Abstract: The volume contains a chronological list of brief summaries of papers relating to the activities of the Indian Expeditionary Force D (also known as the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force) between 15 and 28 February 1918. This is accompanied by appendices containing copies and extracts of these papers, which include: telegrams, tables, memoranda, and letters.An index to the contents of this volume can be found at the start of IOR/L/MIL/17/5/3293. The volume concerns:Military personnel issues, including: recruitment, reinforcements, and promotionsThe supply of food, construction materials, oil, ordnance, and other items to Force DShortages of copper, brass, and iron in IndiaRiver and road traffic in MesopotamiaEvacuation of sick and wounded Force D soldiersAttitudes of the residents of Basrah [Basra] to British occupationApproval of a scheme to dredge Lake HammarBritish aerial bombardment of enemy camps near HitArrest of Sulaiman Mirza [Sulaymān Mīrzā] by British troops near Khanikin [Khanaqin]Movement of Turkish [Ottoman], Austrian, and German military unitsConversion of Mesopotamian river fleet and railways to use oil instead of coalProposal for Force D to adopt a ‘purely defensive role’ in Mesopotamia and support the British offensive in PalestineConstruction of telegraph lines and railways in Mesopotamia and Persia [Iran]Location and number of prisoners of war captured by the Russian ArmyMatters relating to Dunsterforce, including: departure of officers, soldiers, and motor vehicles from Baghdad to join Dunsterforce; retreat of Dunsterforce to Hamadan due to Bolshevik and Jangali [Jangalī] opposition; and proposals for British military action against the Jangali forces in GilanProposed occupation of key roads in Persia by British troopsNegotiations between British representatives and the Persian GovernmentEfforts by the British to ‘secure co-operation between Kurds and Armenians’ in PersiaReports of ‘disorders and small massacres’ between Muslims and Armenians in the Caucasus, and Armenian concerns about imminent ‘massacres on a large scale’.The volume also contains:Distribution and composition of Force D, including details of: lines of communication; and general organisation (ff 171-176)Strength return of Force D on 1 December 1917 (ff 136-142), 8 December 1917 (ff 145-151), 15 December 1917 (ff 206-213), 5 January 1918 (ff 6-8), 12 January 1918 (ff 16-18), 19 January 1918 (ff 48-50), 26 January 1918 (ff 155-156)Report of number of pilots, balloon officers, and aircraft available for service in Mesopotamia, 14 February 1918 (f 11), 21 February 1918 (f 97)Returns of sick and wounded dated 2 February 1918 (ff 19-20), 9 February 1918 (ff 83-84)State of supplies on 9 February 1918 (ff 20-22), 16 February 1918 (ff 76-77, 118-119), 23 February 1918 (ff 195-196)Ration strength of Force D, 12 January 1917 (ff 30-36), 19 January 1918 (ff 157-160), 26 January 1918 (ff 36-39), 2 February 1918 (ff 152-154)Distribution of the Turkish Army dated 19 February 1918 (ff 66-68), 26 February 1918 (ff 185-187)Distribution Report showing number and condition of motor vehicles with Force D, January 1 1918 (ff 108-117).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 219; 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 3-217; these numbers are printed and are located in the bottom centre of the recto side of each folio.Dimensions: 21 x 33 cm
Abstract: A copy of a letter from Henry Willock, HM Chargé d’Affaires in Persia [Iran], to George Canning, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, sent from Sultanieh [Soltānīyeh] and dated 6 July 1824.The letter reports on issues in Persia’s relations with Russia, including:A proposal by the Prince Royal [‘Abbās Mīrzā, Crown Prince] to meet with General Yermoloff [Alexey Petrovich Yermolov], Commander of the Russian forces in the Caucasus, to define the borderComplaints by General Yermoloff regarding the treatment of Russian subjects in Gilan and the possible instatement of a Russian Consul in Resht [Rasht]The departure of a Russian veterinary surgeon who was sent to obtain horses from PersiaThe missions of the Persian envoys Mirza Sauleh [Mīrzā Sāleh Shīrāzī] and Mahomed Ali Khan [Muhammad ‘Ali Khān] in RussiaThe letter also forwards reports from and Mahomed Ali Khan on his mission to Russia (IOR/L/PS/9/69/188-189).The letter was enclosed in Willock’s letter to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 14 July 1824 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/186).Physical description: The letter was perforated in an attempt to stop the spread of disease.
