Persian Gulf Residency

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British residency of the Persian Gulf
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Persian Gulf Residency
المقيمية السياسية البريطانية في الخليج الفارسی
1822–1971
Flag of Persian Gulf Residency
Flag of the
British Indian Empire (1858-1947)
Group of British protectorates
(1947–1971)
CapitalBushehr (1822–1946)
Manama (1946–1971)
Official languagesEnglish
Common languagesArabic, Persian
Religion
Islam
States under Persian Gulf Resident
GovernmentIndirect colonial government
Chief Resident 
• 1822–1823 (first)
John Macleod
• 1970–1971 (last)
Geoffrey Arthur
History 
• Established by the EIC
1822
1820
1858
• Transfer from Government of India to Foreign Office
1947
• Termination of the British protectorates
1971
CurrencyIndian rupee (1822–1959)
Gulf rupee (1959–1966)
Various (1966–1971)
British Residency of the Persian Gulf headquarters in Bushehr in 1902.

The Persian Gulf Residency (

Arabic: المقيمية السياسية البريطانية في الخليج الفارسي[citation needed]) was a subdivision of the British Empire from 1822 until 1971, whereby the United Kingdom maintained varying degrees of political and economic control over several states in the Persian Gulf, including what is today known as the United Arab Emirates (formerly called the "Trucial States") and at various times southern portions of Iran, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar
.

Historical background until 1900

British interest in the Persian Gulf originated in the sixteenth century and steadily increased as

British East India Company ("the Company") was permitted to establish a trading post in the coastal city of Bandar 'Abbās, which became their principal port in the Persian Gulf. Empowered by the charter of Charles II
in 1661, the Company was responsible for conducting British foreign policy in the Persian Gulf, as well as concluding various treaties, agreements and engagements with Persian Gulf states in its capacity as the Crown's regional agent.

The British Expeditionary Force of 1809 landing troops at Ras Al Khaimah

In 1763, the British East India Company established a residency at

Harford Jones, which resulted in establishing the Preliminary Treaty of Friendship and Alliance with the Shah in 1809. Despite being modified during subsequent negotiations, this treaty provided the framework within which Anglo–Persian foreign relations operated for the next half century. Britain appointed Harford Jones as their first resident envoy to the Persian court in 1808. Until the appointment of Charles Alison as Minister in Tehran
in 1860, the envoy and his staff were, with rare exceptions, almost exclusively recruited from the East India Company.

In the absence of formal diplomatic relations, the political resident conducted all necessary negotiations with Persian authorities and was described by Sir George Curzon as "the Uncrowned King of the Persian Gulf."[1] Whether Persia liked it or not, the political resident had at his disposal naval forces with which to suppress piracy, slave trading, and gun running, and to enforce quarantine regulations; he also could, and did, put landing parties and punitive expeditions ashore on the Persia coast. In 1822, the Bushehr and Basar residencies were combined, with Bushehr serving as headquarters for the new position of "British Resident for the Persian Gulf."[2] A chief political resident was the chief executive officer of the political unit, and he was subordinate to the Governor of Bombay until 1873 and the Governor-General of India until 1947, when India became independent. In 1858, the East India Company’s agency was transferred to the British Raj, who assumed authority of British foreign policy with Persian Gulf states: this responsibility went to the Foreign Office on 1 April 1947.

The Trucial States

Ras Al Khaimah fell to British forces on 9 December 1819

British activity in the Persian Gulf was primarily a commercial pursuit. Thus, the British Raj was slow to take action in protecting British and Indian shipping against raids from

sheikhs along the northern coast of Oman pledged to maintain peace between their tribes and Britain and accepted clauses prohibiting slavery
and cruel treatment of prisoners. The treaty further stipulated that the ships of maritime tribes would be freely admitted at British ports. While the treaty obviously served British interests, because it was sensibly magnanimous and aimed at securing all parties' interests, it effectively ended piracy in the Persian Gulf. Articles 6 and 10 authorized the British Residency in the Persian Gulf to act as maritime police to administer the treaty's conditions and resolve tribal disputes. Article 7 condemned piracy among Arab tribes and implied a British obligation to maintain peace. The trucial system took explicit form in 1835, when raids by Bani Yas tribesmen, rivals of the Qawasim, led to a British-imposed truce during the summer pearling season. The truce was made year-long in 1838 and renewed annually until 1843 when it was extended for ten years.

