Abstract: The volume comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, newspaper cuttings, maps and notes, relating to negotiations over the proposed Berlin to Baghdad Railway in the period 1903-1907.The discussion in the volume relates to the economic, commercial, political and military considerations impinging on British strategy for the international negotiations over the development of a railway to Baghdad in particular.Further discussion surrounds the motivations and strategies of British competitors in the area; included in the volume are four maps.The principal correspondents in the volume include the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Lord Lansdowne, Sir Edward Grey), His Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople (Sir Nicholas O'Connor), the Under Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs (Sir Charles Hardinge, Sir Thomas Henry Sanderson), and for India (Earl Percy, Sir Arthur Godley), the Viceroy of India (Lord Curzon of Keddleston), the Secretary to the Political and Secret Department of the India Office (Sir Richmond Richie) and the London Manager of the Imperial Bank of Persia (George Newell).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 392; 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 329-358; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out. The foliation sequence does not include the front cover.
Abstract: Papers relating to trade between Baghdad and Basra in Mesopotamia [Iraq] and Great Britain, in the wake of Britain’s military invasion and occupation of Mesopotamia during the First World War. Subjects covered include: the resumption of trade between Britain and Baghdad; enquiries made to the British Government by British firms asking if they may resume trade to and from Mesopotamia; enquiries relating to goods seized and condemned by the Prize Court; the resumption of trading at Baghdad by a number of firms ‘approved’ by the British Government’s Board of Trade; enquiries by commercial firms relating to goods looted or destroyed during the military invasion of Mesopotamia. The file’s principal correspondents are: the Foreign Office; the India Office; the Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India; Henry Fountain of the Commercial Department of the Board of Trade.The file includes a single item of correspondence in French: a copy of a telegram from the Persian Consul General in Baghdad (f 144).The file 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 189; 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 and papers concerning the export of wool from Baghdad in Mesopotamia [Iraq] during Britain’s military occupation of the country in the First World War. Subjects covered include: enquiries from commercial firms seeking to export wool from Mesopotamia; shipping arrangements for the export of wool from Baghdad to various destinations, including Britain and Marseilles in France; arrangements for the shipment of consignments of wool to the United States of America, and the War Office’s opposition to such plans, insisting that all available wool should be reserved for Britain’s military requirements. The file’s principal correspondents are: the India Office; the Foreign Office; the Director of Raw Materials, War Office; the Indian Munitions Board, Government of India; Selim Homsy & Company; Gulbenkian Brothers.The file includes a single item in French: a copy of a memorandum received by the Foreign Office from the French Ambassador to London (f 230).The file 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 245; 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 and papers concerning the resumption of trade at Baghdad in Mesopotamia [Iraq] after Britain’s military invasion during the First World War. Subjects covered include: in August 1917, discussion amongst British Government officials as to whether an official announcement concerning the resumption of trade at Baghdad should be made; applications from commercial firms in Britain to resume business and exchange financial payments with traders in Baghdad; the compilation of a list of ‘approved’ firms that should be allowed to resume trade, and a ‘black list’ of firms (supplied by the Chief Political Officer at Baghdad, Percy Zachariah Cox) that should be barred from trade; an appeal by a trader based in Amsterdam, against a ruling barring him from resuming trade at Baghdad and Basra; difficulties in river transit between Baghdad and Basra. The file’s principal correspondents are: the Foreign Office; the India Office; The Commercial Department of the Board of Trade; the Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India.The file contains a single item of correspondence written in French (f 100).The file 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 first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio 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 foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
Abstract: Correspondence and papers concerning foreign trade in Baghdad and Basra in Mesopotamia [Iraq] after Britain’s military invasion during the First World War. The papers cover: various enquiries from businesses in England and elsewhere (the Netherlands, the United States of America) about trade with businesses in Baghdad and Basra; list of companies and individuals in Baghdad and Basra with whom trade was prohibited (i.e. blacklisted). The file’s principal correspondents are: the Foreign Office; the India Office; The Commercial Department of the Board of Trade; the Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India.The file contains a single item of correspondence written in French (f 220).The file 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 first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 314; 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 leading and ending flyleaves.
