1. 'File 9/23 I Fishing schemes in Persian Gulf'

Description:

Abstract: The file contains correspondence sent and received by the Political Agent at Bahrain concerning the development of new fisheries in Abadan, to improve the diet of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company's staff. There are two copies of a report on Abadan fishery schemes, (ff 5-19 and ff 23-37) and a brief report on the fisheries of Iraq (ff 38-39), both by Dr George Colin Lawder Bertram.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 40; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional mixed foliation/pagination sequence is also located in parallel between ff 2-39; these numbers are written in pencil and crayon, but are not circled. They are located in the same position as the main sequence, except for some instances which are located on the verso.

2. 'Persia: Railway Construction; Negotiations between the Persian Govt. and the Anglo-Persian Oil Co; Acquisition of Gulf Islands'

Description:

Abstract: This volume is about the construction of railways in Persia [Iran] and negotiations between the Persian Government and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) over the acquisition of islands in the Persian Gulf. It contains material relating to:The Persian Government’s interest in attracting American capital for the construction of railways in PersiaThe amount due from the Persian Government to the Persian Railways Syndicate LimitedA proposal from the Persian Railways Syndicate to connect the Mohammerah [Khorramshahr] and Isfahan-Tehran railway linesThe proposed re-alignment of the railway from Bagdad [Baghdad] to the Persian FrontierThe advantages, from a British perspective, of a railway line from Qaraitu [Quraitu] to TehranA proposal by the Persian Railways Syndicate to survey the route between Hamadan or Kermanshah and DizfulA proposal by the Persian Railways Syndicate to survey the Bagdad-Khanikin [Khanaqin] line with a re-alignmentA proposal by the Persian Railways Syndicate to survey a section of the existing line between Bagdad and QuraituA proposed re-alignment of the Mesopotamian [Iraqi] section of the Bagdad-Tehran RailwayThe assistance from British military authorities in Mesopotamia to surveyors of the Persian Railways SyndicateThe arrival of two Belgian engineers, de Kock and de Ronck, in Constantinople [Istanbul] en route to PersiaThe construction, by the Persian Railways Syndicate, of a railway between Hamadan and TehranThe approval of the agreement between the Persian Railways Syndicate and the Persian GovernmentThe views of Major-General Percy Zachariah Cox on the construction of railways in PersiaThe negotiations between Sir Ernest William Moir (of Pearson and Son and the Persian Railways Syndicate) and the Persian Minister of Foreign Affairs [Firuz Mirza Nusrat al-Dawlah] on railway construction in PersiaThe application of Anglo-Persian Oil Company Limited for a railway concession in PersiaThe negotiations of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company with the Persian Government toward a railway concessionThe position of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company on the acquisition of Abadan and Kishm [Qeshm].Physical description: The foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 313; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.

3. 'Military Report on The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company's (South Iranian) Oilfield Area'

Description:

Abstract: Military report compiled at the General Staff, Army Headquarters, India, and printed in Simla by The Manager, Government of India Press, 1940.The volume begins with a preface (folio 3) in which notes on authorities consulted in compiling the report are given. The rest of the report is divided into nine chapters (I-IX), plus appendices, each covering a different subject, as follows:Chapter I: General Description of the AreaChapter II: ClimateChapter III: PopulationChapter IV: Base PortsChapter V: Lines of Communication and Transportation FacilitiesChapter VI: Signal CommunicationsChapter VII: Economic Resources and SuppliesChapter VIII: Engineer and Ordnance FacilitiesChapter IX: Medical FacilitiesAppendicesIn a pocket at the back of the volume are the following maps and charts:Abadan and Bawarda (map) (folio 64)Naseri and Ahwaz, showing new bridge (map) (folio 65)Dar-i-Khazineh (map) (folio 66)Diagram of wireless communications (map) (folio 67)Sketch map showing flood water, February-March 1938 (folio 68)Road distance mileage chart (folio 69)Comparative bridge loading table (folio 70)One of the maps listed in the contents is missing: 'Map of A. I. O. C. [Anglo-Iranian Oil Company] Central and Southern areas showing oilfields, pipelines, telephone and telegraph lines'.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 71; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

4. 'File 2/1 Epidemics (in Bahrain): Cholera, Smallpox etc & quarantine restrictions'

Description:

