Page 68 - The Arabian Gulf States_Neat

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•1 6 THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE ARABIAN GULF STATES

1
j the conclusion of the Treaty of Peace of 1820 with the Arab Shaikhs
i of the coast, as well as with the Shaikh of Bahrain. Subsequently the
British Government established its influence in the Gulf by means of
treaties and engagements concluded with the Shaikhdoms between
i
1853 and 1916.1
In a speech in the House of Lords on 5 March 1903, Lord Lans-
: ! downc put on record the British unrivalled position in the Gulf in
these terms:
I say it without hesitation, wc should regard the establishment of a naval
base or a fortified port in the Persian Gulf by any other Power as a very
grave menace to British interests, and we should certainly resist it by all the
means at our disposal.2
Similarly, while speaking about the establishment of British influ­
ence in the Gulf, it seems pertinent to refer to a famous speech made
by Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy of India, on 21 November 1903.
This speech was delivered by Lord Curzon in the presence of the
rulers of the Trucial Coast, on the occasion of his visit to the Gulf.
Lord Curzon defined British policy in the Gulf and assured the rulers
of his Government’s continued support for the maintenance of their
; '1
independence in the following statement:
Sometimes I think that the record of the past is in danger of being for­
gotten, and there are persons who ask—Why should Great Britain continue
to exercise these powers? The history of your States . . . and the present
conditions of the Gulf, are the answer. ... It was our commerce as well
as your security that was threatened and called for protection. . . . We have
not seized or held your territory. We have not destroyed your independence,
but have preserved it. . . . The peace of these waters must still be main­
tained; your independence will continue to be upheld; and the influence of
the British Government must remain supreme.3
The above-mentioned statements of British politicians about
Britain’s unrivalled political position in the Arabian Gulf have now
been overtaken by events. For, in view of the present changed con-

1 For general information on the gradual establishment of British influence in
the Arabian Gulf, see Mahan, A. T., ‘The Persian. Gulf and International Rela­
tions', The National Review, vol. 6, Scpt.-Feb. (1902-3), pp. 27-45; ‘Curzon’s
Analysis of British Policy and Interests in Persia and the Persian Gulf, September
21, 1899’, published in Hurewitz, J. C., Diplomacy in the Near and Middle East,
voi. 1 (1956), pp. 219-41; Saldanha, J. A., A Precis of Correspondence Regarding
the Affairs of the Persian Gulf 1801-53 (1906); Bulletin of International News,
British Interests in the Persian Gulf, vol XVIII, No. 19, 20 September (1914),
pp. 1193-8; Wilson, op cit., Chapters VIII-XIII.
1 2 Sec Gooch, G. and Temperlcy, H., British Documents on the Origins of the
War 1898-1914, vol. IV (1938), p. 371.
3 Sec India, Foreign and Political Department, Treaties and Engagements w
force in January, 1906, Between the British Government and the Trucial Chiefs of
the Arab Coast, Including Lord Curzon s Address (1906), pp. 1-4.