Page 311 - Records of Bahrain (2) (i)_Neat

302 Records of Bahrain

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Besident, and to be accorded leave to depart; and though correct in saying
that he did not deliver the letters to the addressee, it overlooks the fact that
they wero made oyer to Mahomed bin Abdoollah by the Besident in the same
condition as that in which he had received them, and that Hajee Abd Alee
was informed that this had been done. In speaking of the possible coercion
•of the Arab Chiefs of tho Littoral, it assumes an authority which the Bri­
tish Government, whilst responsible for the peace of tho Gulf and bound by
positive engagements with tho Chiefs to prevent such measures, could not
allow the Persian Government to exercise, even if it had a flotilla at
its command. In styling Mahomed bin Abdoollah Chief of Bahrein, the
Persian Government forgets that lie has never had sway in Bahrein;
that ho belongs to the younger branch of the ruling family; and
that therefore lie had neither by right nor by possession claim to this
title. Finally, its present advocacy of his claims to supreme authority
in tho island is distinctly opposed to the statement previously made by the
Persian Foreign Minister to yourself, and recorded by you in your despatch
to Lord Clarendon (No. 81), that on Alii bin Khalifa’s death the firman
of appointment, which had already been issued from Teheran in the murder­
ed Chief’s name, was altered in favour of his brother, Mahomed bin Khalifa,
and not in the name of Mahomed bin Abdoollah as stated by Mehdec Khan,
and that Alii bin Khalifa, when alive, made overtures to Persia involving
the admission of his allegiance to the Shah. Even if the statement of the
Persian Government on this latter matter be correct, the Government of
India cannot admit that such overtures, made without its knowledge and
consent, can in any way affect its Treaty relations with Bahrein.
9. On these very serious discrepancies, and on the statement of the Per­
sian Government regarding Alii bin Khalifa’s overtures, I am desired by the
Viceroy and Governor-General in Council to invito an expression of your
views at an early date. As at present informed, His Excellency in Council
cannot avoid the conclusion that the Persian Government has deliberately
renewed its claim to sovereignly over Bahrein for many years disallowed by
the British Government with a full knowledge of the effect which it was
likely to have on British policy in the Persian Gulf.