Abstract: The file contains correspondence between the Political Agent at Bahrain, the Political Agent at Kuwait, the Government of India, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, the Adviser to the Government at Bahrain, the Medical Department of the Government of Bahrain, the Residency Surgeon & Chief Quarantine Medical Officer for the Arab Coast at Bushire, the American Consulate at Basra, and British Overseas Airways Corporation.The main subjects are:episodes of smallpox in Abadan, Bushire, Khorramshahr, and other places in the Gulf;cases of typhus in Abadan, and reports of the number of cases of the disease recorded in Bahrain in 1943 and 1944;yellow fever vaccines supply and lists of vaccinations given in Bahrain;quarantine regulations;suspected case of cerebrospinal fever;weekly health statements for Bahrain in 1950.The file also contain letters from Gray, Mackenzie & Co, requesting all passengers to produce smallpox vaccination certificates before leaving Bahrain; and a report from Arabian American Oil Company regarding a case of infantile paralysis in Dhahran.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 211; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-156; these numbers are written in a combination of pencil and ink, but are not circled.

5. 'File 3/7 PIRACY in the Persian Gulf.'

Description:

Abstract: This file relates to several cases of robbery, which have reportedly been committed by Persian subjects (referred to in the file as pirates) in the Shatt-al-Arab, against Kuwaiti sailing boats, including those belonging to the Kuwait Water Supply Company.The file includes copies of correspondence from other British officials, including a letter, dated 22 January 1945, from the British Embassy, Baghdad, to the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in which a request is made on behalf of the Government of Kuwait for steps to be taken to improve the security of the Shatt-al-Arab (since the attacks have taken place in waters policed by the Iraqi authorities). Elsewhere in the file, the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Ahmad al Jabir As-Subah [Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ], asks the Political Agent at Kuwait to request that the Iraqi Government permit all Kuwaiti sailing craft the right to carry arms for self-defence.In a copy of a letter, dated 2 February 1945 and addressed to His Majesty's Ambassador, Tehran, the British Consul at Khorramshahr, Andrew Charles Stewart, suggests that the robberies will never be completely suppressed unless the British military authorities permit the Persians the freedom to maintain and operate a small, permanent garrison in the northern half of Abadan.Other correspondents in the file include the following: the Political Agent, Kuwait; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf; the Mutassarif [Mutasarrif] of Basrah Liwa, Basrah; the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 88; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Additional foliation sequences are present in parallel between ff 2-28 and ff 29-87; these numbers are written in pencil and coloured pencil, but are not circled, and some have been crossed out. A previous foliation sequence between ff 1-88, which is written in pencil and circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

6. Ext 3485/42 'Destruction at Abadan of SS Suisang'

Description:

Abstract: The file contains a letter from the British Consulate in Khorramshar, transmitted to the India Office by the British Legation at Tehran, on the subject of the SS Suisang, a British India Steam Navigation Company's ship which caught fire at Abadan whilst loading aviation petrol, and was sunk. The letter also mentions that a small safe containing a revolver, money and other objects was removed from the wreck, and that an Arab named Haji Faisali helped locating it.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 4; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.

7. Ext 3849/44 'Persian Gulf: Rationing and clothing systems of Anglo Iranian Oil Co at Abadan'

Description:

Abstract: The file contains correspondence from Secretary to the Government of India in the External Affairs Department, New Delhi to Office of the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Camp Shiraz concerning statistics on the wartime rationing and clothing system of the Anglo Iranian Oil Company at Abadan.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 5; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.

8. Ext 5000/46(1) ‘Persian Situation: Miscellaneous Reports’

Description:

Abstract: The file contains reports, predominantly in the form of telegrams, by British diplomatic and consular staff on political and social developments in Persia; the content of the reports reflect British Government interests during the Iran-Azerbaijan Crisis of 1946. The reports cover developments within the Central Government, developments in the provinces, and the activities of the Democratic Party and the Tudeh Party. This includes accounts of meetings held by the British and United States Ambassadors – John Le Rougetel and George V Allen – with Ahmad Qavam (Prime Minister and Leader of the Democratic Party) and the Shah – Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. The file also covers strikes and labour disputes, with those affecting the operations of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company being particularly predominant.The strikes of oil workers in Agha Jari and Abadan in July 1946 are covered in the reports, as is a threatened revolt by the Bakhtiari and Kashgai tribes. Reports from the British Ambassador to the Soviet Union (Sir Maurice Drummond Peterson) cover Soviet press reporting of developments in Persia. A small amount of content is in French.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 597; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.

