Abstract: The file comprises copies of correspondence, papers and maps relating to the British Government’s telegraph station and the Persian Government’s customs house on the island of Henjam [Jazīreh-ye Hengām], questions of Persian sovereignty over the island, and the status of the island’s Arab inhabitants. The volume’s principal correspondents are: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Major Percy Zachariah Cox); the British Ambassador (or Chargé d’Affaires) at Tehran (Sir Arthur Henry Hardinge; Sir Evelyn Mountstuart Grant Duff); the Assistant Resident and British Consul at Bandar-e ʻAbbās (Lieutenant William Henry Irvine Shakespear); the Senior Naval Officer of the Persian Gulf Division, also Commanding Officer of HMS
Fox(Captain John Bridges Eustace).A large portion of the correspondence concerns British officials’ reaction to the Persian Government’s construction of a customs house on Henjam (itself a response to the British Government’s revival of their telegraph office on the island):British officials’ proposals to send Indian troops to keep the peace on the island (ff 221-225);a report of a visit to Henjam by Cox and Shakespear, June 1905, with an accompanying map of the island (ff 189-193, f 200);fresh water supplies at Henjam, and discussion amongst British officials over whether the Persians should be refused access to the island’s water supply;copies of correspondence and a tracing of a sketch, dated 1868, relating to the original agreement between the Persian and British Governments for a telegraph cable and station at Angaum [Jazīreh-ye Hengām], enclosed as part of an attempt to establish the extent of the original telegraph concession on the island, covering the years 1868 to 1880 (ff 133-136);use of flagstaffs on the island, specifically Persian flagstaffs as a statement of sovereignty, and the proposal for a British flagstaff as part of a Lloyd’s Signal Station;negotiations between the British Government and Persian Government (represented by Mushir-ed-Dowleh) on the acknowledgement and extent of a British concession at Henjam;correspondence and reports relating to a survey undertaken by the Royal Navy (HMS
Fox) of the northern tip of Henjam in April 1906, in order to ascertain the extent and boundary of the area required for the British telegraph office concession (ff 2-16).The file also covers the status of Henjam’s Arab inhabitants, including:claims made by Shaikh Ahmed bin Abeid of Henjam to be under the protection of Shaikh Mookhdoom [Shaikh Maktūm bin Hashar Āl Maktūm] of Dubai, and to have been settled on the islands by ancestors of the Sultan of Maskat [Muscat] (f 233, f 138, f 92);British officials’ procrastination in confirming their acceptance of Persian sovereignty over Henjam to the island’s Arab inhabitants, amid concerns of potentially violent confrontations between Henjam’s Persians and Arabs once Britain’s acceptance of Persian sovereignty is confirmed (f 124, ff 110-112);proposals made by Cox to resettle the Arabs of Henjam at Basidu [Bāsa‘īdū], rejected by Government officials (ff 99-103).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 252; 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 volume comprises notes, memoranda, copies of correspondence and other papers, relating to an agreement reached between the British and Persian Governments for the construction of a telegraph cable line between the telegraph station at Henjam [Jazīreh-ye Hengām] and Bunder Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās], and a subsequent dispute between the British and Persian Governments over the location of the telegraph office in Bunder Abbas. The volume’s principal correspondents are: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Major Percy Zachariah Cox); the British Ambassador (or Chargé d’Affaires) at Tehran (Sir Arthur Henry Hardinge; Sir Evelyn Mountstuart Grant Duff); the Assistant Resident and British Consul at Bandar-e ʻAbbās (Lieutenant William Henry Irvine Shakespear).The volume’s papers include:proposals, set out by British officials, for a telegraph cable running between Henjam and Bunder Abbas, chiefly for the benefit of the Indian merchant community at the latter place;papers detailing negotiations between British and Persian officials through 1905 concerning the construction of the telegraph cable from Henjam to Bunder Abbas, and the construction and operation of a telegraph office at Bundar Abbas. Much of the discussion centres on the running and costs of the telegraph office at Bundar Abbas, in response to the Persian Government’s insistence that they run the office, and the British Government’s insistence that only Persians be employed in the office (in order to prevent the appointment of Russian telegraphists). A printed copy of the agreement for the construction of the telegraph line from Henjam to Bunder Abbas, dated 13 May 1905, is included in the volume (f 149);copies of telegrams and other papers dated 1906, documenting the construction of telegraph facilities at Bunder Abbas, including British intentions to run the cable via their consular buildings, Persian objection to the proposals, and the protracted dispute over the location of the telegraph office that ensued;correspondence dated 1909, including a letter from Sir George Head Barclay at the British Embassy in Tehran, to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir Edward Grey, dated 8 March 1909, confirming that the dispute between the British and Persian authorities over the location of a telegraph office at Bunder Abbas has been resolved (ff 20-21).