Abstract: Intelligence report by Major Norman Napier Evelyn Bray, Political Intelligence Officer attached to the India Office, on Soviet activities and influence in the Middle East and the implications for British interests in the region.The document was prepared as a departmental minute. It discusses several matters, including: the Soviet alliance with Turkish and Arab nationalists across the region, but with a particular reference to Mesopotamia; Italian support (in money and arms) of Turkish nationalists; the need for the British and the French to work together closely to protect their interests; the military strength of all parties.The report contains two appendices, as follows:I - Suggested measures for dealing with the Bolshevist Menace in Mesopotamia and Persia;II - A. Conditions proposed by the Bolsheviks for acceptance of Turkish Nationalists; B. Terms of agreement concluded by Bolsheviks with Mustafa Kemal Pasha.There are extensive notes in the left hand margin throughout the report with details on sources and other comments.Physical description: Foliation: the sequence commences at the first folio and terminates at the last folio; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A second foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 3-15; this sequence is written in ink, and is located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: Folio 1:Classified 'Secret'.The northern half of map sheet Geographical Section, General Staff No. 2149, complete sheets bearing the imprint 'April 1912, Additions July 1918, Railways revised Jan 1919'. Sheet portrays hydrology, relief by spot heights, roads, railways, telegraphs, settlements, place names, water sources and international boundaries. This version has been printed without coloured relief plates; copies with coloured relief plates are at Maps 50970.(27.) and Maps MOD GSGS 2149.Manuscript annotations provide details of British, Russ[ian]. and Turkoman Irregulars, and Enemy troops, a route objective, the date '7 Feb 1919', the classification 'Secret' and the note 'To accompany M[inistry].O[f].I[nformation]. J.24.' Annotated map detail covers Azerbaijan, Persia [Iran] and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. A legend and scale bar, as would have appeared on the missing lower half of the map, have been pasted on. The verso bears the annotation 'Transcaspia'.Folio 1a:Classified'Secret'.Circulation list relating to Folio 1 above, to which it is attached. Printed in colour, with manuscript additions in ink. 137 x 153mm. Dated 1919-20.Physical description: Materials: Printed, with manuscript annotations in coloured ink and crayonDimensions: 262 x 764mm, on sheet 316 x 896mm
Abstract: Sketch map showing the frontier between northern Iran and the southern part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The map indicates: international boundaries; the Caspian Sea and Lake Urmieh [Urmia]; key towns and cities; roads and railways connecting key cities. The map accompanies a note (f 154) sent by the Foreign Office to the Ministry of Fuel and Power, dated 4 October 1946, discussing the boundaries of the proposed Russian [Soviet] oil concession in northern Persia [Iran]. The note states that the map is a Latinised copy of one provided by the Persian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The thick black line marked on the map is not annotated, but is presumably the oil concession boundary discussed in the note.Physical description: Dimensions: 306 x 715mm, on sheet 393 x 760mm.Materials: photocopy on paper.
Abstract: Correspondence and notes relating to the law of succession in Persia [Iran], and possible events in Persia, in the event of the death of the Shah, Reza Shah Pahlavi. The file includes:Correspondence from the British Embassy in Paris, dated 1 March 1930, informing Government of the death in France of the ex-Shah of Persia, Ahmed Kadjar [Ahmad Qajar], along with cuttings from the French newspapers
Le Tempsand
Le Matin, reporting on ex-Shah’s death (ff 42-45).A report, written by Lieutenant-Colonel Percy C R Dodd, Military Attaché at the British Legation, Tehran, dated 3 December 1930, on the present relations between the Shah and his army, and its bearing on the stability of the Pahlavi regime (ff 35-38).A report entitled
The Future of Persia, written by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard William Craven Fowle, dated October 1931 (ff 14-30).The text of an interview between an American journalist called Mr James, and the Persian Prime Minister Abdolhossein Teymourtache [Teymourtash], undated. Notes from a demi-official letter enclosing the text, from Captain John Ignatius Ennis, Intelligence Officer at the Baluchistan Intelligence Bureau in Quetta, dated 12 August 1931, also give details of James’ impressions of his visit to Russia (ff 3-12).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 54; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The papers in this volume relate to the Arms Traffic Convention (1919).The papers include: The final text of the Arms Traffic Convention signed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, containing the names of the signatory states, 10 September-23 October 1919; the opinions of the French and British governments about the negotiations over the export of arms as opposed to the actual export of arms, 12-24 October 1919; the sale of a large stock of arms by the United States of America to the Spanish Government, 23 September-3 December 1919; the transportation of arms between different parts of the British Empire, 29 October 1919-20 May 1920; the League of Nations and admission of neutral states to the Convention, 23 October 1919-21 January 1920; the supply of munitions to Tibet, Afghanistan and Nepal, 29 October 1919-25 May 1920; the Government of France’s commitment to the implementation of the Convention, 11 September 1919; the status of unarmed aircraft under the Convention, 20 November 1919-23 February 1920; the status of warships from which all armaments have been removed, 30 December 1919; the specific limits for ‘effective man-killing weapons’ and other firearms, 6 June 1919-3 February 1920; the meaning of the term ‘export’ in the Arms Traffic Convention, 12 March 1920; the United States’ rejection of the protocol attached to the Convention as unconstitutional, and its consequent inability to prevent private exporters from shipping arms to countries outside it, 6-18 March 1920; the position of Britain and the United States on arms sales to non-signatories, 9 February-15 May 1920; the Persian Government’s intention to adhere to the Convention, 16 April 1920; the notification of signatories