Page 132 - The Arabian Gulf States_Neat

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70 THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE ARABIAN GULF STATES
1923, concerning oil exploitation, the British representative informed
the Committee that
:
In 1923, the then Sultan had offered the British Government what was in
S3 effect a first option on any oil discovered in his territories. There had been
no termination, but it was not regarded as still being in force. This had not
been an agreement but was simply an undertaking given by the Sultan. It
might be considered to be a one-sided Declaration, but this had been somc-
thing that the Sultan had offered to do.
This Undertaking, he continued,
had not affected the Sultan’s action in the last twenty years, nor did it in
any way derogate from the sovereignty of the ruler at that time who had
I given the option. Similar arrangements had been made by the Ottoman
Empire.1
We may conclude that although the Sultan and the British Govern­
: ment maintain that the agreements in question have lost their legal
force a long time ago, they, none-the-less, admit that, except for the
agreement of 1891, no steps have yet been taken towards their formal
termination. The 1891 agreement was not terminated until 1958, as is
shown in the above-mentioned British statement.

The Shaikhdoms2
(i) Status prior to British protection
It may be desirable, before discussing the present legal status of the
Shaikhdoms, to examine their position prior to their treaty-relations
with the British Government. Were the Rulers of these Shaikhdoms
regarded by the British Government, before entering into treaty rela­
tions with them in 1820, as sovereigns of independent governments
who were capable of conferring rights by treaties on foreign Powers?
Leaving aside the legal nature of British treaties with the Shaikh­
doms—a point which will be discussed separately—this question will
now be examined by reference to the official British attitude towards
the Rulers of these States during the period in which the British
Government established formal treaty relations with them.
It appears that the British Government treated the Rulers of these
Shaikhdoms with whom it directly established official contact as heads
of independent governments. These governments existed long before
the British Government established its influence in the Gulf. It is true,
however, that the petty rulers of the Gulf, who, during the nineteenth
century, were surrounded by ‘warlike and more powerful States

1 The Ad Hoc Committee on Oman, op. cit., pp. 100, 123-4.
2 As previously noted, the expression ‘the Shaikhdoms’ covers the status of
Kuwait before her independence in 1961.