Page 399 - Gulf Precis(VIII)_Neat

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merely to see the place, and to station a man in old Bassidore, with a view to the seiiure
of arms and ammunition which might be landed there from native vessels.
a. It is assumed that by the expression * old Bassidore ’ is meant the ruins of the Por­
tuguese Settlement,* which once existed upon
• ViJ* Curcon’s Persia, Volumo II, pegs 412.
the north-western extremity of the island of
Kishm and near which arc located the existing buddings that belong to the Government of
India. The records of the Government of India do not indicate the exact limits of the tract
at Bassidore which was granted to the British Government by the Sultan of Maskat in
1820, but obviously the grant must have included the old Portuguese Settlement at
Bassidore, for at that time no other place was known by that name. You should therefore
let it be known that no official of the Persian Government can be permitted to reside in
any part of the station without the express consent of the British Government.
372. The Resident was unable to ascertain from therecordsof the Residency
that the limits of the tract at Bassidore, considered to be British territory, had ever
been exactly defined. From enquiries, which he made, it appears that old Bassidore
is a village situated in close proximity to the old Portuguese fort, and that this
village of “ old Bassidore, ” together with another village called “ Singow ” or
“ Bandar Sing ” situated also in close proximity to the Portuguese fort, were, in
former days, considered to be within the limits of our station of which they are
in the immediate vicinity. It appears, however, that more recently we have
considered these places to be without our jurisdiction and within that of the
Shaikh of Kishm. In 1864, a case occurred in which a slave was enticed from
the Bassidore station and taken to Singow, where he was ill-treated. In the
correspondence which ensued, the Slave Agent was reproved by the Acting
Resident for having interfered in the case and was told that Singow was beyond
the limits of British jurisdiction. This appears to have been in accordance with
a ruling by Colonel Pelly, the Resident at the time.
273. In 1874 a letter was addressed by Assistant Surgeon A. R. Hakim, then
in charge of the Bassidore station, to Colonel Ross, recommending the headman
of the Bassidore village (presumably the same as old Bassidore) for compensation
on account of the loss of his boat while employed in coaling. The Bassidore
village is alluded to in his letter as being without our jurisdiction.
274. It appeared then, so far as the Resident was able to find out from the
records, and from inquiries made by him from our Coal Agent at Bassidore that,
for many years past, the villages in the immediate proximity of the Bassidore
station had not been considered to be within our jurisdiction, which only included
the actual site occupied by our buildings. This, however, does not show that
they were not within the limits of the tract originally granted to the British
Government by the Sultan of Maskat in 1820, and the Resident was inclined to
think that they should now be considered to form apart of the British settlement,
notwithstanding the fact that the jurisdiction over them for many years past
of the Chief of Kishm has not been disputed by us. (Resident’s report No. 171,
dated 31st September 1901.) The Government of India expressed the following
opinion on this report [No. 1858-E. A., dated the 39th October 1901 (Con­
fidential) ] :—
“ It is understood that, while Persian officials have exercised jurisdiction over old
Bassidore for some time past, the settlement at Singow has hitherto remained indepen­
dent of Persian control. In the circumstances the Government of India consider that
whatever may have been the original limits of the tract which was granted to the British
Government in 1820—as to which there appears to be no information readily available—they
are debarred from asserting a claim to jurisdiction over old Bassidore by the prescrip­
tion of many years. The site of the abandoned settlement^at Singow may, however, be
regarded as included within the limits of the British station.”
275. With his letter No. 38, dated 23rd February 1902, Colonel Kemball
forwarded two tracings taken from the
Secret E., July 1902, Nos. 513-514-
chart of the station and its surroundings.
(iv) Proposed emigration of Bu Smeit tribe from Lingah to Bassidore, 1897-1901.
276. In March 1897 certain members of the Bu Smeit tribe emigrated from
Lingah to Bassidore on account of some quar­
Secret B, Juoe igot, Nos. ai-aa. rel with the Persian authorities at Lingah,
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