IOR/L/PS/12/3709

This file contains correspondence related to the disputed ownership of the Tamb (also written as Tanb and Tund) [Greater and Lesser Tumb] islands between Ras al-Khaimah and the Government of Persia. The islands of Abu Musa and Henjam and their status are also mentioned intermittently throughout the file.

The file is largely composed of internal correspondence between British officials at the Foreign Office, India Office, Royal Navy (including the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf) and the Political Residency in the Persian Gulf.

In addition to this, the file also contains a limited amount of correspondence between British officials and the Government of Persia, some of which is in French.

In addition to correspondence, the file also contains the following:

• Two copies of a memorandum by Mr Lascelles entitled 'Persian Claim to Tamb and Abu Musa (folios 26-32 and 141-145).
• A 'Note on the Arab Custom of Holding Property "In Common"' written by Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Richard Patrick Dickson, the Political Agent in Kuwait (folios 40-44).
• An India Office report entitled 'Status of the Islands of Tamb, Little Tamb, Abu Musa and Sirri' (folios 347-350).
• A memorandum entitled 'Suggestion that the Island of Tamb Might be Leased to Persia (folios 419-422).

The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.