Abstract: The file opens with a memorandum by Edwin Samuel Montagu (Secretary of State for India) dated 4 November 1920 regarding the current situation of Assyrian and Armenian refugees in Mesopotamia, paying particular attention to the difficulties that they have faced in seeking repatriation. This memorandum seeks to provide an update to a previous memorandum of the same title which was issued by Montagu on 5 July 1920 (IOR/L/PS/18/B345). The memorandum is followed by an appendix in the form of a letter from the India Office to the Foreign Office on 2 November 1920 and its enclosure, 'note on the Christian communities in and around Mesopotamia'. The letter details the French and British spheres of influence in Mesopotamia and explains how the refugee crisis should be handled. The note details the different types of Christian groups in the area, and explains the initial reasons for the emigration of these communities from Urmia. The final folio is a copy of Montagu's initial memorandum dated 5 July 1920.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 151, and terminates at f 153, as it is part of a larger physical volume; 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; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: The file consists of a document by Captain G S Reed which provides an overview of the history of the Assyrian Christians in Urmia and the circumstances that led to their mass exodus to Baqubah in 1918. Reed also details the difficulties of the repatriation of these refugees back to Urmia.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 61, and terminates at f 62, as it is part of a larger physical volume; 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; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This item comprises printed Foreign Office correspondence relating to Persia [Iran], covering geopolitical, political, economic, social and cultural matters. The despatches are dated 7 July 1897-22 September 1898.The first page of each despatch includes the heading ‘ASIA. CONFIDENTIAL.’ on the top left, and the day and month of the despatch in square brackets on the top right e.g. ‘[July 7.]’. The letters in each despatch are numbered, e.g. No. 1, followed, where relevant, by numbered enclosures (spelled ‘inclosure’ in the volume), e.g. ‘Inclosure in No. 1.’ or ‘Inclosure 1 in No. 2.’. A few of the letters from Charles Hardinge, First Secretary, Tehran, to Persian Government ministers are in French.The item notably covers and includes:The financial difficulties of the Persian Government including: negotiations for foreign loans to the Persian Government, notably a proposed loan of forty million francs by Messrs Solomon Oppenheim of Paris and Cologne on the security of the customs revenues of the southern ports of Persia, and proposed Russian loans (including a copy of a draft agreement, in French, presented to the Persian Government by the Russian Legation, ff 375-376); and loans negotiated with the Imperial Bank of Persia, notably a loan of fifty-thousand pounds secured by control of the customs revenue of Bushire [Bushehr] and KermanshahAffairs relating to the Persian Mint and its relations with the Imperial Bank of PersiaThe murder of Mr Graves, a commissioned officer of the Indo-European Telegraph Department, at Karwan in southern Persia, the indemnity demanded from the Persian Government by the British Government, measures taken for the arrest and punishment of the murderers, and arrangements for the future protection of the telegraph line and company employeesFactionalism, internecine strife, and changes in personnel within the Persian Government and Cabinet, including the dismissal of the Sadr-i-Azam [Ṣadr A‘ẓam, Prime Minister] in June 1898The assassination of Sheikh Mizal [Shaikh Miz’al Khān], Governor of Muhammerah [Khorramshahr, formerly Mohammerah], and recognition of Sheikh Khazal [Shaikh Khas’al bin Jābir bin Mirdāw al-Ka’bī, also spelled Khasal in this item] as the new GovernorAn attack on Koweit [Kuwait] by the Persian Sheikh Yussuf Ibrahim [Shaikh Yūsuf Ibrāhīm]The state of affairs in Azerbaijan and TabrizThe state of affairs in Persian Beluchistan [Balochistan]Rumours of a raid by members of the Shahsavend [Shahsavan] tribe into Russian territory allegedly killing twenty-five CossacksConstruction of the (Gulf of) Enzeli-Kazvin Road [Bandar-e Anzali-Qazvin], involving a concession by the Persian Government to the Russian Insurance and Transport CompanyRusso-Persian relations notably following the Russian doctors and Cossack escort forced upon the Persian Government against their willMilitary news and reportsThe persecution of Jews in Ispahan [Isfahan] and in Lar, including British official protests and concern to protect British Jews at those placesDisturbances at Charbar [Chabahar] and Jask and the deputation of (British) Indian troops to those placesThe construction of a road from Ahwaz [Ahvaz] to Ispahan and from Shuster [Shushtar] to Ispahan, and agreement of Messrs Lynch Brothers with Ali Guli Khan [Alī -Qulī Khān Sirdār Asad Bakhtiyārī] and others (ff 