1. 'File 26/133 (F 78) Khor Musa'

Description:

Abstract: The volume contains correspondence pertaining to a survey of Khor Musa carried out in light of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company's consideration of it for an ocean port. The correspondents include the Political Resident at Bushire, the India Office in London, the Foreign Office in London, the British Minister at Tehran, the British Consul at Mohammerah [Korramshahr], the Government of India, the Political Agent at Bahrain, the Director of the Royal Indian Marine at Bombay, the commanders of the HMS Lawrenceand HMS Palinurus, Sheikh Khazal [Khaz‘al Āl Ka‘bī] of Mohammerah, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, and the Mesopotamia Persia Corporation.The volume covers the granting of first refusal for leasing of land around Khor Musa to the British by Sheikh Khazal in 1912 (folios 1D-17), and then continues onto the main subject of organising the survey in 1921-22 until the Anglo-Persian Oil Company eventually rejected the proposal in early 1922.Physical description: Foliation: The volume is foliated from the front cover to the inside back cover, using circled pencil numbers positioned in the top-right corner of each recto. A second foliation system runs through the volume, using uncircled pencil numbers in the same position as the main foliation system.The following foliation anomalies occur: 1 is followed by 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D; 26 is followed by 27A, 27B.Foldouts: folios 11, 12.

2. File 240/1913 'Mohammerah - Khoremabad Railway; the Khor Musa agreement'

Description:

Abstract: The volume contains memoranda, correspondence and telegrams, and minutes of letters between British officials regarding railway constructions in Persia, focussing on the line planned between Mohammerah [Khorramshahr, Iran] and Khoremabad [Khorramabad, Iran].The subjects covered are:the leasing of land around Khor Musa to the British by the Ruler of Mohammerah, in 1912 (document in Farsi with English translation on ff 182-183);railway concessions agreed by Persian Government and negotiations with Persian Railways Syndicate;Persian Railways Syndicate's application for a mining concession in the Kerman district (Draft Concession on ff 52 and 53);the Julfa-Tabriz Railway Concession, in French (ff 62-63).The main correspondents are: the Ruler of Mohammerah, Shaikh Kazal [Khaz‘al bin Jābir bin Mirdāw al-Ka‘bī], Persian Railways Syndicate Limited, the Imperial Bank of Persia, the India Office, the Foreign Office, and the Political Residency in the Persian Gulf.Some correspondence is in Farsi and some letters in French, from the Russian Embassy in London, are present in the volume. A map of Persia and Afghanistan, showing the projected railways, is on folio 77.The volume includes a divider which gives the year that the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in it arranged by year. This divider is placed at the front of the volume.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 224; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The map, f 77, is a very large fold-out sized at A1.

3. File 930/1912 'Mohammerah - Khoremabad Railway'

Description:

Abstract: The volume concerns proposals for the construction of a British-owned railway between Mohammerah [Khorramshahr] and Khoremabad [Khorramabad] in Persia.The papers include: the response of the Shaikh of Mohammerah, the Government of Persia, and the Government of Russia to the proposals; an India Office 'Memorandum on Persian Railways' dated June 1911 (including a map entitled 'Persian Gulf and Adjacent Countries', dated June 1908, on folio 184, to illustrate the memorandum); a Government of India 'Report of the Committee on the Proposed Trans-Persian Railway', February 1911 (folios 126-128); 'Report to the Board of Trade by Mr. H. W. Maclean, Special Commissioner of the Commercial Intelligence Committee to Persia, on certain matters connected with Persian Trade' (folios 101-104), and letter giving the views of the Board of Trade on the proposed railway, 25 March 1912 (folios 96-99); correspondence from the Persian Railways Syndicate, which stated it was surprised at the 'lukewarm attitude' towards the project of the Government of India (folio 80); discussion of proposals to negotiate a lease of Khor Musa [Khowr-e Mūsá] from the Shaikh of Mohammerah (folios 26-54); and interest in Khor Musa from the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (folios 38-39).There is also significant correspondence in the file from the Foreign Office and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Percy Zachariah Cox).The volume contains copies of earlier correspondence and agreements from 1903-1911.The French language content of the volume consists of approximately ten folios of diplomatic correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 194; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-51; 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.