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61. File 1093/1915 Pt 2 ‘Persian Gulf:- Proposed revival of British Consulate at Basra. Portuguese interests in Iraq’
- Description:
- Abstract: Correspondence and other papers concerning the proposed re-appointment of a British Consul at Basra, and how the new post should be funded. Subjects covered include: whether the Consul at Mohammerah [Khorramshahr] could also be appointed Consul at Basra (the two places being in close geographical proximity); the High Commissioner for Iraq’s (Henry Robert Conway Dobbs) argument that a full-time Consul is required for the post; discussion between officials from the Government of India and the Foreign Office about who should fund the new appointment; assessments of the importance of British trade in Mesopotamia, including tables of statistical data outlining diplomatic and consular expenditure in Turkish Arabia, and trade between India and Turkish Arabia; the Government of India’s refusal to contribute to the cost of the Basra Consulate; the transfer of land and property associated with Basra consulate from the Government of India to HM’s Office of Works; a further report written by Dobbs, dated 1928, arguing for the appointment of a British Consul at Basra, enclosing a memorandum written by Charles Wills of the Mesopotamia-Persia Corporation Limited.Physical description: 1 item (164 folios)
62. File 1889/1916 ‘Mesopotamia; Export of dates’
- Description:
- Abstract: Correspondence and other papers relating to the export of dates from Mesopotamia [Iraq] during Britain’s military occupation of Mesopotamia in the First World War. The file includes: correspondence dated 1916 relating to the lifting of a general prohibition on the export of dates from Mohammerah [Khorramshahr] and Basra (as well as from Muscat), in view of Mesopotamia’s status as enemy territory; in 1917, proposals to prohibit the export of dates from Mesopotamia to destinations other than Britain or its wartime allies; in 1917, the supply of dates to British troops in France, including arrangements for purchase and freight by the War Office; a copy of a printed British diplomatic and consular report entitled ‘Turkey. Report for the Year 1913 on the Trade of Basra’, edited at the Foreign Office and Board of Trade (ff 293-303); reports in early 1918 that the demand for dates in Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf exceeded supply, leading to the Foreign Office’s initial decision to decline a request from the Government of the USA for the Hills Brothers Company of New York to export dates from Mesopotamia, a decision that was reversed in March 1918; price controls on dates for export, arranged in 1918; correspondence dated 1919 on the future policy of restrictions on dates exported from Mesopotamia.The volume’s principal correspondents are: the Chief Political Officer of the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force, Percy Zachariah Cox; the Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India; the Foreign Office; the War Office; the Ministry of Food.The volume contains a single item in French, being a note from the French Ambassador in London (f 69).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 first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 348; 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. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
63. File 4097/1914 Pt 1 'Basra administration'
- Description:
- Abstract: This file contains papers relating to the civil administration of Basra and its environs after its takeover by British forces during the First World War, such as the city's police force. Other topics covered in the papers include the importation of Indian Staff for the new administration, the suppression of arms trafficking, and Sir Percy Cox's political role in Iraq following the War. The papers are primarily reports and exchanges between the Viceroy's office in India and British military authorities in Iraq.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 283; 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.
64. File 3104/1915 Pt 1 ‘German War: conquered territory: status: question of trading; looting, etc. of goods by Turks.’
- Description:
- Abstract: Correspondence and other papers relating to the status of cargo consignments held at Basra, Mesopotamia, for export to Britain, during the British invasion of Turkish Mesopotamia [Iraq] in November 1914. The file includes: discussion as to whether consignments of cargo that are on their way from Basra to Britain should be considered enemy cargo; reports of the looting and destruction of British goods held at the customs house in Basra by the Turks; enquiries made to the Foreign Office by several companies based in Manchester, England (and their legal representatives), concerning claims for losses incurred in the wake of their cargo at Basra having been destroyed or looted; lists of cargo stored at Basra by various British companies, with descriptions of the good, quantities, and prices.The file’s principal correspondents are: the Foreign Office; the Under Secretary of State for India; and Manchester solicitors Boote, Edgar, Grace & Rylands.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 200; 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.
65. File 3104/1915 Pt 2 ‘German War: conquered territory: status: question of trading; looting, etc., of goods by Turks’
- Description:
- Abstract: Correspondence and papers concerning trade in those parts of Mesopotamia [Iraq] under British military administration during the First World War. Subjects covered include: the resumption of trade between Britain and traders at Basra; claims by British firms for the losses of goods looted or destroyed at Baghdad and Basra by Turkish troops during the initial British invasion of Mesopotamia in 1914; the British Government’s response to claims made by British firms in Mesopotamia over losses incurred during the War; correspondence concerning the seizure and consequent liquidation of enemy (i.e. German and Austrian) commercial interests in the Persian Gulf, with specific reference to the German firm Robert Wönckhaus & Company; statements of balances of enemy commercial concerns seized by British forces for September 1916 (ff 116-117) and December 1916 (ff 79-80); the payment of funds from the assets of Robert Wönckhaus & Company, to employees of the firm interned as prisoners of war at Ahmednagar, India; representations made by the French ambassador to London on behalf of a French firm that had 180,000 Francs held in the Ottoman Bank, Baghdad.The file’s principal correspondents include: the Chief Political Officer of Indian Expeditionary Force D, Percy Zachariah Cox; the Foreign Office; the India Office; the Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India.Several items of correspondence in the volume are written in French.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 243; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
66. File 3104/1915 Pt 7 ‘Mesopotamia; Baghdad Trade &c (Miscellaneous)’
- Description:
- 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.
