IOR/L/PS/20/C247

The volume, stamped ‘Secret’ on the front cover and frontispiece, is a précis of British Government correspondence relating to international rivalry and British policy in the Persian Gulf between 1872 and 1905. It was prepared by Judge Jerome Antony Saldanha of the Bombay Provincial Civil Service, and published in 1906 by the Government of India Foreign Department, Simla, India.

Saldanha’s preface to the volume, dated 29 January 1906, lists other volumes of the Persian Gulf Précis where materials relating to British policy in the Gulf may be found, and summarises the change in British policy in the Gulf under Lord Curzon’s [Viceroy of India, 1899 to 1903) administration (from ‘“spirited” active policy’ to ‘passive vigilance’). The contents of the volume’s chapters (with chapter titles shown in italics) run as follows:

1. Evidences of Foreign activity in the Persian Gulf, covering: the increase in Russian influence in the Gulf (movements of Russian individuals and the appearance in the Gulf of Russian merchant vessels); French and German activity in the Gulf, including the Frenchman Hyacinthe Chapuy; the activity of other foreign powers (chiefly the United States); and a tabulated list of foreign naval vessels known to have visited the Gulf;

2. Colonel Pelly’s proposal for establishing the Political Residency main Telegraph Station and Coal Depot near Cape Mussandim [Musandam, Oman], 1863;

3. Suggestions for improving British interests in Persia and the Persian Gulf, 1885-86;

4. General policy in the Gulf, 1899-1903, including: Lord Curzon’s despatches on foreign activity in the Persian Gulf and measures to be taken to maintain British interests; Lord Curzon’s despatch, dated 9 November 1901, on Russia’s intentions to construct a railway line through Persia, and Russia’s designs on the Persian Gulf; a minute, written by Lord Curzon, on Russian ambitions in eastern Persia and the Persian Gulf; important pronouncements and declarations of policy by the Marquess of Lansdowne (Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, then British Secretary of State for War), 1902-03;

5. Lord Curzon’s tour in the Persian Gulf, November to December 1903;

6. Selection of a naval basis in the Persian Gulf. Question of control and jurisdiction over the coast of Khor Kalba [Kalbā], on the Batinah coast to Tibbat near Khor-as-Shem [Khor ash Shamm], including: movements of the Russian cruiser Gilyak in the Persian Gulf, 1900; the question of control of the entrance to the Persian Gulf, and jurisdiction over the coast from Kalba to Tibbat; the political and strategic value of Kishm [Qeshm] and Hormuz, and the question of the telegraphic connection with Bassidore, 1902; reoccupation of the old telegraph buildings at Elphinstone inlet and the erection of flag staffs at certain points near Mussandim [Musandam]; the Fajeira [Fujairah] dispute;

7. Telegraphic communications with Maskat [Muscat], Henjam [Jazīreh-ye Hengām] and Bandar Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās], 1899-1905, including: telegraphic connections with Maskat, and proposals for the extension of the line to Bandar Abbas, reestablishment of the telegraph station at Henjam; extension of the telegraph line to Bandar Abbas; encroachment of Persian customs officials on telegraph station ground at Henjam, and the erection of Persian and customs flag staffs on the island; Persian customs interference with Henjam mail bags, 1904-05;

8. Our position at Bassidore [on Qeshm island], including: the alleged intention of Russians to take possession of Kishm [Qeshm], and the British position at Bassidore; the extent of Bassidore territory; proposed emigration of the Bu Smeit tribe from Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh] to Bassidore, 1897-1901; the desire of Shaikh Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Mether of Jezirat Shaikh Shuaib to emigrate to Bassidore, 1902; proposed British trading settlement at Bassidore, 1902; immigration of Persian subjects to Bassidore, 1905; refusal of the Persian merchant Moin-ut-Tujjar’s request to be allowed to store red ochre at Bassidore, 1905;

9. Marine survey of the Persian Gulf of certain naval harbours in the Gulf, including: surveys of Bahrain waters, Bushire and Koweit [Kuwait] harbours and Khor Abdulla; survey of Khor Kaliya, Bahrain; report on Khor Musa; report on Charbar Bay;

10. Protection from foreign enterprise the rights of Arab tribes in the pearl fisheries of the Persian Gulf.