about the intention of non-signatories to join the Convention, 20 January-15 June 1920; the Government of Netherlands’ adherence to the Convention, 12-27 May 1920; a request from the Political Resident in Aden for a copy of the Convention, 26 May-24 July 1920; the modification of the additional protocol attached to the Convention, 12 May-2 September 1920; the application of the Convention to the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, 26 August 1919-9 December 1920; the prohibition on the export of arms and ammunition of every kind to China, 22-29 October 1920; and the ability of the Royal Navy to take action in the waters of Persia and Muscat, 1 November 1920-20 January 1921.The correspondence in the volume is primarily between the Under-Secretary of State, Foreign Office; Under-Secretary of State, India Office; Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; HM Ambassador to France; HM Ambassador to Japan; HM Ambassador to Belgium; British Minister in Tehran; Resident Naval Officer, Aden Division; Political Resident, Aden; and Secretary of the Admiralty.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 345; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The papers in this volume relate to the revised international Arms Traffic Convention (1925).The papers include: The right to supply munitions to the governments of Afghanistan, Nepal and Tibet should they fall within the ‘prohibited zone’, 11 December 1924; the preference for including all countries bordering India (except Siam) in the prohibited zone should Russia decide to adopt the Convention, and potential British support for Persia’s claim to exclusion from the zone should Russia decide to reject the Convention, 3 February 1925; the exclusion of Persia and Afghanistan from the prohibited zone, and possible arrangement of imports through Bushire [Bushehr], Mohammerah [Khorramshahr] and Karachi, 18 February-12 March 1925; the proposed abandonment of the term ‘prohibited’ areas to induce Turkey and Persia to join the Convention, and empowerment of the governments of the countries bordering India, 24 March 1925; the readiness of HMG to support Persia’s request for exclusion from the prohibited zone in order to ensure the strict regulation of the private arms trade from Russia to India via Persia, 5-11 April 1925; the Government of India’s objections to Article 25 of the Convention, 11-30 April 1925; the Conference on Supervision of the International Trade in Arms and Ammunition, Geneva, 6 May-17 June 1925; the report on the proceedings of the Inter-Departmental Committee assembled to consider the draft Convention for Control of the Trade in Arms, Ammunition and Implements of War produced by the Temporary Mixed Commission of the League of Nations, with annexes including drafts of the Convention by the Temporary Mixed Commission and the Inter-Departmental Committee, and a minute by the Secretary of State on the Arms Traffic Conference, 23-28 April 1925; the protocol on the use of asphyxiating, poisonous and other gases in times of war, 20 May-14 June 1925; the list of countries designated as ‘special zones’ in the Arms Traffic Convention, 25-27 May 1925; the proposal of the Persian delegate Mīrzā Reżā Khan Arfaʿ al-Dawla, 29 May-6 June 1925; the nomination of a Jurist Committee by the Bureau for the purpose of determining the status of the Persian Gulf in international law as the best means of dealing with the Persian delegation, 4-11 June 1925; the Persian amendment to the second paragraph of Article 15 of the Convention, 8-9 June 1925; the protest of the High Commissioner for Iraq at the inclusion of the country in a special zone, 8-25 June 1925; the vote on the inclusion of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman as special zones, 11-15 June 1925; the declaration on the manufacture of arms, ammunition and implements of war, 8 June 1925; the general report on the League of Nations’ Conference for the Supervision of the International Trade in Arms and Ammunition and in Implements of War, including the texts of the Convention, Statement regarding the Territory of Ifni, Protocol on Chemical and Bacteriological Warfare, Protocol of Signature, and the Final Act, dated at Geneva, 14 June 1925 (texts in French and English); the statement of Sir Percy Cox on the Persian arguments concerning maritime zones, and the response of the Persian delegate General Habibullah Khan [Ḥabib Allāh Khan Shāybanī], 15 June 1925-28 January 1926; the inspection of ships at Indian ports and interception of arms bound for China, 22 October 1925-29 April 1926.The volume also includes a decree by the Shah of Persia, Muẓaffar al-Dīn Shāh Qājār against arms trafficking, signed on his behalf by the Ṣadr-i Aʿẓam, Mīrzā ʻAlī Aṣghar Khān Amīn al-Sulṭān, dated 1 January 1900 (in French).The correspondence in this volume is primarily between the Viceroy, Foreign and Political Department; Secretary of State for India; Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Under-Secretary of State, India Office; the Admiralty; Richard William Alan Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow; HM Consul Geneva; War Office; Foreign Office; India Office; Colonial Office; Sir Percy Zachariah Cox; Sir Frederic Arthur Hirtzel; Secretary of State for the Colonies.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 610; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The file has one foliation anomaly, f 242a.
Abstract: The volume relates to domestic and foreign affairs in Khorassan [Khorasan], as observed by British representatives based in Meshed [Mashhad, also known as Mashad or Meshad]. It comprises two parts as follows:IOR/L/PS/10/972/1: Part 1, ‘Khorassan Intelligence Summaries 1921-22’ (ff 177-716)IOR/L/PS/10/972/2: Part 2, ‘Meshed Consular Diaries 1921-22’ (ff 1-176).Each intelligence summary or consular diary, or group thereof, is preceded by a Political Department Minute Paper which includes the document Register number and the subject title and which are often annotated by various officials commenting on or highlighting particular topics that are covered in the summary/diary. The summaries and diaries are printed documents with the exception of a few summaries which are typescripts.Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the end of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 716; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Multiple intermittent additional foliation/pagination sequences are also present; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out between ff 177-716. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading flyleaf and the ending flyleaf.