67. File 74/1915 Pt 4 'Mesopotamia: Imperial Ottoman Bank, Baghdad Branch'
- Description:
- 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)
68. File 74/1915 Pt 5 'Mesopotamia: Banking Facilities'
- Description:
- 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)
69. File 3136/1914 Pt 1 ‘German War. Situation in Turkish Arabia & Persian Gulf’
- Description:
- 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.
70. File 3136/1914 Pt 2 ‘German War. Situation in Turkish Arabia & Persian Gulf’
- Description:
- Abstract: Papers concerning events in Mesopotamia and in the Persian Gulf, leading up to and immediately after the outbreak of war between Great Britain and Turkey. The file is a chronological continuation of File 3136/1914 Pt 1 ‘German War. Situation in Turkish Arabia & Persian Gulf’ (IOR/L/PS/10/462). Subjects covered include:Concerns amongst British officials that Turkey will lay mines in the Shatt al-Arab.Reports of the spreading of anti-British and pro-German propaganda by Turkish officials, including an undated manifesto (translated into English from Arabic) issued by an organisation called the Moslem Committee of Learned Men (ff 139-143).British intelligence on the movements, actions and correspondence exchanged between the region’s most prominent rulers and key figures, including the former Governor (Wali) of Basra, Seyyid Talib [Saiyid Talib ibn Saiyid Rajab], the Emir of Najd and Al-Aḥsā, Bin Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and the Turkish Minister of War, Ismail Enver Pasha.Reports on public opinion amongst the Arab populations of the Persian Gulf, and proposed British propaganda measures, including plans to distribute copies of the Illustrated War Newsto the various rulers in the Persian Gulf (ff 199-203).The breaking-off of diplomatic relations between Great Britain and Turkey on 30 October 1914.Reports, submitted by Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Zachariah Cox, Chief Political Officer of Indian Expeditionary Force D (IEFD), on the progress of IEFD at Basra, including reports of military action at Fao [Al-Fāw], (f 56, f 65, ff 67-68, ff 116-120, f 123).The death of Captain Richard Lockington Birdwood, Assistant Political Officer to Cox, at Basra, on 17 November 1914 (ff 90-91).Reports of anti-British propaganda and activities at Erzeroum [Erzurum], as reported by the city’s British Consul (ff 84-89, ff 103-104).Proposals, including those set out in a letter written by Captain Arnold Talbot Wilson of the Indian Political Department, to the British Consul at Mohammerah [Khorramshahr], dated 28 November 1914 (ff 14-17) for Mesopotamia to become an Indian colony after the war.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 Chief Political Officer of IEFD (Percy Zachariah Cox).The file includes a small number of copies of diplomatic exchanges between the British, Ottoman and Persian Governments ( notes verbale), which are written in French.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 248; 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.A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
71. File 3540/1916 'MESOPOTAMIA 1916-17 PORTION'
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume comprises mainly printed correspondence, telegrams, summaries, printed reports, notes, receipts, statistical tables, and other papers concerning miscellaneous matters relating to Mesopotamia, including Basra, and also Bahrain.The papers notably cover:The Iraq Occupied Territories code, 1915 (folios 672-722)Notes by Gertrude Bell on the administration of justice, tribal Sayyids, claims for compensation, and the Shia in IraqBahrain and its trade with the Arabian hinterlandThe interests of the Shaikh of Mohammerah [Khorramshahr] and the Shaikh of Kuwait in the Iraq Occupied Territories'Orders for the Trial of Inhabitants of the Country' (folio 182)Attitude of the Basra notables.The principal correspondents are: Percy Zachariah Cox, Chief Political Officer in Charge, Iraq Section; Gertrude Bell, Political Officer; the Officer in Charge, Cairo Section, Eastern Bureau; Director Military Intelligence, Cairo; the General Officer Commanding, Indian Expeditiory Force D; the Chief of the General Staff, Army Headquarters, Simla.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 the 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 725; 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 4-723; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. There are multiple additional mixed foliation/pagination sequences. There is one foliation anomaly, f 360a.
72. File 4097/1914 Pt 2 'Mesopotamia: administration; personnel; appointments of civilians [from India] to the Civil Administration'
- Description:
- Abstract: This file contains correspondence between administrators in British-occupied Basra, and the Government of India relating to obtaining new civil staff for British-occupied territory in Iraq. This includes requests to obtain political officers as well as senior civil engineers required during the immediate post-war period in Iraq. Much of the correspondence is specifically between Sir Percy Cox and the Political Department at the secretary to the Government of India.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 179; 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 3-177; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.