Page 233 - The Arabian Gulf States_Neat

IRAN’S CLAIM TO BAHRAIN 171
In reply to the inquiries made by the India Board as regards the
points raised by Haji Aghassi in his statement about Bahrain, the
Secret Committee of the Hast India Company made the following
observations in which it refuted the Persian claim:
First, ‘with regard to the first point, the British Government has treated
the Shaikhs of Bahrein as independent authorities’ after their occupation
of that island in 1783. The Egyptian Government, that of Mohammed Ali
aimed at its possession and was deterred by the British representation in
which no reference was made to Persia. The Imam of Muscat had repeatedly
laid claim to it, and during some years it paid him tribute. The attempt
to found an argument on the name of the Persian Gulf is open to the
obvious remark, that the Red Sea is the Arabian Gulf, and that no one
would venture to allege that all the islands in it belong to Arabia.’
Secondly, ‘Bahrein may have been a dependency of Fars while the
Persians were in actual possession of the island. But the allegation that they
had possessed it from a.d. 1300 is contrary to the best evidence that can be
produced on the subject.’
Thirdly, ‘during the period when the Persians arc admitted to have held
possession of Bahrein travellers would of course speak of the island as a
Persian possession. Chardin, however, speaks of the surrender of Bahrein
by the Portuguese to the Persians in 1625 . . .’
Fourthly, ‘with regard to the treaty made by Captain Bruce, the Com­
mittee noticed that it had no legal significance whatsoever, since it was
expressly disavowed and Captain Bruce himself was removed of his office
for having made it without authority.’1
From the preceding premises, the Committee concluded that Persia
had no legitimate claim to the sovereignty of Bahrain. The British
Government after hearing the comment of the Indian Government on
the Persian Prime Minister’s Note preferred not to deliver a formal
reply of their views on this Note. Persia also did not press the matter
any further and the affair was therefore forgotten for some years to
come.
In the meantime, the agitation in the area continued and the Persian
Prime Minister again found an occasion of presenting a fresh protest
in 1848 to the British Minister at Tehran against what he alleged to be
the interference by the British Resident at Bushire in the affairs of
Bahrain. The truth about this allegation was that the ruler of the
island, Shaikh Muhammad, made in the year preceding the Persian
protest an overture to the British Resident seeking British assistance
against an aggression which he apprehended on his country from his
uncle, the ex-Shaikh, and his followers who were backed by Persia.
Being aware of the genuineness of the Shaikh's apprehensions the
Resident promised to afford to Bahrain military support in the ease
of any aggression directed against her by Persia. When the Persian
1 F.O. 60/118, op. cit., Observations of the Secret Committee of the East India
Company, 31 July 1845.