Page 47 - The Origins of the United Arab Emirates_Neat

The Aftermath of War: Perpetuation of Control 23
conclusions were reached. The pre-war situation in the Gulf can
he traced back to 1763, when the Residency at Bushirc was first
established. Primary responsibility for political control in the Gulf
passed from the East India Company to the Government of Bombay
and later to the Government of India. From 1824, the control
was concentrated in the hands of a political officer known as the
Political Resident; from 1878, the Political Resident also became
the Consul-General for Pars, Khuzistan, Luristan, and for the coasts
and islands of the Gulf within the dominions of Persia. The Political
Resident, therefore, had dual responsibilities: to the Government
of India as Political Resident, and to the Foreign Office, through
the jurisdiction of the British Minister to Persia, as Consul-General.
Naturally enough, the cost of the Residency at Bushirc was divided
between Britain and India. Subordinate to the Political Resident
were the Political Agents (officers of the Indian Political Service)
in Muscat,17 Bahrain18 and Kuwait,19 the Political Agent in Muscat
also being British Consul there. At Sharjah was stationed the Resi­
dency Agent for the Trucial Coast, an Arab who came under
the direct supervision of the Political Resident.
Until 1921, the Political Resident as such was responsible to
the Government of India only. In 1920, however, the British Cabinet
discussed changing this, as part of the general post-war reorganisation
of the administration of British interests in the Middle East; the
mandates in Iraq and Palestine, the 1915 treaty with I bn Sa‘ud,
the relationship with the Sharifian dynasty of the Hijaz all needed
urgent departmental regulation. The Masterton-Smith (Sir John
Masterton-Smith, Under-Secretary, Ministry of Labour) Committee20
was set up, and recommended the creation within the Colonial
Office of a Middle East Department with responsibility for all
Middle Eastern Arab areas, with special provisions for the Hijaz.
With reference to the Gulf, the Committee recommended that the
control of policy be transferred to London and exercised through
the Middle East Department, but that the Government of India
should continue to administer British interests in the Gulf, seeking
the permission of the Colonial Office for any measures of political
significance. It was further suggested that the Political Resident
remain the channel of control in all eases, and that, as before,
he should be recruited from the service of the Government of
India.
Although the Government of India did not formally assent to
the Committee’s recommendations, of which the India Office never
approved, the Cabinet accepted them in February 1921.21 Thus
the Colonial Office took control of policy in the Gulf, with the
Government of India remaining responsible for everyday adminis­
tration. Although the arrangements reached did not specifically refer