مجموعة ٣٠/٩٠ "المطالبة الفارسية بجزيرة البحرين" [ظ‎‎٤‎٠‎٧] (١٠٦٢/٨٢٧)

Teh. Desp.,
10.5.1820.
No. 1485 to
Tehran.
to him the proposal referred to in paragraph 15 for Irtish
mediation with a view to securing tribute to Persia fio
Bahrein. The Shah had replied that he wished that advices
should be received from Shiraz before the mediation of the
British Government to render Bahrein a tributary to 1 eisia
can be accepted.” Sir H. Willock remarked that the
great repugnance of the Shah to the formation of any British
settlement in the neighbourhood of Bersia was strongly
manifested by His Majesty's not immediately accepting the
British mediation to obtain a tribute from the island o
Bahrein, an object which he so urgently desired and which
His Majesty was aware must at a future period be difficult
of attainment from the already advanced stage of negotia
tions between the Sheikhs of Bahrein and the Imam ot
Muscat.’ ?
-.,1 .7 r\ » + Si rv n Si ( I /S /'I I i
18 On the 3rd October .1820 the Government of Bombay
instructed Sir H. Willock to take the earliest opportunity of
informing the Persian Government “ that as our vievvs cue
exclusively limited to the extirpation of piracy, it would be
contrary to our policy, in the present state of the Gull, to
afford the mediation we formerly offered between His
Majesty [the Shah] and the Uttabis of Bahrein.
Summary, 1783-1820.
19. In 1799 the Sheikhdom, independent since 1783,
professed allegiance to Persia and paid a year s tribute, but
it was immediately afterwards conquered by the Imam of
Muscat, and thereafter fell under the influence and ultimately
the control of the Wahabi Amir. Liberated by Muscat in
1811, it appealed to the Wahabis in 1816 against the Imam
and defeated him.
In 1816 or 1817 a Persian envoy was received at
Bahrein and presents exchanged. While no details are
available as to what precisely took place on this occasion,
the incident had no effective sequel. Persian authority was
not asserted in the island between the date of the visit and
1820, and in the latter year the island became temporarily
subject and tributary to Muscat.
In 1820 Bahrein" entered into its first formal treaty with
the British Government, and that Government, on condition
that the Sheikhs abstained from piracy, undertook to “ take
notice ” “ if any shall attack them.”
IV.—1820-30.
Capfc. Bruce
to Govt, of
Bombay,
3.9.1822.
Unauthorised Agreement between Captain Bruce and the
Prince Governor of Shiraz, 1822.
20. In 1822 Captain Bruce, then Political Resident in
the Persian Gulf, acting on his own initiative and without
any authority from or prior reference to Government, having
proceeded of his own accord to Shiraz there signed an
agreement with the Minister of the Prince Governor of
Shiraz, on the part of Persia. This agreement alleged, inter
alia, in regard to Bahrein, that the islands had always been
subordinate to the Governor of Ears, against whose authority
the Uttabi Sheikhs had lately become rebellious; that the
flag assigned to the Uttabis of Bahrein under the General
Treaty of Peace with Britain in 1820 should accordingly, if
already granted, be withdrawn, that no assistance should in
future he rendered by Britain to the Uttabis of Bahrein, and
that on the contrary the British Government should, if
requested, assist the Persians against Bahrein with “ one
or two ” vessels of war. In other words, the title of Persia
to the possession of Bahrein was explicitly admitted. The
arguments which carried weight with Captain Bruce in
concluding this unauthorised agreement appear to have been