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place of residence during the hot season), taking the place there of the present
unpaid Commercial Vice-Consul. Upon this point the Government of India
proposed to consult Her Majesty’s Consul at Kerman, which was in close
connection with Bandar Abbas and the coast; and promised to submit to the
Secretary of Slate at a later date their final views upon this subject.
260. Soon after this, the Government of India learnt that Major Sykes,
the British Consul at Kerman, was about
Secret E., October 1500, Noj. 137-169.
to be transferred to. Tehran. The pro­
bability of this transfer and the facts which had recently been brought to
light regarding traffic in arms between Maskat and Bandar Abbas rendered it
in the opinion of the Government of India, additionally important that our
interests should be suitably represented at the latter port. Lieutenant
V. DeV. Hunt was therefore deputed by the Government of India in February
1900 to Bandar Abbas as Assistant Resident in the Persian Gulf, and Sir
Mortimer Durand was asked to obtain recognition of Lieutenant Hunt as Vice-
Consul. The appointment was sanctioned only for 6 months and was to receive
the pay of his grade in the Political Department, with a deputation allowance of
Rs. 200. The Secretary of State’s sanction was asked to these arrangements
and was also told that proposals for permanent arrangements would be sub­
mitted as soon as possible.
261. In accordance with the exequaturs issued by the Persian Government,
D'spatcii No. 3i«Sccrct—External, dated ut Lieutenant Hunt’s Vice-Consular juris-
March 1900. . . diction extended to the districts of Bandar
Abbas and Yezd, and was, it is understood, to be independent of Major Sykes’
Consular appointments at Kerman (Colonel Kemball’s letter No. 151, dated 4th
June 1900).
262. In June 1901 we communicated to the Secretary of State the sugges­
Secret E , August 1901, Nos. 131-170. tion of the Political Resident in the
Secret E., Juno 1907, Nos. 250-253. Persian Gulf that the jurisdiction of. the
Vice-Consul at Bandar Abbas, which included Bandar Abbas and Yezd, should
be extended to Lingah ; and we added a suggestion that it should include Luristan
and that the Consular jurisdiction of the Political Resident himself should be
extended to the provinces of Luristan and Yezd. In reply the Secretary of
State sent us correspondence with the Foreign Office, which showed that His
Majesty’s Minister at Tehran saw no objection to placing Luristan and Yezd
within the Consular jurisdiction of the Vice-Consul at Bandar Abbas, and
that he agreed to Luristan being included in the Consular district of the
Political Resident, but considered that Yezd should remain under the Consul-
General of Ispahan. The Viceroy agreed to the modification proposed in regard
to Yezd. With his despatch of the 13th December 1901, the Secretary of State
forwarded a letter from the Foreign Office which stated that an amended com­
mission would be issued forthwith to the Consul-General at Bushire, attending
his jurisdiction to the provinces of Luristan and Lingah, and that steps would be
taken to carry out the other proposed change as soon as a successor was ap­
pointed to Lieutenant Hunt. In view of the temporary nature of Captain Grey’s
appointment at Bandar Abbas, it was not considered necessary to move further
in the matter when he took up the post. As Captain Grey was now likely to
remain on there, it was considered advisable again to take up the question, and
during his recent visit to Simla, it was suggested to him that he might address
the Resident regarding the extension of his jurisdiction.
263. In his letter No. 218, dated 6th November 1903, Colonel Kemball
suggested that the status of our officer at
Secret E., August 1904, Nos. 172*104,
Bandar Abbas should be raised to that of a
Consul and that as such his jurisdiction should be extended to Shamilat, Lingah and
the Shib Koh Ports, Minab and the coast of Persia as far as Gwettar and all the
islands belonging to Persia in the eastern part of the Gulf, that as Assistant Political
Resident his charge should include Ras Musandim and the important inlets
which this promontory contains, the portion of the Batineh coast which belongs
to the Joasmis and the islands of Abu Musa and Tamb which are dependencies
of the same family; and that our station at Bassidore should be placed
formally under his supervision. The Government of India recommended these