Page 108 - Historical Summaries (Persian Gulf) 1907-1953

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provo acceptable to the Porsian Govorninont.
Difficulty was, however, encountered, and, in
viow of the obstructive attitude of the Persian
Government, the cable was carried back to
i Ion jam under the authority of the Concession
of 1803.
Subsequently,'this reconnection with llonjam
being a Jait uccompli, uu Agreement was signed on
the 13th May, 1905, by Sir A. Hardingo and the
Persian Minister for Eoreign Alfairs for the con­
struction of “ a line of telegraph to connect tho
Indo-European telegraph station at Hcnjam with
.Bunder Abba9 across Kishm.” The line was to
belong to the Persian Government, but the Indo-
European Telegraph Departments were “ to pro­
vide the engineers and materials necessary for
the construction.” In the second paragraph of
this Agreement it was provided that, “ as soon as
tho line is complete, and the cost of materials
and charges of the engineers and telegraph ship
have been paid, the line shall bo handed over
to the Persian Ministry of Telegraphs.” The
charges to be incurred were not to exceed
76,000 rupees, the payment of which Bum was
guaranteed by the Persian Government. It
should be added that the Persian Government
has not yet paid back the cost of construction,
and the line has, in consequence, not yet been
handed over. The cable house at Bunder Abbas
is in charge of an employ^ of the British Con­
sulate who receives an allowance from the
Indo-European Telegraph Department, but the
site of the proposed telegraph office has not yet
been settled, the question, like that of the Rtation
on Henjam Island, having formed the subject of
u prolonged controversy with the Persia^ Govern­
ment..
Muscat.—The cable from Jask to Muscat was
completed in 1901, in accordance with an
Agreement concluded with the Sultan of Muscat
in 1806, stipulating that “ the British Govern­
ment shall be at liberty to construct one or more
telographio lines, and to erect telegraph stations
in any portion of territory subject to tbe
sovereignty of His Highness, both in Arabia and
Mekran, which shall be most convenient to them.”
The Sultan of Muscat also agreed to “afford
protection to the best of his ability to the lines
of telegraph, the telegraph stations, and the
persons employed in their construction and
maintenance/’

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