310-311), guaranteed by the Persian GovernmentA report by HM Consul in Ispahan on his journey to Kermanshah and Tehran, in connection with the question of the disputed properties of the British Agent at Kermanshah (ff 325-327)A report by Captain G S Elliot, HM Vice-Consul at Van, of a journey across the Persian frontier and reporting generally on state of affairs on both sides of the [Persian and Turkish] border (ff 362-368), notably covering the activities of Armenians in Van, and the Russian Mission to Nestorian Christians in Urumiah [Urmia or Orumiyeh]An insurrection in Yemen and the deployment of five to six thousand Ottoman troops to repress itA report of a journey across a part of Persian Baluchistan [Balochistan] by Captain Percy Molesworth Sykes (ff 400-401).The primary correspondents are: the Marquess of Salisbury, Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary; Charles Hardinge, First Secretary, Tehran; Sir Philip Currie, Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire; Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, Minister Plenipotentiary at Tehran; the Imperial Bank of Persia; the India Office; and the Foreign Office. Enclosures are chiefly: correspondence of British diplomatic officials in the Middle East, notably William Loch, Consul-General at Bagdad [Baghdad]; reports and monthly summaries from Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Philip Picot, Military Attaché at Tehran; and occasional letters from Persian Government ministers.Physical description: 1 volume (215 folios)
Abstract: The volume concerns diplomatic tensions between Persian, Ottoman, British and Russian Governments, at the outset of the First World War (Anglo-German war in the file), including the attack made at Urmia on Russian troops by Kurdish forces.The papers cover:Attitude of Persian towards Anglo-German war and towards the Government of India.Russian policy towards Persia.Proposal to induce Persia to join the Allies.Persian neutrality in the hostilities between Turkey and Russia, and request for withdrawal of Russian troops.Turco-Persian frontier: Kurdish attacks on Russian troops at Urumia [Urmia, Iran]; Shuja-ed-Dowleh, the Agha of Maragha's [Maragheh, Iran] conquest of Tabriz, resisting the advance of Turks.Anti-British actions in Mesopotamia.Anglo-Turkish war: events following Ottoman Ruler Sultan Mehmed V’s declaration of war on Britain, France and Russia on 11 November 1914; Persian neutrality.Russian troops in Persia, and their withdrawal from Khorasan and Mazandera [Mazandaran Province, Iran] on the Turco-Persian frontier in December 1914.Persian Government's protest against the presence of a British gunboat on the Karun River.Anglo-Russian relations.There are some letters in French, from the Russian Vice Consul at Urmia, from the Russian Embassy in London and from the Consul General for Persia at Calcutta.The volume’s principal correspondents are: Louis du Pan Mallet, Foreign Office; Walter Beaupre Townley, British Minister at Tehran; Edward Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; George William Buchanan, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Russia.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 164; these numbers are written in pencil, 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 leading and ending flyleaves.
Abstract: The volume concerns diplomatic tensions between Persian, Ottoman, Russian and British Governments, at the outset of the First World War (Anglo-German war in the file). The main focus is the Russian occupation of Tabriz and Persian Azerbaijan, ending with Persia's neutrality in 1914.The volume covers:Persian neutrality and declaration of war between Turkey and Great Britain.Russian troops in Azerbaijan, and their withdrawal from Tabriz.British interests in Azerbaijan and Tabriz.Christian minorities in Persian Azerbaijan.Defeat of Shuja-ed-Dowleh in December 1914.Anglo-Turkish war: departure of British Consul and British residents from Tabriz and Urmia; Persian towns occupied; movements of Turkish troops.Reply of Turkish legation at Tehran to British document stating the causes to join the war, printed on the Persian newspaper
Ra'd(ff 111-115).Translation of an anti-British proclamation issued at Isfahan, commenting on the outbreak of hostilities between Turkey and Great Britain, signed by Mirza Abbas Yezdi (ff 123-130).Looting of properties of the Russian Consul at Soujboulak [sic, in the Tabriz region] by Turkish troops.There are some letters in French, from the Consul General for Persia at Calcutta.The volume’s principal correspondents are: Louis du Pan Mallet and Eyre Alexander Barby Wichart Crowe, Foreign Office; Walter Beaupre Townley, British Minister at Tehran; Edward Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; George William Buchanan, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Russia; Ernst Bristow, Acting Consul General at Isfahan.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 172; 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 3-170; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.