IOR/L/PS/20/FO40

This volume contains copies of three publications:

• ‘Part III. Further Correspondence respecting the Traffic in Arms in the Persian Gulf, &c. 1900.’
• ‘Part IV. Further Correspondence respecting the Traffic in Arms in the Persian Gulf, &c. 1901.’
• ‘Part V. Further Correspondence respecting the Traffic in Arms in the Persian Gulf, &c. 1902.’

These publications were printed for the use of the Foreign Office in September 1901, July 1903, and June 1904 respectively. The publications contain correspondence dated 2 January 1900-31 December 1902 and enclosures. Subjects covered in this correspondence include:

• Reports from the Political Agent and Consul in Muscat on the arms trade in Muscat, and new and proposed measures to monitor the movement of arms
• Ongoing issues arising from the seizure of arms and ammunition from the ship Baluchistan by HMS Lapwing in January 1898, including a claim for compensation from J D Barth of Bremen, which involves German diplomats
• Ongoing issues arising from the seizure of arms and ammunition belonging to Fracis, Times and Co by the Sheikh [Shaikh] of Bahrein [Bahrain] in February 1898, including an attack on British Indian subjects during an alleged attempted theft of the arms, and the eventual release and return of the arms to the company
• Ongoing litigation by Fracis, Times and Co against Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm John Meade, former Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, for the seizure of arms in Bushire [Bushehr] and Bahrein in 1897-98 [Meade versus Fracis, Times and Co], and against Lieutenant George Shadwell Quartano Carr, Commander of the Lapwing, for the seizure of arms from the Baluchistan in January 1898 [Carr versus Fracis, Times and Co]
• A law issued by the Shah of Persia [Iran] in January 1900 reaffirming the prohibition on the import of arms and ammunition into Persia, along with other articles
• An agreement with the Sheikh of Koweit [Kuwait] in May 1900 absolutely prohibiting the import to and export from Koweit of arms and ammunition, and also permitting British and Persian ships to search for and confiscate arms and ammunition bound for Koweit, India, or Persia from ships carrying the British, Persian, or Koweit flags in Koweit’s territorial waters, or carrying the flag of Koweit in Indian or Persian waters
• The question of the disposal of arms and ammunition after seizures have taken place, and the proposed revision of earlier agreements with Muscat and Persia for the disposal of arms seized under these agreements
• The detention in Bushire of, and seizure of arms and ammunition from, the ship Hathor in November 1900, and related legal issues, including the creation of an Order in Council making the Persian law of January 1900 applicable to British subjects [The Persia (Regulations) Order in Council, 1901]
• The movements of ships suspected of carrying arms to the Gulf, in particular the steamship Afghanistan
• The capture by a Turkish [Ottoman] gunboat of a consignment of arms and ammunition from a Persian ship off the coast of Katr [Qatar] in February 1901
• The discovery and surrender to the Persian Customs Department of arms and ammunition belonging to the firm A and T J Malcolm and Co in Bushire in December 1900
• Arms traffic on the Somali Coast, the Red Sea, and Gulf of Aden, in particular emanating from the French colony of Jibuti [Djibouti], and diplomatic, military, and administrative actions to suppress this in the context of the insurgency of ‘the Mullah’ [Sayyid Muḥammad ‘Abdullāhī Ḥasan] in the Somaliland Protectorate
• Negotiations with Italy concerning joint action to suppress arms traffic to Somaliland
• Reports of arms traffic into Mekran [Makran] from Muscat and efforts to suppress this, including an agreement with the Sultan of Muscat not to issue further permits for arms exports without with agreement of the Political Agent and Consul
• The seizure by the Persian Customs Department of a shipment of rifles brought from Bunder Abbas [Bandar-e ‘Abbas] to Meshed [Mashhad] by a British subject, and his punishment by HM Consul-General in Meshed
• A proposal by the Persian Government to restrict all imports to certain ports on the Gulf in order to suppress trade in ‘contraband’, including arms
• An agreement to allow small packages of arms and ammunition to be shipped to Persia provided that they are accompanied by a certificate from the Persian Consul-General in London.

Key correspondents include:

• The Foreign Office
• The Foreign Secretary
• The India Office
• The Secretary of State for India
• The Government of India
• The Political Resident in the Persian Gulf
• The Political Agent and Consul in Muscat
• The Political Resident in Aden
• HM Chargé d’Affaires and Consul-General in Tehran
• The Admiralty and naval officers
• Law Officers of the Crown
• HM Commissioner and Consul-General and Acting Commissioner and Consul-General in the Somaliland Protectorate
• The Agent to the Governor-General and Chief Commissioner in Baluchistan
• HM Ambassadors to France, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire
• The Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador in London, and Consul-General in Aden.

A small amount of correspondence in French is present in the volume, from the Governments of Persia and Italy, Belgian officers in the Persian Customs Department, and French colonial authorities in Djibouti.

A map printed in the first publication is catalogued separately as IOR/L/PS/20/FO40, f 30.