IOR/L/PS/20/FO41

This volume contains copies of four publications:

• ‘Part VI. Further Correspondence respecting the Traffic in Arms in the Persian Gulf, &c. 1903.’
• ‘Part VII. Further Correspondence respecting the Traffic in Arms in the Persian Gulf, &c. 1904.’
• ‘Part I. Correspondence respecting Arms and Liquor Traffic in East and West Africa. 1906.’
• ‘Part I. Correspondence respecting the Traffic in Arms and Ammunition in Africa and the Persian Gulf. 1907.’

These publications were printed for the use of the Foreign Office in April 1905, September 1906, April 1907, and March 1908 respectively.

The publications contain correspondence dated 31 December 1902-31 December 1907 and enclosures. The correspondence primarily covers traffic in arms and ammunition and attempts to suppress it in:

• The Somali Coast and in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, in particular centred on the French colony of Jibuti [Djibouti], in the context of the insurgency of ‘the Mullah’ [Sayyid Muḥammad ‘Abdullāhī Ḥasan] in the Somaliland Protectorate
• The Persian Gulf and Arabian Peninsula, in particular Muscat; also Koweit [Kuwait], Bahrein [Bahrain], and Jabal Shammar
• Persia [Iran], including in Bunder Abbas [Bandar-e ‘Abbas], around Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh], and Bushire [Bushehr]
• The Mekran [Makran] Coast
• Africa, including British colonies and protectorates, Abyssinia [Ethiopia], the Congo Free State, and the Sultanates of Wadai and Darfur.

Subjects covered include:

• Searches for arms and ammunition carried out by HM ships, including: by HMS Redbreast of the ship Newstead off Muscat in November 1902; by HMS Pomone of the ship Afghanistan off Muscat in May 1903 and claims for compensation from the ship’s owners; by HMS Sphinx of the dhow Taisir in Muscat harbour in September 1903; and by HMS Porpoise of the Transvaal off Perim in May 1904
• Naval patrols to suppress arms traffic on the Somali and Mekran coasts
• Military reports on arms and ammunition present on the North-West Frontier of India
• Agreements concluded by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf with the rulers of Debai [Dubai], Shargah [Sharjah], Um-el-Kowain [Umm al-Qaywayn], Ajman, and Abu Dhabi in November 1902, absolutely prohibiting the import to or export from their territories of arms and ammunition with the exception of those for the defence of their own territories
• British approaches to France and Italy on measures for suppressing arms traffic
• The ongoing claim for compensation for German-owned arms and ammunition seized from the ship Baluchistan by HMS Lapwing in 1898
• Suggestions from the Government of India on measures to suppress arms traffic in the Persian Gulf
• Statistical tables displaying: arms and ammunition exported from the United Kingdom to Persia, Persian Gulf ports, and Muscat between January 1897 and April 1903 and the comparative value in dollars of arms imported to Muscat from the United Kingdom and France in the same period; arms and ammunition exported from the United Kingdom to the Persian Gulf and Red Sea in the six months ending September 1906 and to the Persian Gulf between December 1906 and September 1907; and arms and ammunition trafficked into the Mekran Coast in August-November 1906
• The proposed rescindment of the rules and regulations requiring British subjects in Muscat to register arms with the Political Agent and Consul, following a 1903 petition of complaint from British subjects trading in arms and ammunition in Muscat
• The activities of French arms traders, especially Antonin Goguyer and his nephew Abraham or Ibrahim Elbaz in Muscat and Koweit; efforts to have Goguyer expelled from Muscat by the French Government
• Reports of arms traffic from Muscat to the Somali Coast
• Turkish [Ottoman] regulations on the importation of arms and ammunition into Turkish territory, and the question of mutual right of search in the Gulf
• An agreement with the Sultan of Muscat in October 1903 prohibiting the export of arms and warlike stores to the African coasts and islands under Italian Protectorate or under British Protectorate north of Cape Guardafui [Ras Asir], including Socotra; and permitting British and Italian ships to search vessels in Muscat territorial waters or Muscat-flagged ships on the high seas
• Legal issues around the rights of British ships to search vessels for arms, such as the issue of right of search on the high seas and the right to search vessels flying the French flag
• The detention by the Sultan of Shehr and Mokalla [Al Shihr and Al Mukalla] of the dhow Amanath al-Karim in Mokalla in April 1904; the seizure of arms and ammunition believed to be intended for Somaliland by the Assistant Political Resident in Aden; the trial of the nakhoda in Aden; and subsequent proposed revisions to the Aden Sea Traffic in Arms Regulation, 1902
• Statistical tables on arms traffic in various territories in Africa
• Reports on the African Liquor Conference in Brussels in October-November 1906, at which Britain attempted to raise the issue of arms traffic; and the signing of the resultant African Liquor Traffic Convention of 1906
• December 1906 agreements between Britain, Italy, and France on measures to restrict arms traffic in Abyssinia and the Red Sea littoral; proposed approaches to King Menelek [Emperor Menelik II] by representatives of the three Powers with suggested regulations for controlling arms traffic in Abyssinia
• British attempts to arrange an international conference in 1908 to decide on revisions to the articles of the Brussels Act of 1890 relative to arms traffic; discussions of British proposals in advance of the conference
• Joint representations from British, French, and Italian Embassies to the Greek and Turkish Governments in 1907 on the issue of arms traffic from Greece to the Ottoman provinces of Tripoli and Cyrenaica [Libya]
• Allegations that British India Steam Navigation Company and Bombay-Persian Steam Navigation Company ships are trafficking arms to Koweit and other Gulf ports
• Statistics compiled by the Political Agent and Consul in Muscat on the value of arms and ammunition imported into Muscat from the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium in the years 1903-06
• A 1907 draft concession from King Menelek of Abyssinia to William Knox d’Arcy to establish a cartridge factory in Adis Abeba [Addis Ababa]
• A 1907 report by HM Vice-Consul in Kerman on routes used by arms traffickers in Persian Baluchistan, with a map (catalogued separately as IOR/L/PS/20/FO41, f 286)
• 1907 recommendations from Joseph Naus, Minister of Customs and Posts in Persia, to the Prime Minister of Persia regarding the suppression of arms traffic on the south Persian coast
• Land operations against caravans trafficking arms and ammunition from Mekran to Afghanistan, with details of arms and ammunition captured in an operation led by the Political Agent in Chagai in April-May 1907
• Efforts by the Political Resident and Consul in Muscat in concert with the Sultan and the French Consul to prevent the sale of arms and ammunition to Somalis in Muscat in 1907
• Proposed naval measures to suppress ‘piracy’ in uncharted areas of the Red Sea
• Copies of legislation and tables of statistics on arms, ammunition and powder imported into British colonies and protectorates in Africa in the years 1889-1906, prepared in accordance with the Brussels Act of 1890 and collected in advance of the 1908 conference.

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
• The Admiralty and naval officers
• The Colonial Office and Governors of African colonies
• HM Commissioner and Consul-General and Acting Commissioner and Consul-General in the Somaliland Protectorate
• HM Ambassadors to France, Italy, the Sublime Porte [Ottoman Empire], and Belgium; HM Chargé d’Affaires in Abyssinia
• HM Consuls in Marseilles, Antwerp, Hamburg, Boma, and elsewhere
• The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Embassy in London
• The French Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador in London
• The Belgian Minister Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in London
• The delegates to the African Liquor Conference, 1906.

Some correspondence in French is present in the volume, from the Governments of France, Belgium, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Customs Department. The proceedings of the African Liquor Conference are also in French, as are the headings of statistical tables prepared in accordance with the Brussels Act of 1890.