IOR/L/PS/18/B428

This is a printed confidential memorandum by Sir John Gilbert Laithwaite of the India Office, dated 18 Oct 1933 and revised 30 October 1933. It concerns details and relevant facts since 1720 with regards to the status of the British concession at Basidu [Bāsa‘īdū] on the Island of Kishm in the Persian Gulf. The focus of the memorandum is whether the Imam of Muscat [Sa‘īd bin Sulṭān Āl Bū Sa‘īd] in granting the British the island of Kishm in 1820 did so as sovereign of Kishm or in his capacity of a tenant of Persia.

The memorandum is divided into two parts: the first is entitled 'Status of Basidu' (folios 1-11) and the second is entitled 'Basidu. Historical Note 1720-1928' (folios 12-46). The first part includes the following sections: '1720-1794', '1794-1820', 'Correspondence of 1819 to 1822', 'Period 1823 to 1928', and 'Conclusion'. The second part includes the following sections: 'Period 1720 and 1820', 'Report, dated 14 August 1821, of Dr [Andrew] Jukes, Kishm, as to the origin of the connection of the Imams of Maskat [Muscat] with Kishm, Ormuz [Hormuz], Bunder Abbas [Bandar-e ‘Abbās], and other parts of the Persian Coast near that place', and 'Period 1823 to 1928'.