The trucial system received formal permanency with the "1853 Treaty of Maritime Peace in Perpetuity." The British policy of non-involvement in the internal affairs of the Trucial sheikhs was abandoned with passage of the "Exclusive Agreement" in March 1892. This agreement prohibited the Trucial rulers from yielding territorial sovereignty without British consent. Britain, moreover, assumed responsibility for foreign relations and thus, by implication, their protection. This treaty marked Britain's shift from commercial to strategic priorities and formed the diplomatic pillar of British authority in the Trucial states.[3]

Post World War I

In the years following

Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
(AIOC). Instead of reflecting higher demand for oil (England then had adequate supply), this ultimatum was designed to block other parties out of the economic and political affairs of the Trucial States.

In 1946, the Persian Gulf residency left its location in Bushehr and relocated to a new base in Bahrain. However, while Reza Shah succeeded in removing Britain from Iranian territory, his efforts to curtail their role in the Iranian oil industry backfired, and led to an extension of the concession operated by the British government-owned

Anglo-Iranian Oil Company.[4] From their new base in Bahrain, the British resident directed other political agents in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman until those regions became independent.[5]

Duties of the Residency

On 1 April 1947, the British political residency came under the authority of the Foreign Office, 'graded' as an ambassador in the Persian Gulf. The political resident accomplished his obligations by using a network of representatives known as political agents, operating in Bahrain, Qatar, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Additionally, political officers were retained for the remaining Trucial states, acting under the British Agency at Dubai. Foreign relations in Muscat were conducted by a

Consul-General, who was also, administratively, answerable to the resident in Bahrain.[6] Through his political agents the resident preserved close connections with Persian Gulf rulers – simultaneously protecting their political and economic interests and the British government's on the basis of established treaties and agreements. According to Rupert Hay, the sheikhs enjoyed control over internal affairs, with Britain "ordinarily only exercises control in matters involving negotiations or the possibility of complications with foreign powers, such as civil aviation, posts and telegraphs." However, Hay added that "constant advice and encouragement are… offered to various rulers regarding improvement of their administrations and development of their resources, mostly in an informal manner".[7]

The resident also administered British extraterritorial jurisdiction, which had been exercised in certain Persian Gulf territories since 1925. Extraterritorial jurisdiction was ceded to Britain in the 19th century by virtue of informal agreements with various rulers. In Muscat it was based on formal agreements that were renewed periodically. Extraterritorial jurisdiction was originally applied to all resident classes in Persian Gulf states, but was later limited to British subjects, Commonwealth nationals and non-Muslim foreigners. Britain relinquished extraterritorial jurisdiction in Kuwait on 4 May 1961, transferring jurisdiction over all classes of foreigners to Kuwaiti courts. British extraterritorial jurisdiction in the Persian Gulf was implemented in accordance with the British Foreign Jurisdiction Acts of 1890–1913, which empowered the Crown to establish courts and legislate for the categories of persons subject to jurisdiction by means of Orders in Council.

Regarding the resident's role in concluding concession agreements between rulers and foreign oil companies, Hay says: 'The oil companies naturally bulk largely in the political resident's portfolio. He has to closely watch all negotiations for new agreements or the amendment of existing agreements and ensure that nothing is decided which will seriously affect the position or the rulers of the British government…' The same author also refers to what he terms political agreements, to which, he says, oil companies’ are all bound… with the British government… in addition to their concession agreements with the rulers…' 'One of the main objects of these', he continues, 'is to ensure that their relations with the rulers in all matters of importance are conducted through, or with, the knowledge of British political officers'.[8]

Protectorates under the Residency

Chronology: 1763–1971

Political Agents

Agents:

  • 1763 – 1812 : ....
  • c.1798 : Mirza Mahdi Ali Khan
  • c.1810 : Hankey Smith
  • 1812 – 1822 : William Bruce (acting to 1813)

Chief political residents of the Persian Gulf :

