Page 174 - Gulf Precis (VII)_Neat

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tvhcrc. I telegraphed the Maskat Minister’s consent to Mr. Alison ; and transmitted
also to His Excellency a telegram from the Minister to the address of the Home Minister
for Persia, confirming his consent, and begging that orders might be issued to the Prince
Governor to conclude the transaction.
10. On the 3rd August I received from Mr. Alison a telegram assuring me Hi*
Excellency would do his utmost to support the intended arrangement.
11. On the same evening also I received from the Prince Governor a letter informing
me that he had instructions from the Foreign and Home Ministers to conclude the Bandar
Abbas lease, and that the Maskat Minister should attend the next morning for the pur­
pose of signing the articles of agreement.
12. Accordingly on the morning of Tuesday, the 4th August, the Maskat Minister
waited on the Prince’s Minister, and thence proceeded with him to the Prince's residence
where the deeds of lease were sealed and exchanged. The Prince further caused telegra­
phic orders to be sent to the Persian Governor of Bandar Abbas to make over charge
and vacate, and ordered the despatch of a special messenger to Bandar Abbas with
*' Your trlegram of fourth. Viceroy considers written instructions. My telegram of the 4th
the settlement of tho Bandar Abba* lease question embodied tllCSC proceedings, and I had the honour
sttiif&'tory." to receive from the Foreign Secretary a reply
as per margin.
13. On the evening of the same day I received from Mr. Alison a telegram informing
me that the Home Minister had stated that orders had been issued to the Prince Gover­
nor to conclude.
14. On the evening of the day following (5th), I took my leave of the Prince, accom­
panied by the Maskat Minister and by the English gentlemen resident at Shiraz. Prince
then renewed his assurances of his satisfaction at the prompt and satisfactory termination
of the Bandar Abbas difficulty, and requested me to inform the Sultan of Maskat by
telegram. He added that he considered the terms in all respects fair, and that it was
on all accounts desirable that the lease should have lapsed.
15. No allusion was made throughout the discussions to the subject of Angaum.
16. As regards the proposed creation by Persia of a flotilla in the Persian Gulf, the
Prince said he entirely concurred with me in thinking it would prove an unnecessary
expense and a costly failure. He said Persia entrusted the peace of the Gulf entirely
to the British Resident, and that he would be prepared to issue any orders I might draft
in view to my securing full support and prompt communication from the local Governors
along the Persian coast line.
17. On taking leave of the Prince he begged me to accept an ornamented kalian
(pipe) headpiece made after a deyice of his own, adding that he was causing a mouthpiece
to be made for me of the same pattern. He said that he trusted I would keep and use
these as mementos of our pleasant intercourse during iny visits to Shiraz, His Royal
Highness was pleased to pay some other personal compliments, with which it seems un­
necessary to trouble Government. I replied that, under the rules of the India Office,
it would be necessary for me to intimate the gift to the Government of India, and that, it
they should permit, it would afford me gratification to keep and use a kalian presented
to me in so flattering a manner by the Hissam-us-Sultaneh.
126. The territory, which is the subject of the bargain, comprises “the Gov-
ernment of Bandar Abbas, the islands of Kishm and Hormuz, the districts of
Yureen, Tazian, Shumal, Minab, and Birjaban, and the port of Khumeer, and all
their dependenciesSuch is the wording in the Agreement on the part of Saiyid
Salim. In the document which intimates the release on the part of the Shah,
the territory made over is less clearly defined ; thus “ Bandar Abbas with its
islands, the districts of Yureen, Tazian, Shumal, Minab, and Birjaban, and the
port of Khumeer.,, Nothing is said in either paper about Angaum,
127. Colonel Pelly it will be seen announced that Persia had no. longer a
desire for a flotilla in the Gulf. The Shah was content to leave the maintenance
of the maritime peace to the British Resident, as in this way there is less expense
and less chance of failure.

XVII.—-Lapse of the lease on the Azan bin Ghias turning out Saiyid Salim.
128. In the lease of 1868, the grant of Bandar Abbas, Kishm and other
places, was made only in favour of
Political A., June 1869, Nos. 410*421.
Saiyid Salim and his heirs. When Azan
bin Ghias turned out Saiyid Salim, the lease ceased, as he was only a collateral
relation of the ex-Sultan. The Persian Government taking advantage of this