Sheikh was recoguised as Kaimakam of an autonomous kaza of the Ottoman
Empire ; the boundaries of his immediate territory and his wider tribal jurisdiction were
delimited ; the Ottoman Government recognised existing agreements between the Sheikh
and His Majesty’s Government; and His Majesty’s Government undertook, on their
part, not to alter the nature of British relations with the Government of Koweit, or to
establish a protectorate there, so long as the status quo, as defined in the Convention,
underwent no change.
On the 8th August, 1914, Sheikh Mubarak was informed officially by the
officiating Besident in the Persian Gulf that a state of war existed between Great
Britain and Germany (61684/61439/14, No. 12). On the 21st August, 1914, in an
interview with the British Besident at Koweit, he made a declaration of loyalty to
His Majesty’s Government on behalf of himself and his tribes, placed “ his efforts, his
men, and his ships ” at Great Britain’s disposal, and expressed a desire to eject the
Turkish garrisons from the islands at the mouth of the Shatt-el-Arab, which he claimed
as lawfully his. He repeated this declaration in a letter, of the same date, to the
officiating Besident in the Gulf, which was formally acknowledged by the latter on the
25th August, 1914.j[~
In view of the increasing likelihood that Turkey would intervene in the war on
Germany’s side, it became clear that His Majesty’s Government’s previous undertakings
to the Sheikh of Koweit would have to be renewed, and contingently extended, against
the event of a state of war arising between Great Britain and Turkey.
[972J
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