9. PZ 3220/40 'Detention by Persian authorities of Mirza Barkatali Ahmadi, British Indian subject'

Description:

Abstract: This file contains documents relating to the detention of Mirza Barkatali Ali Ahmadi, a British Indian subject from the SS Varsova, for his alleged failure to settle a debt with Yusuf Ali, a naturalised Persian subject and merchant in Abadan, Iran. The charges against Mirza Barkatali Ali Ahmadi were subsequently dismissed.The main correspondents in the file are: Albert Napier Williamson Napier (HM Vice-Consul at Khorramshahr), A Danbrook (Master of the SS Varsova), and Major Naghdi of the Southern Naval Force.Folio 9 is an English translation of folio 8 which is written in Farsi.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 12; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.

10. Coll 17/34 ‘Iraq. Tour in the Persian Gulf of H.M. Ambassador in Iraq’

Description:

Abstract: The file contains papers relating to a tour by Sir Basil Newton, HM Ambassador to Iraq, to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, visiting Sharja [Sharjah], Muscat, Bahrain, Basra, Fao [Al-Faw], and Abadan.The file mostly consists of the following:Correspondence between the India Office (Roland Tennyson Peel) and the External Affairs Department of the Government of India.Correspondence between the India Office and the Foreign Office.Copy correspondence between Newton and the Foreign Office, including a copy of a despatch from Newton to Viscount Halifax (Edward Frederick Lindley Wood), Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, containing Newton’s impressions and observations formed on the tour, and enclosing an account of his tour.The file includes a divider, which gives lists of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 49; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

11. Coll 28/85S (1) ‘Persia. Abadan and S. W. Persian oilfields; Protection of British interests.’

Description:

Abstract: Papers relating to strikes and social unrest amongst workers on the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company’s (AIOC) oilfields in southern Iran (frequently referred to as Persia throughout the file), and the AIOC refinery at Abadan. The file’s principal correspondents include: the British Ambassador at Tehran, John Haller Le Rougetel; the Counsellor for Indian Affairs at the British Embassy in Tehran, Clarmont Percival Skrine; the Foreign Office.The file covers: initial reports of unrest at Abadan in May 1946; the Tudeh Party of Iran’s perceived involvement in fomenting unrest amongst AIOC employees; unrest amongst Indian AIOC employees, and discussion amongst British officials over plans to repatriate perceived ringleaders back to India; the despatch of Indian troops to Shaiba [Shu‘aybah] in Iraq, that could be deployed to quell social unrest in southern Iran if required; accounts of events on 14 July 1946, in which violent clashes occurred between socialist activists associated with the Tudeh Party who supported AIOC workers, and representatives of the Arab Tribal Union; a facsimile of an account of the events 14 July 1946 written by Vere William Digby Willoughby, British Consul at Khorramshahr (ff 214-249); a report on working and living conditions for Indian AIOC employees, submitted by the Indian Press Officer attached to the British Embassy in Tehran (ff 170-181); a report entitled ‘Social and municipal development carried out by the Anglo-Iranian Company, Limited, in Abadan and the south Persian oilfields’, submitted by the AIOC Chairman, William Fraser (ff 143-162); a report on AIOC labour conditions in Iran, submitted by K J Hird, Labour Attaché at the British Embassy in Tehran, dated 31 December 1946 (ff 87-101); the withdrawal of Indian troops from Shaiba in April 1947, in response to a stabilisation of the political situation in Iran; quarterly reports on affairs at AIOC, prepared by HM Consul-General at Khorramshahr, describing worker morale, potentially subversive activities, social improvements for workers, etc.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 557; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

12. Coll 28/85S (1) ‘Persia; Abadan and S.W. Persian Oilfields; A.I.O.C. Indian Employees’

Description:

Abstract: The file is a direct chronological continuation of Coll 28/85S (1) ‘Persia. Abadan and S. W. Persian oilfields; Protection of British interests.’ (IOR/L/PS/12/3490A). It consists chiefly of extracts of quarterly reports, prepared by HM Consul-General at Khorramshahr, on affairs at the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), and extracts from the Khorramshahr Consulate Diary. The reports concern working conditions and unrest amongst Indian and Pakistani employees at AIOC, and subversive activities amongst AIOC employees. Reference is made in several reports to the activities of the Rashtraya Sevak Sangh group at the AIOC (also referred to as the Hindu Communal Army [Rāṣṭrīya Svayamsēvaka Saṅgha]). Some of the reports in the file are marked top secret.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 33; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.