(for Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the Trucial States)
  • 1822 – 1823 : John Macleod
  • 1823 – 1827 : Ephraim Gerrish Stannus
  • 1827 – 1831 : David Wilson
  • 1831 – 1835 : David Alexander Blane
  • 1835 – 1838 : James Morrison
  • 1838 – 1852 : Samuel Hennell
  • 1852 – 1856 : Arnold Burrowes Kemball
  • 1856 – 1862 : James Felix Jones
  • 1862 : Herbert Frederick Disbrowe (acting)
  • 1862 – 1872: Lewis Pelly
  • 1872 – 1891: Edward Charles Ross
  • 1891 – 1893 : Adelbert Cecil Talbot
  • 1893 : Stuart Hill Godfrey (acting)
  • 1893 : James Hayes Sadler (1st time)(acting)
  • 1893: James Adair Crawford (acting)
  • 1893 – 1894 : James Hayes Sadler (2nd time)(acting)
  • 1894 – 1897 : Frederick Alexander Wilson
  • 1897 – 1900 : Malcolm John Meade
  • 1900 – 1904 : Charles Arnold Kemball (acting)
  • 1904 – 1920:
    Percy Zachariah Cox
- Acting for Cox -
  • 1913 – 1914 :
    John Gordon Lorimer
  • 1914 : Richard Lockinton Birdwood
  • 1914 : Stuart George Knox (1st time)
  • 1915 : Stuart George Knox (2nd time)
  • 1915 – 1917 : Arthur Prescott Trevor (1st time)
  • 1917 – 1919 : John Hugo Bill
  • 1919 : Cecil Hamilton Gabriel
  • 1919 – 1920: Arthur Prescott Trevor (2nd time)
  • 1920: Arnold Talbot Wilson (acting)
  • 1920 – 1924 : Arthur Prescott Trevor
  • 1924 – 1927 : Francis Bellville Prideaux
  • 1927 – 1928 : Lionel Berkeley Holt Haworth
  • 1928 – 1929 : Frederick William Johnston
  • 1929  : Cyril Charles Johnson Barrett (acting)
  • 1929 – 1932: Hugh Vincent Biscoe
  • 1932 – 1939: Trenchard Craven William Fowle
  • 1939 – 1946: Charles Geoffrey Prior
  • 1946 – 1953: Rupert Hay (from 1952, Sir Rupert)
  • 1953 – 1958: Bernard Burrows (from 1955, Sir Bernard)
  • 1958 – 1961:
    Sir George Middleton
  • 1961 – 1966: Sir
    William Henry Tucker Luce
  • 1966 – 1970: Sir Robert Stewart Crawford
  • 1970 – 15 August 1971: Sir Geoffrey Arthur[10]

People mentioned in the Residency Correspondence

  • In the correspondence of the Persian Gulf Residency, archived at the India Office Records and digitised by the Qatar Digital Library, many regional figures are mentioned:

See also

Further reading

Notes

  1. ^ Curzon (1892), p. 451
  2. ^ The first officer appointed to this new post was Captain John MacLeod (1822–1823) of the Bombay Engineers: he died in September 1823.
  3. ^ Peck (1986), p. 36
  4. ^ Cronin (2003), p. 84
  5. ^ Henige (1970)
  6. ^ Hay (1959), pp. 11–18
  7. ^ Hay (1959), pp. 18–19
  8. ^ Hay (1959), pp. 66–67
  9. ^ Ramazani (1975), pp. 408–427
  10. ^ The lists are based on Lorimer, Gazetteer, ii. Geographical and Statistical (1908), 2673–5; Govt of India, Admin, Reports of the Persian Gulf Political Residency (1873–1947); Tuson, The Records of the British Residency, 184; Rich, The Invasion of the Gulf, 192-4

References

  • Cronin, Stephanie (2003). The Making of Modern Iran: State and Society under Riza Shah, 1921–1941. Routledge. .
  • Curzon, George (1892). Persia and the Persian Question. Vol. 2. London: Longmans, Green, and Co.
  • Hay, Rupert (1959). The Persian Gulf States. With a foreword by E. M. Eller. Washington DC: Middle East Institute.
  • Henige, David P. (1970). Colonial Governors from the Fifteenth Century to the Present.
  • Peck, Malcolm C. (1986). United Arab Emirates: a Venture in Unity. Nations of the Contemporary Middle East. Westview. .
  • Ramazani, Rouhollah K. (1975). Iran's Foreign Policy, 1941–1973. Charlottesville VA: University Press of Virginia. .

External links

  • Qatar Digital Library - an online portal providing access to previously undigitised British Library archive materials relating to Gulf history and Arabic science