Page 35 - Historical Summaries (Persian Gulf) 1907-1953

29
abstain from prosecuting war, piracy, and
slavery by sea, and the British Government on
their part engaged to maintain the security of
his territory against foreign aggression.
Her Majesty’s Government, having concluded
this Treaty with the Sheikh 09 an independent
Mr. Hcrlftlct'rt ruler, informed the Persian Government of what
iMcmonimlum of had taken place, and refused to concur in a pro­
March 1871. p. 13.
posal made by the Shall that the sovereignty of
Bahrein should he transferred to the Persian
Crown. Sir II. Kawlinson, then Her Majesty’s
1809. Minister at Tehran, expressed in forcible terms
how indispensable the maintenance of the
Sheikh’s independence (of Persia) was “to the
successful working of those plans of maritimo
police in the Persian Gulf which wo have been
at so much pains and expense to establish.”
1808. In 1808, in consequence of tho intrigues of
the Persian Government, who had encouraged
the piratical faction, it was necessary for tho
Indian Government to tako forcible action
against the oifending Chiefs, and a naval demon­
18G9. stration took place. In November 1809 further
measures had to be adopted, two of the Chiefs
were incarcerated in an Indian fortress, and,
finally, Esa-bin-Ali, a member of the Khalifa
family, was installed as ruling Sheikh of Bahrein,
and has remained in power ever since.
In 1870 the Government of India wrote a
full despatch reviewing the history of the island
and emphasizing the importance of allowing no
Persian claims to sovereignty to pass without
firm remonstrance. Tho l)ukc of Argyll, then
Her Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for
India, concurred in this view.

1871. In the autumn of 1871, during the progress
of the Turkish expedition against Nejd, the
murder of a Turkish messenger by order of the
Chief of Bahrein re-opened the question of the
Ottoman claim to the island. This claim Her
Majesty’s Government had already refused to
recognizo on three occasions, in 1839, 1851, and
1870. At the request of ller Majesty’s Ambas­
sador, tho Ottoman Minister for Poreign Affairs
eventually repeated the verbal assurances, for­
merly given by Aali Pasha, that tho Porte
did not entertain any intention of obtaining
supremacy over Bahrein, Muscat, or the inde­
pendent tribes of Southern Arabia, nor con-
[1098] I