Abstract: A translation of a letter from General Yermoloff [Alexey Petrovich Yermolov], Governor-General of Georgia, to the Shah of Persia [Iran] [Fath-‘Ali Shāh Qājār], undated.The letter complains of the treatment of Russian subjects at the hands of Mahomed Reza Meerza [Muhammad Rezā Mīrzā], Governor of Gilan. Complaints include duties and restrictions on traders from Badkooba [Baku] and Sheerwan [Şirvan] and the alleged torture of a Russian sailor by soldiers in Resht [Rasht]. Yermoloff demands a reduction in duties, the removal of restrictions on trade, and compensation for the losses of Russian subjects.The translation was enclosed in the letter of Henry Willock, HM Chargé d’Affaires to Persia, to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 14 July 1824 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/186).Physical description: The letter was perforated in an attempt to stop the spread of disease.
Abstract: A copy of a letter from Henry Willock, HM Chargé d’Affaires in Persia [Iran], to George Canning, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, sent from Tehran and dated 16 September 1824.The letter reports on discussions between Semyon Mazarovich, Russian Chargé d’Affaires in Persia, and the Shah [Fath-‘Ali Shāh Qājār] and Persian Ministers on issues in Russo-Persian relations, in particular Russia’s push for the establishment of a consulate in Resht [Rasht]. This is opposed by the Persian side which is wary of Russian influence in Gilan province. Willock conjectures on the threat that Russian expansion into Gilan would pose to India.The letter was enclosed in Willock’s letter to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company (IOR/L/PS/9/69/220).Physical description: 1 item (14 folios)
Abstract: This volume contains papers on the military situation in Persia [Iran] from January to June 1920. The majority of the papers consists of dispatches from the British Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, and instructions from the Foreign Office to the Minister in Tehran. The correspondence contains material relating to the following matters:The plan by Mushir-ed-Dowleh [Ḥasan Pīrnīyā, Mushīr al-Dawlah] to form a cabinet, and address a telegram to Kuchik Khan [Mīrzā Kuchak Khān Jangalī] to submit to the central governmentThe hesitance of Mushir-ed-Dowleh, possibly on the advice of the Shah [Aḥmad Shāh Qājār], not to form a government, due to perceived lack of support from the BritishThe discontinuation of the monthly allowance to the Shah, the possible return of Vossugh-ed-Dowleh [Mīrzā Ḥasan Khān Vusūq al-Dawlah] as Prime Minister, the expenses incurred by the Shah in Europe, and the subsidy for maintaining the Cossack Division [Cossack Brigade]The inclusion by Mushir-ed-Dowleh of Mukhbar-es-Sultaneh [Mahdī Qulī Khān Hidāyat, Mukhbir al-Salṭanah] in the cabinet to obtain the support of nationalistsThe likelihood of a Bolshevik takeover if British forces at Meshed [Mashhad] were withdrawn, and the possibly ‘fatal’ danger to India of a Bolshevik presence in KhorasanThe assurance that the British Government was prepared to give Mushir-ed-Dowleh a ‘fair trial’, and the latter’s consent to accept the Premiership based on that assumptionThe Jangali and Bolshevik takeover of the district of Tunekabun [Tonekabon], and the Persian Government’s proposal to ‘make use of Shahsevens [Shāhsivans] and people of Talish [Talesh]’, who are already armed and ‘anxious to attack Bolsheviks and Jangalis’The proposals of the Prime Minister of Persia, Mushir-ed-Dowleh, to dispatch a mission to Moscow to demand the ‘recall of Bolshevik troops’ and ‘cessation of propaganda’ in Persian territories, as well as a secret mission to religious authorities in Mesopotamia [Iraq], to persuade them to issue a fatwa condemning