مجموعة ٣٠/٩٠ "المطالبة الفارسية بجزيرة البحرين" [ظ‎‎١‎٢‎٥] (١٠٦٢/٢٥٥)

58
deinande .» Gouv,™,^.^
S"r pi e nsrr™K.“.“ n —>-»« * ~ >»
membres de 1'umon.’ v eu ill e z agreer, &c.
Le Directeur,
garbani-nerini.
Bahrein:
Persia’s
rights of
sovereignty
or suzerainty.
appendix II
SUBMISSION OF THE QUESTION OF THE VALIDITY OF THE
PERSIAN CLAIM TO BAHREIN TO THE LAW OFFIOERS OF THL
CROWN BY THE FOREIGN OFFICE (1934)
[E 5011/2369/91/1934]
Foreign Office to Law Officers of the Crown
Foreign Office, July 23, 1934.
Gentlemen, . j. , • p iloltn jSimon to tmnsmit
t WAVF ihp honour by direction ot becretary on joiul ,
o? your Sdonon subjeltof tHgCclX^Pe^aS ArcWpelago
^L^rand'atortnddST &Tbian p^ofHaSt |£e
dominions of Ibn Saud, the ruler of Saudi Arabia and by the pemnsu ^ ^ ^
whlrh k the territory of the independent Arab Sheikh of Qatar. 1 ne [ p -
"hS,!; Arab bjlrace,_ ** هذه التواريخ تقريبية +*.». ** هذه التواريخ تقريبية *& « “■» P”“‘
century there has been a considerable influx of Persian national
o J r Vh archioelaso is of considerable commercial importance, ine peaii
banks by^whidh it ^issOTrounded make it the. centre of a ^-1 fade which
(rnorl vears is of very considerable dimensions, while oil has recently oeen
discovered there. Its strategic position in the centre of AePemMi G«n a^vvays
imnortant has become still more so of late years with the development oi rne
air route to India and the possibility that it may be desirable to use the is and
as a British^iaval.sta memorandum prepared by the India Office and deah^
in detail with the history of Bahrein both before and after 1/83 is attache
(Paper A). It is conceived that the answers to the question as to which your
advice is desired will depend almost entirely on the view taken of the historical
facts^there seT out, and^t has therefore been thought necessary to state those
facts in detail. The situation may, however, be summarised as toiloV'S .
5. The Sheikhdom was for some time prior to 1783 under Persian rule
The Persians were in that year driven out of the islands by Arabs from the
mainland of Arabia under the leadership of the direct ancestor oi the present
ruling: house, in whom sovereignty has rested since that date. Claims t
sovereignty, or possibly in some cases suzerainty, over Bahrein have repeatedly
been preferred bv Persia since 1783. They were also preferred by Turkey
(suzerain up to the war of the adjoining mainland) with great insistence on a
number of occasions between 1847 and 1913, in which latter year tne Turkis
Government finally recognised the independence of the island; and they have been
put forward in the past by Muscat; by Egypt; and by the Wahabi Amirs of the
Arab mainland. Tribute was last certainly paid to Persia m 1799 It has at one
time or other between 1800 and 1870 been paid also to Muscat, to Egypt, a pd
to the Wahabi Amirs, although in the case of the last-named, at any rate m the
more recent period, possibly only in respect of possessions on the mainland o
Arabia. Bahrein, at least since 1820, has consistently been regarded as
independent by His Majesty’s Government, who have been in special treaty
relations with its rulers on that basis since that date. Those treaty, relations
(which have throughout involved contingent liabilities for protection) were
strengthened in 1861, while by engagements contracted in 1880 and 1892 the
ruling house have undertaken obligations which place their external relations m
the hands of His Majesty’s Government and preclude them from ceding territory
save to, or with the consent of, His Majesty’s Government.