Page 540 - PERSIAN 5 1905_1911

44 ADMINISTRATION RETORT OF TIIE PERSIAN GOLF
The total for 1910 may be classified as follows:—
European British subjects .... 76
British Indians 368
Bahrainis 6
450
The increase during the year is mainly due to the Oil Company’s staff.
It docs not include Government servants or Quarantine staff.
The vexed question of the status of Bahrainis in Mohammerah was satis­
factorily settled for the time being at all
Bahrainis. events by an agreement with the Shaikh
of Mohamraerah, come to informally between His Excellency and His Majes­
ty’s Consul, whereby Bahrainis who had settled in Mohammerah previous to
his accession are treated as his subjects, those who have arrived after being
treated as British subjects. This arrangement is conditional on the Shaikh
treating all Bahrainis alike with justice and consideration. As the aggre­
gate total of Bahrainis in Arabistan is probably not less than 1,000, it is
necessary to be circumspect in dealing with the question of their title to pro­
tection, particularly as many of them have had their names inscribed with their
own consent in the tribal books, and thereby tacitly acknowledged themselves
as subjects of the Shaikh.
LaDce Naik Surveyor Muhammad Zaraan Khan, 34th Poona Horse, made
several surveys during the year, some of
Surveys.
them with the assistance of Civil Sur­
veyor Ali Ahmad, Survey of India. The work of both was excellent. The
Shatait river and Mianab district were surveyed bv the former in the spring.
Later on a combined survey on the 1 m =1 inch scale was carried out of the
Fallahivah district, including part of the Jarrahi river, and the Khor Buzi.
A detailed survey was made of the environs of the Mohammerah Consulate
and Customs.
The issue of a warrant by His Majesty’s Consul, Mohammerali, on His
Majesty’s Consul, Basrah, for the arrest
Judicial.
of 23 British Indians who had assaulted
the staff of the Oil Company’s Managing Agents, Messrs. Lloyd Scott & Co.,
Ltd., revealed a serious flaw in the continuity of Consular -jurisdiction at the
head of the Gulf.
On His Majesty’s Consul, Basrah, asking the Wali to assist him in arrest­
ing the said men, the Y/ali replied that, as there was no extradition treaty be­
tween Great Britain and Turkey, be could not hand over the men. He was
supported in this attitude by the Porte, and the representations of His
Majesty’s Ambassador at Constantinople were of no avail. Any person sub­
ject to Consular jurisdiction, therefore, accused of having committed a crime
in Turkey or Persia, can escape arrest by taking refuge across the frontier.
This* :s particularly inconvenient in the case of Mohammerah, which is a
frontier town, and whilst there are likely to be several hundred British
Indians permanently at work at Braim on Abadan, any one of whom can
escape punishment by crossing the river.
No progress in this direction was made during the year, though the
Dutch Minister in Tehran is still assidu­
Irrigation Schemes in Arabistan.
ously attempting to push a Dutch Karun
Irrigation Scheme, so far however with no success.
In January 1909, information was obtained by His Majesty’s Minister
that the Nizam-us-Sultaneh had granted a concession for irrigation in Arabis­
tan to a Russian subject. It subsequently transpired that the Hussamabad
lands near Shush were the subject of the concession, which had been granted to
one Abbas Agha Taraverdieff.
The terms of the lease, which was for 25 years, were onerous and, up to
the end of the year the concessionaire had taken no steps to enter into posses­
sion of his estates. The ground is very fertile and well suited for develop­
ment but it is far inland, and in the possession of Arab tribes who settled