The scale of Britain’s industrial expansion during the nineteenth century was vast and extraordinary. On the sea, Britain dominated the industrialized world both in tonnage and distance and established the largest shipping lines in the world. With the rapid increase in international trade, Britain led the world in the development of submarine telegraph cable and steamships. Although from the early decades of nineteenth century, Britain was expanding its ascendancy in the Persian Gulf, from 1860s onward, technological developments, mainly telegraph and steamship, led to a significant change in favor of British hegemony in the region. This technological progress had great impacts on the politics and economy of the area and neighboring centuries. The present article is an attempt to examine the process of communication system development in the Persian Gulf and its role in the consolidation of British position in the region.

19世纪英国工业扩张的规模是巨大而非同寻常的。在海上，英国在吨位和距离上都统治着工业化世界，并建立了世界上最大的航运公司。随着国际贸易的迅速增长，英国在海底电报电缆和轮船的发展方面处于世界领先地位。尽管从19世纪初期开始，英国一直在扩大其在波斯湾的统治地位，但从1860年代开始，技术发展（主要是电报和轮船）导致了对英国在该地区的霸权地位的重大改变。这项技术进步对该地区及邻近地区的政治和经济产生了重大影响。