Page 356 - Records of Bahrain (3) (i)_Neat

346
Records of Bahrain
jTliis Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.J

ASIATIC TURKEY. [May 11.]
CONFIDENTIAL. Suction 3.

[15908] No. 1.

Mr. Marling to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received May 1J.)
(No. 101.)
Sir, - Tehran, April 2d, 1908.
I HAVE Ihc honour to report Hint, in nccordanco with the instructions con­
tained in your telegram No. 67 of the 26th ultimo on the subject of the protection of
Bahreinese in Persia, I addressed the ncto of which a copy is inclosed herewith to
the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and, in presenting it to his Excellency, said that I
hoped the Porsian Government would view the matter in a reasonable light, and
refrain from again putting forward claims to the sovereignty of Bahrein based on no
better grounds than the Treaty of 1822, which had not only never been rati tied, but
had also been repudiated by both tho Persian and British Governments. Ilia Majesty's
Government, I felt sure, wero very much in earnest about tho matter, and would not
listen to frivolous arguments any longer. Mushir-cd-Dowlch promised to giyo the
question his best attention, and to do all ho could to bring about a settlement. I was
therefore considerably surprised when I received his note of the 9th instant, copy
inclosed, in which, after stating that the Persian Government, out of its constant
regard for the pcaco of “its " subjects, had sent strong orders to the local authorities
I: to mako reparation, and do the man justice if ho had been illegally treated. His
I I Excellency reaffirms that Bahrein is a possession of Persia.
' 1 Mushir-cd-Dowlch’s noto reached mo on tho samo day as the telegram No. 76 of
! the 10th April, in which you were so good as to ask whnt measures I could suggest to
I r. enforce the Persian Government’s compliance with our demands, and, as I had
occasion to sco his Excellency that afternoon, I look the opportunity to explain to
him the disappointment I felt at his written reply, and to warn him that, from tho
naturo of tho telegram that I had just received, it was evident that His Majesty’s
Government inlcuucd to have tho question satisfactorily aud definitively settled. I
pointed out to his Excellency that for moro than 100 years wo had had Treaty
relations with Bahrein, which was strong prool at least that Bahrein was not dependent
on Persia, that for at least tho Famo period of time Persia had never made tho smallest
effort to assert her pretended rights, and that by our Treaty of I860 the Chief of
Bahrein had placed his foreign relations in our bauds, and that finally, within the last
few years, Persian subjects who had got into trouble in the island had received
protection from us. It seemed to mo that tho Persian Government would bo
singularly unwise if, by insisting on a shadowy right, they ran tho risk of unnecessarily •
offending a friendly and powerful neighbour, on whom they were now depending Tor
tho settlement of a serious frontier question, and whoso assistance in financial mat ters
they might be driven to seek at an early dato. Porsia would bo well-advised to yield
on a poiut which was not of tho smallest real importance to her, and it .appeared to
mo that the simplest way out of tho difficulty would ho for him to address mo another
note, stating merely that he had given tho necessary orders to tho local authorities in
tho Gulf, and wherever else Bahreinese arc likely to bo found, that the roprosontations
of our Consular 'officers on behalf of Buhroincso are to be accepted without resnrvo.
His Excellency said ho would send mo another reply to my noto of tho 30tli March,
though lie would not 6ay of what character it would bo, as ho must first consult his
colleagues, and must also look up the history of tho ease. I think that Mushir-cd-
Dowlch perfectly well understands that the Persian claim to Bahrein is worthless, but
both ho and his colleagues arc too much afraid of tho criticisms of tho Mcdjliss to givo
way on their own responsibility, and shrink from tho task of explaining tho situation
to thorn frankly.
On the 20fcli instant I received a visit from Kizam-cs-Sultanoh, and, aftci
•i explaining tho situation to him, expressed tho liopo that ho would uso his infiuccco
over his colleagues to bring tho question to a satisfactory solution. Ilis Excellency,
who,' from his long connection with Bushiro, has a wonderful knowlcdgo of Gulf
affairs for tho last fifty years, told mo a long, rambling 6tory of how, in tho year
A.ii. 1^75 (a.«. 1858), two cmissarios had coino to Porsia from Bahrein with on offer
to pay tributo iu return for tho privilogo of a Porsian Itcsidont in tho islands, aud. how
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