Bolshevism for being contrary to IslamThe urgent instructions to General Hugh Frederick Champain at Menjil [Manjil] to cover not only Kasvin [Qazvin], but also Tehran against an invasion from the north, and if necessary cover the withdrawal of the Persian Government and European community southwardsThe tensions between the Shah and Vossugh-ed-Dowleh, the breakdown of the working relationship between them, and the fall of Vossugh-ed-Dowleh’s governmentThe discussion between the British Minister in Tehran, Herman Norman, and Vossugh-ed-Dowleh, about the latter’s possible successors as Prime Minister, including Mushir-ed-Dowleh, Sipadar-Itapazan [Fatḥ Allāh Khān Akbar, Sipahdār-i A‘ẓam], and Mustaufi-ul-Mamalek [Mīrzā Ḥasan Khān Āshtīyānī, Mustawfī al-Mamalik]The Shah’s acceptance of Vossugh-ed-Dowleh’s resignation, and his summoning of Mushir-ed-Dowleh to form the new cabinet and government of PersiaA meeting between Herman Norman and Prince Firuz [Fīrūz Mīrzā Fīrūz Nuṣrat al-Dawlah III] and the latter’s views on Mushir-ed-Dowleh and the Anglo-Persian AgreementThe necessity of including a date of termination in the Anglo-Persian Agreement, the absence of which would ‘gravely prejudice’ its adoption by the Persian ParliamentA discussion between Herman Norman and Mushir-ed-Dowleh about the possible inclusion of Motamin-ul-Mulk [Ḥusayn Pīrnīyā, Mu’tamin al-Mulk], Samsam Sultane [Najaf Qulī Khān Bakhtīyārī, Ṣamṣām al-Salṭanah], Amiri Mufakham [Luṭf ‘Alī Khān Bakhtīyārī, Amīr Mufakham], and Nosrat-ed-Dowleh [Nuṣrat al-Dawlah III] in the new governmentThe recommendation by Herman Norman that Britain should come to terms with the Persian statesmen singled out to be punished for their conduct during the War, since they were ‘well looked upon by the people’ and hostility towards them would be counter-productiveThe determination of the British to single out the Persian statesmen Nizam-es-Sultaneh [Rizā Qulī Khān Nizām Māfī, Nizām al-Salṭanah], Mukhbar-es-Sultaneh, Mustaufi-ul-Mamalek, Mustashar-ed-Dowleh [Mīrzā Ṣādiq Khān Ṣādiq, Mustashār al-Dawlah] and Samsam for retribution on account of their ‘hostile actions’ against Britain during World War IThe report on the ‘internal military problems in Persia at present’, including: ‘1. Disorder in Luristan, 2. Rebellion in Azerbaijan, 3. Rebellion of Kuchik Khan in Gilan and 4. Rebellion in Mazandaran’The ‘external military problems in Persia at present’, including the ‘Bolshevik menace in North and North East Persia’ and ‘possible Turkish or Bolshevik incursions into Persian Azerbaijan’A raid carried out by Persian Democrats on the Iskandari Press, discovery of a ‘large quantity of Bolshevik literature’, and ‘abundant proof’ linking it to the German ConsulThe definition of the role of Norperforce [North Persia Force] as a military ‘outpost’, intended to act as a deterrent against the Bolshevik naval forces currently stationed at Enzeli [Anzali]The initiation of a plan for Turkish forces in Anatolia to cross northern Persia, and collaborate with the Bolshevik Government of Baku in attacking ArmeniaThe bombardment of Enzeli by Admiral Fyodor Raskolnikov, and the destruction of the remnants of General Anton Denikin’s fleet and the White Russian NavyThe departure of Sultan Kazim Khan for Astara to establish communication with the Persian Government, and departure of Halil Pasha and Dr Fuad Sabit-Bek for MoscowThe transfer of the Cossack Division, South Persia Rifles and Gendarmerie into the Regular Army of Persia and ‘disposal’ of General Starosselski [Vsevolod Staroselsky].’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: The foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 332; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The volume also contains multiple original foliation sequences.
