Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf
The cover page of the gazetteer
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| Author | John Gordon Lorimer |
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| Language | English |
| Published | 1908, 1915 |
| Pages | 5000 |
The Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia (nicknamed Lorimer) is a two-volume encyclopedia compiled by John Gordon Lorimer. The Gazetteer was published in secret by the British government in India in 1908 and 1915 and it served as a handbook for British diplomats in the Arabian Peninsula and Persia.
The work was declassified in 1955 under the fifty-year rule, and was widely praised for its extensive coverage of the region's history and geography. It is considered to be "the most important single source of historical material on the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia" from the 17th to early 20th century.
Beginning in the 20th century, the British Empire sought to strengthen its connections to British-controlled India which in turn resulted in a greater interest in the Persian Gulf region, culminating in the visit of the Viceroy of India Lord Curzon to the Gulf in 1903. To ensure that British agents in the region were adequately informed and prepared to strengthen their influence in the region, a light-weight and easily accessible handbook was needed.
In November 1903, the British authorities commissioned John Gordon Lorimer, a member of the Indian Civil Service serving in the North-West Frontier Province, to compile such a document. Lorimer was initially given six months to accomplish the task, but repeatedly insisted on being granted more time to ensure the work was completed thoroughly. Placed under special duty and with a team of researchers, over the next 10 years data was collated from government archives in Calcutta and Bombay, and from multiple field expeditions to the Gulf.
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