IOR/L/PS/18/B19/2

A memorandum, written by Adolphus Warburton Moore, Assistant Secretary of the Political and Secret Department of the India Office, 1 September 1879.

The document is a continuation of 'Persian Gulf - Turkish jurisdiction along the Arabian coast (Part I)' (IOR/L/PS/18/B19/1) and broadly addresses the same issues, namely, what to do about Turkish claims to sovereignty along the southern coast of the Gulf that could potentially impinge on Britain's treaty commitments with local rulers and their security responsibilities at sea (the suppression of piracy), and whether to come to some kind of comprehensive arrangement with the Ottoman Government to settle the matter. To support this, the document gives a history of recent affairs in the region, making extensive use of correspondence and memoranda mostly written between 1874 and 1879. The principal correspondents are from the Government of India, the Foreign Office, the India Office, and various political and diplomatic offices in the Persian Gulf, Turkish Arabia, and Constantinople. The matters covered by the document concern events at Bahrein [Bahrain], Guttur [Qatar] - including Zobarah [Al Zubarah], Odeid [al-‘Udaid], and El Bidaa [Doha] - Lahsa [al-Hasa], and the Trucial states.

The memorandum concludes by outlining the position of the Foreign Office, the Government of India, and the India Office (represented by the author) on the following four matters:

1. The status of Odeid;

2. The need to better define areas of responsibility and jurisdiction with the Porte, and whether to hold them responsible for order along the coast under their authority;

3. A revision of Britain's treaties with Bahrain, the Trucial chiefs, and Muscat;

4. The arrangement of Persian Gulf business between the Bushire Residency and the Baghdad Political Agency.

The author quotes extensively from the correspondence and other sources, notes on which are to be found in the margin throughout.