Abstract: This volume contains correspondence relating to the political situation in Persia [Iran] from December 1920 to May 1921. The correspondence is largely formed of exchanges between HM Ambassador in Tehran and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. The correspondence in the volume contains material relating to the following matters:The plan for the amalgamation of the three schools of officers, the possible abolition of the ‘Cossack Division’ [Cossack Brigade] and Gendarmerie, and the appointment of the Military Governor of Tehran, Colonel Kazimkhan [Colonel Kāzim Khān Sayyāḥ], as Chief of StaffThe appeal of Farmanfarma [‘Abd al-Ḥusayn Mīrzā Farmānfarmā], through his son, for the British Government to intervene for a settlement with the Persian Government, which would allow Farmanfarma to leave the country immediately, following the overthrowing of the Qajar dynasty in PersiaThe clashes between the Bolsheviks and the Cossack Brigade in Gilan, and the protest made by the Persian Ambassador in Moscow Mushaver-ul-Mamalek [‘Alī Qulī Khān Mas‘ūd Ansārī, Mushāvir al-Mamālik] to the Soviet GovernmentThe march of Bolshevik troops from Julfa to Ordubad in Azerbaijan, aimed at preventing the retreat of the Armenian Army from Zangezur to Persia, and the apparent departure of the Ottoman Turkish and Kurdish allies of Simko [Ismā‘īl Āqā Shakāk, Simkū]The determination of Kuchik Khan [Mīrzā Kuchak Khān Jangalī] to resist any Persian Government advance towards Resht [Rasht], with a combined force of Gilanis, Azerbaijanis, Caucasians, Turks and KurdsThe application of the Persian Prime Minister to the United States Government for advisors with administrative powers, and the possible appointment of William Morgan Shuster as manager of an ‘Agrarian Bank to be turned eventually into a National Bank’The promise of employment from Vosugh-ed-Dowleh [Mīrzā Ḥasan Khān Vusūq al-Dawlah] to Lieutenant-Colonel [Thomas Wolseley] Haig, the postponement of the contract under the government of Mushir-ed-Dowleh [Ḥasan Pīrnīyā, Mushīr al-Dawlah], and the possibility of obtaining a ‘suitable indemnity’ for Haig from the Persian GovernmentThe arrest of Sarem-ed-Dowleh [Akbar Mīrzā Qājār, Ṣarim al-Dawlah], Governor-General of Kermanshah and son of Zill-es-Sultan [Sulṭān Mas‘ūd Mīrzā Qājār, Zill al-Sulṭān]The withdrawal of Norperforce with the exception of a number of officers, and the takeover of certain positions by Persian forces to hold the front against the BolsheviksThe arrest of the Governor-General of Khorasan, Kavam-us-Sultaneh [Aḥmad Qavām, Qavām al-Salṭanah] and some of the notables of Meshed [Mashhad] by the GendarmerieA clash between the forces of Simko, apparently carrying the Turkish flag, and a force of Persian Cossacks, reinforced with a body of gendarmes and horsemen, and the order of the Government at Angora [Ankara] for all Turkish forces to withdraw from Persian AzerbaijanThe request of the Shah of Persia [Aḥmad Shāh Qājār] from the Prime Minister to agree to his early departure for Europe on grounds of illnessThe treaty between the Soviet Government and the Government of Persia, negotiated by Mushaver-ul-Mamalek and the President of the Council [Muḥammad Valī Khān Tunikābunī, Sipahdār-i Aʿẓam]The decision of the Persian Government to allow the Anglo-Persian Agreement of 1919 to lapse, because the drastic changes in the political situation had made it counterproductiveThe proposals for the reconstruction of the Persian Army, including the provision of surplus hardware and ammunition, and British officers for training and leadershipThe coup d’état carried out by the President in Council and Reza Khan [Rezā Khān Savādkūhī] (Persian Cossack Commander), and the arrest of officials suspected of corruption including Farmanfarma ‘pending disgorgement [of] all ill-gotten gains’A proposal for the establishment of a Perso-British-Azerbaijani commission to arrange the simultaneous withdrawal of British and Bolshevik forces from PersiaThe formation of a new government by Sipahdar, including Mohtashem-es-Sultani [Mīrzā Ḥasan Khān Isfandīyarī, Muḥtasham al-Salṭanah] as Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the retirement of Vahidul Mulk [Mīrzā ‘Abd al-Ḥusayn Shaybānī, Vaḥīd al-Mulk]The pilgrimage of Nosret ed Dowleh [Fīrūz Mīrzā Fīrūz, Nuṣrat al-Dawlah III] to Kazimain [Kazimayn], Kerbela [Karbala] and Najaf, and his procurement of a fatwa from the Chief Mujtahide [Mujtahid] pronouncing Bolshevism to be incompatible with IslamThe diplomatic activities of Sir Percy [Zachariah] Cox and the perception of an opportunity for Britain to transform and restore the authority of the Persian Government.The volume also contains a memorandum on the withdrawal of British forces from North-West Persia and its possible ramifications to inform future policy (ff 443-447).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: The foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 510; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The volume also contains multiple original foliation sequences.