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(11) Question of control of the entrance of the Persian Gulf. Jurisdiction and con­
trol over the coast from Khor Kalba to Tibbat.
182. With the Foreign Secretary's letters Nos. 35-M., dated 30th August and
Secret R., September igoo, Nov 0a-5.j. 41-M., dated i ith October igoo, were for­
Secret E., November igoo, Nos. 17-ig. warded to the India Office certain naval
Secret E., May 1901, Nos. iom8. rcports;on the harbours of the Persian Gulf.
Referring to these letters the Secretary of State forwarded (Despatch No.
30-Secret, dated 23rd November 1900) to us copy of correspondence between the
India Ofiice, the Foreign Ofiice and the Admiralty and pointed out that these
reports showed that the most suitable places for a naval base in these waters were
the islands of Henjam, Kishm and Hormuz, and that it might be advisable under
certain conditions to occupy more than one of these islands. The Secretary of
State therefore wished that further information should be collected re igarding the
climate, water-supply, etc., of these islands, and enquired what steps it woul< d be
desirable to take, in certain contingencies, with a view to preparing the way for
further action, if the necessity arose.
183. The Political Resident, who was consulted, sent us a report by Lieutenant
„ .. .. ..... „ Hunt, who had been till lately Vice-Consul
•a* ay 1901, 0*. io-i 0.1). at Bandar Abbas. Lieutenant Hunt found
Kishm under the government of Sheikh Hassan, who was a Kalantar under
the nominal control of the Naib Governor of Bandar Abbas. Henjam had
for years been leased to Moin-ut-Tujjar. Its salt mines, from which some 5,000
to 7,000 tons of salt were then exported to Calcutta, provided the Sheikh of
Kishm with a profit of rateable tax on these exports, no portion of which went
to Moin-ut-Tujjar's agent, as it ought, unless the latter happened to be strong
enough to enforce compliance. The island of Hormuz, like Henjam, Larak and
Bostana, was leased to Moin-ut-Tujjar.

184. In forwarding these reports to the Secretary of State, the Government
Secret E., May 1901, Noa. 10-18 (No. 18). of India observed (No. 66-Secret External,
dated 2nd May 1901):—
We are strongly of opinion that, in the event of the Russians occupying Bandar Ab­
bas or any other Persian harbour near the entrance of the Gulf, or acquiring political or
naval privileges there, such as would constitute a violation of the understanding of 1834,
our Naval Officer Commanding in the Gulf should have instructions at once to plant the
British flags upon the three islands of Hormuz, Henjam and Kishm. We would occupy Hor­
muz, not with the idea of making it our principal naval station, but in order to prevent its
being taken by Russia, and because its possession would give us command of Bandar Ab­
bas. Henjam and Kishm in our opinion must necessarily be taken together. The smaller
island is required because the best available harbour in this part of the Gulf appears to be
that which lies between it and Kishm, and Kishm is necessary to us because we already
possess a plot of British territory upon it at Bassidore, and because it would be indispen­
sable as a base of supplies for Henjam. Your Lordship is aware of the conditions under
which we hold possession of Bassidore. Though we no longer use the place as a coaling
depdt, we keep an Agent there, who flies the British flag, which seems for the present to
be all that is required, as an assertion of our proprietary rights. There are no independent
local chiefs or authorities in the islands with whom we could enter into relations. With
the exception of the tract in our possession at Bassidore, the islands arc under Persian
authority, and since Lieutenant Hunt's visit, the Kalantar of Kishm, Sheikh Hasan, is said
to have been superseded at the instance of the . Director-General of Customs in Southern
Persia by another official.
The harbour of Khor-ash-Shem or Elphinstone’s Inlet upon the western side of the
Musandim promontory possesses many advantages, but we consider it less suitable for our ulti­
mate naval station at the mouth of the Gulf, because of its distance from the main tract of
steamers and from the Persian Coast, its total lack of supplies, and the uncivilised charac­
ter of the aboriginal inhabitants of Musandim. We should, however, see no objection, in the
contingency contemplated, to the simultaneous hoisting of tho British flag on the isthmus
of Maklab, between Khor-ash-Shem and Ghubbeh Ghazireh, not necessarily with the view
of ulterior occupation, but in order to anticipate seizure by any other power. The isthmus
might, we think, be annexed without seeking permission either from the Sultan of Maskat
or from the Arab tribes, in the same manner as it was occupied by the Eastern Telegraph
Company in 1869.
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