Abstract: The volume comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, and notes, relating to the war with Germany and Turkey and implications for the Caliphate and the pan-Arab movement. The discussion in the volume relates specifically to the view of the Government of India on Sir Henry Arthur McMahon's correspondence and negotiations with Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī, Grand Sharif of Mecca. The volume is divided into two parts. The first part (IOR/L/PS/10/525/1) is particularly focussed on discussion of negotiations with Jemal Pasha.Further discussion surrounds the advance on Baghdad, the protection of Muslim shrines and the deferment of any public pronouncement on the caliphate until Baghdad has been captured by British forces.The principal correspondents in the volume include: the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Sir Edward Grey); the Secretary of State for India; the Viceroy (Charles Hardinge); and the Sherif of Mecca (Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī).The volume comprises parts 3-4 of 6 parts. Both parts include 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 for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 273; 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.
Abstract: This part contains correspondence and India Office Minute Papers relating to the Imperial Ottoman Bank in Mesopotamia [Iraq], mainly concerning the Baghdad branch.It includes papers regarding:The decision of the British Government, on the recommendation of local British political authorities, to close the Baghdad branch of the Imperial Ottoman Bank for the duration of the First World War, on the grounds that the Bank was identified with enemy interests, and it continued to do enemy business up to the date of the British occupation of Baghdad, and was recognised by the Turkish authorities as a Government bank.The proposal of the London Agency of the Bank to send their representative Mr Critchley to Baghdad to enquire into the interests of the Bank’s shareholders and clients in Mesopotamia, and their later proposal to send Mr H R Saltmarsh and Mr E E Humphries instead of Critchley.The proposal of the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, that the Baghdad branch of the Bank should be allowed to re-open.Permission being granted to the Imperial Ottoman Bank at Basra to correspond with its Constantinople [Istanbul] Office.The visit of Lord Goschen, a director of the Imperial Ottoman Bank, to Mesopotamia.A query by Drysdale and Company Limited about whether the Imperial Ottoman Bank at Baghdad was ‘a safe and sound’ institution, in response to a customer asking the company to accept payment at the Imperial Ottoman Bank in Baghdadthe proposal that the Baghdad and Mosul branches of Bank should be permitted to settle transactions dating back to the period before the British occupation.The correspondence largely consists of correspondence between the India Office and the following: the Foreign Office; Sir William Plender, appointed by the Treasury as Supervisor of the Imperial Ottoman Bank’s London Agency; the Imperial Ottoman Bank, London Agency; the Viceroy of India, Foreign Department; and the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad (telegrams addressed from ‘Political, Baghdad’). The file also includes copies of Foreign Office correspondence with the London Agency of the Imperial Ottoman Bank, and Sir Reginald Wingate, High Commissioner, Egypt.Physical description: 1 item (210 folios)
Abstract: This part contains papers relating to banking facilities in the occupied (by the British) territory of Mesopotamia [Iraq]. The papers consist of correspondence, and India Office Minute Papers and internal notes.The file includes papers relating to: the views of the Government of India and the Department of Overseas Trade on the question of extending banking facilities in the occupied territory; the application of Boulton Bros. & Co. to open a branch of the Alliance Bank of Egypt at Basra; the application of Tata Industrial Bank Limited to open a branch at Basra; and the request by the Colonial Bank for assistance to be given by the local authorities in Baghdad to Mr T Langdon-Bruce and Mr H E Weber, being sent by the Bank to enquire into the conditions obtaining in Mesopotamia and prospects for trade in the country.The correspondence is mostly between the India Office and the following: the Viceroy (of India), Foreign Department; the Foreign Office; the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad (including telegrams sent from ‘Political, Baghdad’); Boulton, Bros. & Co.; the Department of Overseas Trade; and the Colonial Bank.Physical description: 1 item (63 folios)
