Page 234 - The Arabian Gulf States_Neat

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172 THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE ARABIAN GULF STATES
Government protested against these discussions which look place
!
between the Shaikh and the British Resident, the British Minister at
Tehran, acting on the instructions previously received by him from the
home Government, delivered a Note dated 7 February 1848 to the
Persian Government in which he stated that he
! urges the Persian Government to take the necessary measures to prevent
any aggression being made on Bahrain [and that his Government] do not
recognise as valid the claim advanced by Persia to the sovereignty of that
: Island.1
The situation in Bahrain continued to be unstable owing to internal
feuds and the Shaikh’s position was precarious. To strengthen his hold
and to ward ofT the intrigues of his ambitious neighbours he requested
the British Resident to place his country under British protection.2
But the British Government declined this request.3 Subsequently, the
Shaikh turned his face to the Turkish Government offering to become
‘under the sovereignty or protection of the Porte’.4 But after his
overtures to Turkey, the Shaikh became involved in a maritime
struggle with the Wahhabi Ruler, Amir Faisal, who in consequence of
the Shaikh's refusal to pay tribute made preparation to attack Bahrain.
Knowing that he had forfeited by his maritime activities the sympathy
of the British Government, and in order to repel the Wahhabi attack,
the Shaikh started playing off Persia against Turkey by asking them
both for aid and protection against Wahhabi designs.5
The Shaikh’s appeal for military aid was favourably considered by
the diplomatic circles both in Turkey and Persia. Persia lost no time
in dispatching an agent to Bahrain to represent her interests there. The
Shaikh, on his part, flattered the Persians by hoisting their flag on the
main port in Manama, and sending in April 1860 two letters—one
addressed to the Shah and the other to the Governor-General of
Fars—in which he expressed his loyalty to the Persian Crown.6
But it is interesting to know that following the arrival of the Persian
agent in Bahrain the Shaikh was preparing to receive Turkish emis-
1 F.O. 60/136. Farrant to Viscount Palmerston, 17 February 1848; ibid.. Ex­
tract of a letter from Haji Meerza Aghassi to Lt-Col Farrant, 2 February 1848;
ibid., Viscount Palmerston to Farrant, 2 May 1848. (In this communication
Palmerston conveys to Farrant his approval of the latter's reply to Haji M.
Aghassec.)
2 F.O. 60'145. Farrant to Palmerston, 23 May 1849, enclosing letter, dated
(15th Rabcc Awwal) 19 February 1849, from Shaikh Muhammad ibn Khalifah,
Ruler of Bahrain, to British Resident, Major Hcnncll, and the latter’s reply to the
Shaikh of 28 February 1849.
3 F.O. 60 '143. Foreign Office, to Farrant, 1 August 1849.
4 F.O. 60'157. Palmerston to Canning, Foreign Office, 12 February 1851.
6 FO. 60/170. Sheil to Earl of Malmesbury,"l 1 May 1852.
e p o. 248/251. Letters from Shaikh Muhammad ibn Khalifah, dated 9 and 12
April 1860, to the Persian Governor of Fars and to the Shah respectively.