Page 402 - Gulf Precis(VIII)_Neat

88

I visited the station in due course on 6th April, and found that in the meanwhile some
of the community of manumitted Africans who live in peace at Bassidore under the aijjis
of our flag having threatened to cut his throat, the Customs official had discontinued his
unwelcome visits. I had therefore simply to give our Agent instructions for the future
and did so in the sense of my draft above mentioned. In the course of my visit to the
station I found a number of poor Persians living in huts at Singao within our limits
and was informed by the Agent that they had migrated from old Bassidore or other parts
of Kishm owing to the oppression of the Customs officials on the Island.
Seeing objection to an influx of Persians into our station, both on account of the narrow
limits of it, as well as because their taking refuge there was likely to bring us into collision
N t with the Persian Customs, I addressed the
Secret b! R8,Idcnt,0 Foreign, No. 169 • dated 7th April Government of India on the subject and attach
R,.ld.M, No. ,739-E.A,t 6.tcd sth conies of my communication nnd of their reply
No«. 576 579-M#J ip0j. (lately received).
T No. 577,
I Aw.
Meanwhile I learnt that my visit to Bassidore had been followed by a visit from the
Darya Bcgi on 18th April. This was the position when 1 received Your Excellency’s
telegram No. 40 of 25th April, and at the moment I.was naturally somewhat on the qui vt've
regarding Bassidore affairs.
Referring to the question of storage of red ochre by the Moin, on its superficial
merits, I would mention that the last application of the kind was one from Sheikh Hassan
of Kishm in March 1902, in connection with the storage of salt. My predecessor, Colouel
Kemball, did not consider that he was in a position to forbid him to land his salt on our
station, but directed our Agent to "inform Sheikh Hassan in a friendly manner that as a
Persian subject and moreover as a Persian official he is likely to give offence to his superiors
* * * * * * * *
* * * and it seems against interests to act as he proposes and he
would be well advised not to do so."
Before the communication reached Sheikh Hassan, hovever, he had already landed
some salt on our station. Regarding this salt, His Britannic Majesty’s Consul, Bandar
Abbas, writing to Colonel Kemball a year later, stated that although Sheikh Hassan had
already paid duty on this salt, before it left the salt mine, the Director of Customs, Bandar
Abbas, was trying to get another lot of duty out of him, on the grounds that Bassidore was
Persian territory.
Considering the facts that I had before me, I trust Your Excellency will understand
my chariness to agree to the Moin landing his red ochre on British Bassidore. Since
receipt of Ydur Excellency's last telegram No. 46 of 4th May, I have received a further
communication' from our Coal Agent dated 1st June forwarding for information a copy of
letter addressed to him by Sheikh Hassan of
From Sheikh Hiiun of Kishm to Coal Agent, Kishm. I attach a copy of the latter, and of
Ba»«idote, dated 17th May 1905. my reply to the Coal Agent. Apart from the
June 1905. general reasons mentioned in the foregoing
paragraphs, the personality of the Moin-et-
Tujjar also entered to some extent into my calculations when replying to Your Excellency’s
inquiry.
The ubiquitous vested interests which he has systematically created in these regions
during the past few years, either in his own name or that of the Malek-et-Tujjar, whose
henchman he was, must be well known to Your Excellency, and their existence has been
inconveniently in evidence of late in connection with more than one question affecting our
interests.
For instance :
(l) At Ahwaz he has recently claimed rights over the site which we were trying
to lease from the Sheikh of Mohammerah for the erection of a Consulate.
(a) At Henjam he has a heap of salt and a hut in our limits, of which we shall
probably hear more. He is also responsible for the erection of the old
flagstaff on our plinth which has been the cause of so much correspondence.
(3) It is he, I imagine, who is the cause of the protraction of the case of the date
gardens of the Shargah family at Lingah.
In fact, wherever he obtains a footing he seems to stay and to encroach. Just now
he apparently holds an abnormally strong position both with the Customs and with the
Darya Begi, and I am informed that he possesses good deal of influence at Tehran.
He is the landlord of the Bushire Customs, and this no doubt brings him into close
touch with them, but apart from that, according to my information he is very strongly
backed by the Department from Monsieur Naus downwards, and I am told that the
subordinates have explicit orders to give his Agents and his operations all possible