Abstract: Papers concerning diplomatic tensions between the British and Ottoman Governments at the outset of the First World War, including social unrest and military/naval movements in Baghdad, Basra, and the Shatt al-Arab. The volume’s papers were produced prior to the Ottoman Ruler Sultan Mehmed V’s declaration of war on Britain, France and Russia on 11 November 1914. The papers cover:The activities of Seyyid Talib [Saiyid Talib ibn Saiyid Rajab], former Governor (Wali) of Basra, in June 1914, including his attack on Basra and occupation of Zobeir [Zubayr].Reports of growing anti-British sentiment at Basra and Baghdad, and proposals to evacuate British women and children from the area in the event of war with Ottoman Turkey.Diplomatic exchanges between the British and Ottoman Governments, over the presence of British vessels (in particular HMS
Odin) in the Shatt al-Arab, and in international waters off the coast of Mohammerah [Khorramshahr].Interruptions to British steamship services at Basra and Baghdad, particularly those of the Euphrates & Tigris Steam Navigation Company, as a result of Ottoman actions that include the requisitioning of coal at Basra.British officials’ concerns over the status of Anglo-Persian Oil Company’s operations at Abadan, including the reluctance of vessels to travel up to the head of the Persian Gulf to Abadan, and the British Government’s assurances that vessels travelling to Abadan and Mohammerah would be covered by War Insurance.British officials’ concerns over rumours that the Ottoman Navy plans to mine the Shatt al-Arab.The file’s principal correspondents include: the India Office (John Evelyn Shuckburgh; Edmund George Barrow; Arthur Hirtzel); the Foreign Office (Eyre Alexander Barby Wichart Crowe; Louis du Pan Mallet); the Viceroy of India (Charles Hardinge); the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Major Stuart George Knox).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 330; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The front and back covers, along with the leading flyleaf and ending flyleaf, have not been foliated.
Abstract: This file contains papers relating to the assignment of new staff to the administration of Mesopotamia or Iraq upon its occupation during the First World War. The majority of the papers contain correspondence between the Offices of the Civil Commissioner in Cairo and Baghdad, and the Offices of the Secretary of State for India, and discuss the possible assignment of British staff from Sudan or Egypt to Iraq.Of note are particular letters penned by Sir Francis Reginald Wingate, Sir Edgar Bonham Carter, and to Field Marshal Allan Francis Harding.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 335; 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 105-335; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
Abstract: This item consists of part five of the subject file 4613/1919 Iraq: Land Tenure. It concerns British land policy in the occupied territories of Mesopotamia [Iraq], particularly in relation to proposed construction by the British authorities.The part contains correspondence discussing a proposed new civil station and military cantonment, which would be located in the southern vicinity of Baghdad. Correspondents include the Acting Civil Commissioner in Baghdad (Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Talbot Wilson), the Officiating Commander-in-Chief of the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force (Major-General George Fletcher MacMunn), and officials of the India Office and the War Office.Included with this part are several plans showing the layout of the proposed sites, as well as the layout of a proposed Baghdad railway.Physical description: 1 item (22 folios)
Abstract: This item consists of part seven of the subject file 4613/1919 Iraq: Land Tenure. It concerns British land policy in the occupied territories of Mesopotamia [Iraq], particularly in relation to arrangements for a proposed British military cantonment in the vicinity of Baghdad.The correspondence discusses the selection and purchase of suitable land, particularly the question of whether the land should be purchased by the British civil administration or by the War Office. Also discussed more generally is the provision of barrack accommodation in Mesopotamia and Palestine.Correspondents include the Civil Commissioner in Baghdad (Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Talbot Wilson), the Secretary of State for India (Edwin Samuel Montagu), the Commander-in-Chief of the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force (Major-General George Fletcher MacMunn in an officiating capacity, succeeded by General James Aylmer Lowthorpe Haldane), and officials of the Foreign Office, the India Office, the War Office, and the Treasury.Included with this part is a plan showing the present and proposed railway layout for Baghdad.Physical description: 1 item (65 folios)