Page 277 - Gulf Precis(II)_Neat

Part VII—Chap. LIV. 255

CHAPTER LIV.

QUESTION ABOUT OBTAINING REDRESS FOR RECENT OUT­
RAGES, INSISTING ON EXCLUSION OF SHEIKH HUSSEIN
FROM THE ADMINISTRATION, HARBOURING REFUGEES
IN THE RESIDENCY, BUILDING A DEFENSIBLE RESI­
DENCY BEYOND THE WALLS OF BUSHIRE AND OUR
TREATY RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS TO ASSIST THE
PERSIANS AGAINST ATTACKS IN THE PERSIAN GULF,
1837.
478. The Bombay Government asked the opinion of the Envoy at Teheran,
on the abovementioned points, His
Volumo 281 of 1827, pago 295. reply, dated 8th July 1827, is quoted
below:—
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt
19th March 1827, Oth April 1837, 3 of 28th April
1827. of your several despatches of tho dates specified
in the margin.
In reference to tho letters addressed by Prince Hussoin Ali Meerza to His Highness tho
Imam of Muscat, adverted to in No. 438, I have to observe that I never for a moment
entertained the idea, though a solicitation to that effect was made to me by the Shah, of
deputing a gentleman to Shiraz, in order to effect an accommodation betweeu that Govern­
ment and Sied Syed. Nor did I couceive myself authorized to interfere further in thoir
disputes, than to communioate to the Governor-General the request of the King that his
Lordship would intercede with tho Imam in behalf of the imprisoned Sheikh.
The events and transactions which have since taken place at Bushire will I hope put
this question finally to rest, in as far as we are concerned.
I have, since the arrival of the King in Azerbijan, again brought the conduct of the local
authorities in Pars towards the British representative under the consideration of His Majesty's
Ministers, who have given me the most solemn assurances that every reparation in His
Majesty's power will be made for the insults, which drove Lieutenant-Colonel Stannus from
the Residency, that Mahomed ZeeJcee Khan has been fined in 40,000 Tomans, for his conduct
on that occasion, and that Sheikh Hoossein has, in the most positive manner, been interdicted
from the exercise of any authority in tho Government of Bushire.
The tenor of the Firman which was a short time ago addressed by the Shah to his son,
and of which I had the honour to forward to you a copy has, I doubt not, produced a salutary
effect on the mind of that personage ; and probably led to the sudden alteration in the tone of
his communications to the Kesident.
In reply to the 3rd paragraph of No. 645, I beg leave to observe that the treaty concluded
by Sir Gore Ausby with the Persian Government is no longer in force, the engagements whioh
we entered into on that oocasion having been abrogated by the subsequent arrangements made
by Messrs. Morier and Ellis. In the Treaty negotiated by these Gentlemen, and whioh is in
Jact the only convention noto existing between the two States, it is stipulated as follows:
** Should his Persian Majesty require assistance from the English Government in the Persian
Gulf, they shall, if convenient and practicable, assist him with ships of war and troops. The
expenses of suoh expedition shall he accounted for and defrayed by the Persian Government,
and the above ships shall anchor in such ports as shall be pointed out by the Persian Govern­
ment, and not enter other harbours without permission, except from absolute necessity.
But whether these stipulations allude to European or Native Bowers, it is impossible for me
to decide. The Persian Government asserts that they have reference to both, and further say
that they consider all the commercial engagements entered into by Sir InsMalcolm in 1801 as
annulled by the compact of Messrs. Morier and Ellis, who quitted the country without
carrying into effect their intention of forming a new Commercial Treaty. A note addressed by Mr.
Ellis to Meerza Shefee, and to which no written reply was ever given, would appear in some
measure to verify this interpretation, though 1 have, in all my official communications to this
Court, invariably considered the engagements entered into by Sir InsMalcolm, relative to the
commerce of the two countries, as still binding on both oontraoting parties.
In answer to paragraphs 8 and 9 of No. 648,1 have to remark that any proposal to build
a defensible Residency beyond the walls of Bushire would most probably be objected to by the
Persian Government, on tho same grounds formerly urged, and which afterwards led to the
total destruction of the mansion, ereoted by Captain Bruce, the walla of which were razed to
the ground.

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