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 237; 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 present in parallel between ff 130-143; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The volume is concerned with negotiations with the Ottoman Government over a new navigation concession for the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. These negotiations — facilitated by the Foreign Office and the Board of Trade — are between Ibrahim Hakki Pasha and Lord Inchcape (James Lyle Mackay), and also involve the formation of a new Anglo-Turkish Company to operate the concession. It is equally concerned with insuring that Henry Finnis Blosse Lynch and his firm the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company are compensated for the introduction of the new company and provided with a suitable stake in the new concern. Both Mr Lynch and Lord Inchcape employ solicitors to represent them, these firms being Messrs Slaughter and May, and Messrs Walters and Company respectively. The negotiations between the two do not proceed smoothly; the file therefore includes discussion by British officials of Mr Lynch's 'intrigues', particularly in Germany (e.g. folios 85-94), to influence negotiations for the new concession in his favour. It also includes counter complaints from Mr Lynch about his treatment by the Foreign Office, and against statements made about his company in the House of Commons by the Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, on the 22 July 1913 (e.g. folios 10-26).There is also some discussion in the file of British interests in limiting German access to the Tigris and Euphrates, whether Britain should secure an interest for itself in the Baghdad Railway, and insuring that Britain obtains a suitable stake in any new port built at Basra. There is also some debate respecting the extent the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company is able to exercise the rights of its original concession from 1862, and its prospects for expansion.Most of the correspondence in the file is between officials representing the Board of Trade, the Foreign Office, and the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company. The Foreign Office is principally represented by Alywyn Parker. The Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company on the other hand by Fred W Parry and Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Philip Picot. Numerous copies of the draft concession between the Ottoman authorities and Lord Inchcape can be found throughout the file; often including an additional copy in French.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 back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 279; 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, nor does it include the first and last ending flyleaves. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
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.
Abstract: Part 2 of the volume is comprised of copies of correspondence and other papers relating to the proposed merger of the Turkish-Government-operated Hamidieh Steamship Company and the British company, the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company (also referred to as the Lynch Company, ETSNC). The item’s principal correspondents are: representatives of the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company (hereafter ETSNC, chiefly the Company Secretary, H W Maclean), the Director of the ETSNC (Henry Finnis Blosse Lynch); the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Sir Edward Grey); the Private Secretary to Sir Edward Grey (Louis Du Pan Mallet); the British Ambassador at Constantinople [Istanbul] (Sir Gerard Augustus Lowther); the Political Resident for Turkish Arabia (Captain John Gordon Lorimer).The majority of the correspondence is dated 1909 to 1910, and focuses on the controversial nature of the proposed merger of the two steamship operators, which bore more of the character of a takeover by the British concern of its Turkish counterpart. While many Turkish commentators understood the prospect of a likely British monopoly of navigation rights on the Tigris and Euphrates in Irak [Iraq], the British Government feared having their commercial activities in Iraq diminished, possibly to the advantage of competing German commercial interests. The controversy, which acquired the sobriquet the ‘Affaire Lynch’ in the British press, precipitated a local popular uprising in Iraq, and in part led to the resignation of the Grand Vizier Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha, who had supported the merger, in December 1909. The correspondence is thus split between the contractual negotiations over the navigation concession, and the political consequences of its controversy, including cuttings of articles published in the press in Britain (
The Times,
The Morning Post) and copies of articles published in Ottoman Turkey (
Tanin,
Truth).Physical description: 1 item (315 folios)
Abstract: Continuation of correspondence and memoranda regarding the proposed construction of railways in Persia, and additional bids for mining concessions.The correspondents are the India Office Political Department, the Foreign Office, HM Minister at Teheran [Charles Murray Marling], Marquess Curzon, the Board of Trade, and the French and Russian Ambassadors to the United Kingdom. The file also contains letters received from representatives of the Société d'Études du Chemin de fer Transpersan [André Jean Bénac], Baring Brothers & Company Limited, and Charles Greenway, representing the Persian Railway Syndicate, Kerman Mining Concession, and Anglo-Persian Oil Company.The following topics are discussed:announcement of the Russian construction of a line from Baku to Julfa, and the intention to construct a line from Baku to Tehran;the proposal of the Russian section of the Société d'Études to apply for an option to construct a line from Asatar via Resht and Kasvin to Tehran;further proposals to construct lines from Askabad to Meshed, and Enzeli to Tehran;requests for Russian mining concessions in North Persia;the Trans-Persian Railway scheme, French requests to restart the scheme, and the proposed liquidation of the Société d'Études in 1919 and 1932;proposals received from the Greenway Group [Persian Railway Syndicate and Kerman Mining Concession] to apply for options to construct a rail line between Bundar Abbas and Kerman, and for mining concessions;revision of the 1907 Anglo-Russian agreement;oil drilling operations on the island of Kishm.In addition to correspondence, the file contains the following reports of interest:memorandum by Marquess Curzon regarding the likely results of war in the Middle East, and future rail and mining concessions in Persia, ff 176-83, with a printed copy at f 163;Political Department memo C167 on the Kerman Mining Concession, ff 122-23;Political Department memo C168 on 'Mining Concessions in the Islands and Coast of the Persian Gulf: the Nuin-ut-Thijjar's position', ff 124-26;a history of the Société d'Études, including details of its capitalisation and constitution, ff 17-28.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 212; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: Correspondence, minutes and memoranda regarding the Société Internationale d'Études du Chemin de Fer Transpersan's proposed bid for an option to construct a railway in Persia. Parts one and two of three.Topics covered:the proposed application by the Société Internationale d'Études for the option to construct a Trans-Persian Rail line;concessions for the Kerman Mining Concession and Persian Railway Syndicate;possible alignments for the rail line;areas of control for Britain, Russia and France;the point of access to the Persian Gulf;the military implications of the line for the Government of India.Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, the year the subject files was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in that part, listed by year. This is placed after the last piece of correspondence on file.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 253; 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 present in parallel between ff 3-251; these numbers are also written in pencil and circled, but are crossed through.
Abstract: Correspondence and other papers relating to rock salt extraction at Salif [As Salif] in Yemen. The correspondence chiefly concerns various efforts on the part of British interests to agree a concession for the extraction of rock salt at Salif, a concession operated prior to the First World War by the Ottoman Public Debt Administration (also referred to in the volume by its French name, Administration de la Dette Publique Ottomane). The volume includes: correspondence from the British company Balmer Lawrie & Company, and Adam Samuel James Block, Representative for British Bondholders in Turkey, enquiring after the rock salt concession, 1917; the sale of Salif rock salt by the Government of India, and the investment of the proceeds in Exchequer Bonds, 1917; arrangements for the repayment of bonds back to the Ottoman Public Debt Administration, facilitated by the Imperial Ottoman Bank, 1920-24; papers and draft agreements relating to a new concession for the extraction of rock salt at Salif, negotiated between the British company Steel Brothers & Company Limited and the Imam of Yemen, and brokered by Commander Charles Edward Vereker Crauford, 1929.The volume contains several items written in French.The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.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 223; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: Correspondence exchanged between the German Consulate at Buschär [Bushire] (Helmuth Listemann) and others: the Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh] representative of the German firm Robert Wönckhaus and Company (Herr H Rosenfeld; Herr Krumpeter); the British Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Percy Zachariah Cox); German Government officials at the Auswärtiges Amt (Foreign Office) in Berlin; the German Embassy in London.The correspondence refers to a dispute relating to concession rights for the mining and shipment of red oxide at Abū Mūsá, originally awarded to a number of Arab merchants by Shaikh Sālim bin Sulṭān Āl Qāsimī of Sharjah in 1898, and part of which was subsequently acquired by Wönckhaus and Company in 1906. The dispute was sparked by the Ruler of Sharjah, Shaikh Ṣaqr bin Khālid Āl Qāsimī’s cancellation of the concession in 1907, and subsequent claims by Wönckhaus and Company and the German Government, over financial losses arising from the cancellation of the concession.The majority of the file’s correspondence is in German. Letters exchanged between the German Consul at Bushire and the British Political Resident are in French. In most cases, German correspondence is preceded by undated pencil notes written in English, giving a précis of the letter that follows.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 403; these numbers are printed, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: Correspondence exchanged between the German Consulate at Buschär [Bushire] (Helmuth Listemann) and others: the Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh] representative of the German firm Robert Wönckhaus and Company (Herr H Rosenfeld; Herr Krumpeter); the British Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Zachariah Cox); German Government officials at the Auswärtiges Amt (Foreign Office) in Berlin, the German Chargé d’Affaires in Tehran (Hartmann Oswald Heinrich Ferdinand Freiherr von Richthofen).The correspondence refers to a dispute over a concession for the mining and shipment of red oxide at Abū Mūsá, originally awarded to Arab merchants by Shaikh Sālim bin Sulṭān Āl Qāsimī of Sharjah in 1898, and part of which was subsequently acquired by Wönckhaus and Company in 1906. The dispute was sparked by the Ruler of Sharjah, Shaikh Ṣaqr bin Khālid Āl Qāsimī’s cancellation of the concession in 1907, and subsequent claims by Wönckhaus and Company and the German Government, over financial losses arising from the cancellation of the concession.Amongst the papers are copies of correspondence, agreements and other papers dating between 1892 and 1907, relating to the original contract to mine red oxide at Abū Mūsá. Many of these agreements are in Arabic, with most accompanied by English translations.The majority of the file’s correspondence is in German. Official letters exchanged between the German Consul at Bushire and the British Political Resident are in French.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 263; these numbers are printed, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The file is a direct chronological continuation of File 4949/1912 Pt 4 ‘Abu Musa – Angelegenheit. 1907.’ (IOR/L/PS/10/321), containing correspondence exchanged between the German Consulate at Buschär [Bushire] (Helmuth Listemann; Wilhelm Wassmuss) and others: the British Government; the Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh] representative of the German firm Robert Wönckhaus and Company (Herr H Rosenfeld; Herr Krumpeter); the British Political Residency in the Persian Gulf (Major Arthur Prescott Trevor; Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Zachariah Cox); the German Imperial Government.The correspondence refers to a dispute over a concession for the mining and shipment of red oxide at Abū Mūsá, originally awarded to Arab merchants by Shaikh Sālim bin Sulṭān Āl Qāsimī of Sharjah in 1898, and part of which was subsequently acquired by Wönckhaus and Company in 1906. The dispute was sparked by the Ruler of Sharjah, Shaikh Ṣaqr bin Khālid Āl Qāsimī’s cancellation of the concession in 1907, and subsequent claims by Wönckhaus and Company and the German Government, over financial losses arising from the cancellation of the concession.The majority of the file’s correspondence is in German. Official letters exchanged between the German Consul at Bushire and the British Political Resident are in French.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 296; these numbers are written in pencil, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 1-296; these numbers are printed.
Abstract: The volume concerns the attempts of a British company called the Sponge Exploration Syndicate to obtain concessions for the fishing and exploitation of sponges in the Persian Gulf. However, the papers indicate that it was felt by British officials that the real object of the company was to exploit the Gulf's pearl banks, which entailed the risk of infringing Britain's treaty obligations with the Arab states.The principal correspondents are the Foreign Office; Major Percy Zachariah Cox, acting as Consul-General for Fars, Khuzistan etc., and Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; officials of the India Office and the Government of India; the Viceroy of India (the Earl of Minto); and the Sponge Exploration Syndicate Limited.The papers include: letters of application for concession rights from the company; the granting of a concession to the company by the Government of Persia; the granting of a concession to the company by the Sultan of Muscat; a report by the British Museum, on the Persian Gulf as a possible area for successful sponge fisheries (folios 175-176); the involvement of the company with the rulers of the Trucial Coast; and the rights of British-protected Arabs. The volume also contains an Admiralty chart of the Persian Gulf on folio 50.The French language content of the volume consists of an agreement on folios 129-131.The date range gives the covering dates of the main items of correspondence. This is mainly dated 1905-09, with one item dated 1916. The correspondence also includes enclosures dated 1892 (folios 214-215).Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, year the subject file was opened, subject heading, and list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 1).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 242; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.