Abstract: The file contains a draft report from the War Office Committee on Mesopotamia [Iraq], chaired by Lieutenant-General Sir George Macdonogh, Adjutant-General to the Forces. The report considers the establishment of an Imperial Mesopotamian Police or the raising of ‘troops for special permanent service’ to ensure the security of the British Mandate of Mesopotamia in the wake of the Iraqi Revolt of 1920. The report includes several War Office memoranda containing background information, plans for specific scenarios, and estimates for numbers of troops or military police required.A ‘Map of Eastern Turkey in Asia, Syria and Western Persia’ is attached to the report (folio 39) showing the distribution of British troops and military police in Mesopotamia [IOR/L/MIL/5/802, f 39].Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 39; 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 other papers relating to oil exploration and the acquisition of oil concessions in Mesopotamia [Iraq] (and to a lesser degree, Persia [Iran]) by oil companies. The companies involved are: the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC); the Shell Transport Company (STC, also referred to as the Anglo-Saxon Oil Company), led by chief negotiator John Steven Cowans; the Standard Oil Company of New York (SOC). The correspondence covers: Cowans’s trip to Mesopotamia on behalf of STC; reports of SOC geologists to Mesopotamia; the British Government’s decision that all oil exploration and efforts at obtaining concessions in Mesopotamia should be stopped while the country remains under military administration; the retention of STC experts for oil exploration for military purposes; APOC exploration in the Pasht-i-Kuh region of Persia, and the company’s negotiations with the local Vali (or Wali), rather than the Persian Government; the refusal by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to authorise visas to British SOC representatives wishing to travel to Mesopotamia; suspicions amongst British Government officials that SOC were supporting and financing anti-British sentiment in Mesopotamia; the withdrawal of oil representatives and geologists in Mesopotamia from August 1920, in response to the social unrest and anti-British sentiment spreading across the country (the 1920 Iraqi revolt).The volume’s principal correspondents are: the Civil Commissioner in Baghdad, Arnold Talbot Wilson; Foreign Office officials; India Office officials.The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file 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 292; 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 between ff 165-292, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
Abstract: The volume contains parts 3 and 4 of the subject ‘IRAQ & PERSIA. OIL’. Part 3 (IOR/L/PS/10/577/1) concerns a dispute between the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) and the Government of Persia [Iran] over royalty payments and compensation for damage done to oil pipelines. Part 4 (IOR/L/PS/10/577/2) concerns the oil exploration at Nafţ Khānah, oil prospecting policy in Palestine, and British denial of access to Mesopotamia of oil companies from the United States.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 (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 329; 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 between ff 70-329, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
Abstract: The volume is concerned with commercial possibilities within Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf for British trade. Of particular concern for British officials is ensuring that British firms are placed in the best possible position to counter expected competition from Germany and Japan following the cessation of hostilities. Much of the file is taken up with proposals for a Mesopotamian Trade Commission, prompted by a report produced by Captain George Lloyd on the economic situation in the Gulf and Mesopotamian markets in 1916; multiple copies of Lloyd's report can be found between folios 216-285. This includes details behind the selection of the Commissioners (Robert Erskine Holland and John Wilson), the division of expenditure between the British and Indian Governments, and the remuneration for the Commissioners. It also outlines some of the process behind the British Government's decision not to publish the report immediately following its submission in 1917, and subsequent reviews of this decision.The volume does not contain a copy of the report produced by the Holland-Wilson Commission. However, a summary of its recommendations can be found on folios 104-06, and a note on the report prepared by the India Office (dated 6 February 1918) can be found on folios 100-03. Copies of the Commission’s original instructions may be found on folios 180 and 182. Proposals from Sir Percy Cox dated 1 March 1917 on measures to turn the Persian Gulf into a British ‘mare clausum’ [closed sea] can be found on folio 154, along with English and French copies of the ‘Recommendations of the Economic Conference of the Allies’ held at Paris 14-17 June 1916 on folios 155-58.Another matter discussed within is an application from Messrs Lynch and Lord Inchcape [James Lyle Mackay] to establish an office for their joint firm — Mackay, Lynch and Company — at Baghdad, and for permission to implement a pre-war concession from the Ottoman Government to run steamers on the Tigris and Euphrates. This includes the minutes of a meeting of the Middle East Committee of the War Cabinet (see folios 84-5) held on the 18 February 1918 on the undesirability of granting a monopoly on these rivers.Other matters covered by the file include proposals — dated 28 February 1918 — from the Bahrain Political Agent (see folios 53-4) towards the establishment of a strong commercial position for British trade at Bahrain, an agent deputed by Messrs Herbert Whitworth Limited to establish branches at Basra and Baghdad, and the construction of a through railway between Basra and Baghdad.The main correspondents are officials of the Board of Trade (Henry Fountain), the India Office (Arthur Hirtzel and John Evelyn Shuckburgh), the Foreign Office, and the Government of India; with significant input from Sir Percy Cox (serving as Chief Political Officer of the Indian Expeditionary Force), and the Under Secretary of State for India (John Dickson-Poynder).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 inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 287; 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 copies of correspondence, telegrams, handwritten notes and other papers. They relate to negotiations between the British Government, the Government of India, and the Persian Government, over the status of British Indian post offices in south Persia, which took place before, during, and after the Congress of the Universal Postal Union, held in Madrid in November 1920. The volume’s principal correspondents include: the British Ambassador to Madrid (Sir Esme Howard); the Persian Minister to Madrid (Hussein Khan Alai); India Office staff (David Taylor Monteath; Leonard Day Wakely; John Evelyn Shuckburgh); Foreign Office officials (including Lancelot Oliphant); the Director-General of Posts and Telegraphs in India (Geoffrey R Clarke); and the British Minister at Tehran (Herman Cameron Norman; Sir Percy Lyham Loraine).The correspondence centres on a threat by Persian Government officials to raise an official objection against the continued presence in Persia of British Indian post offices at the Madrid Congress. British Government officials were anxious to avoid such a move, fully appreciating the ‘anomalous’ position of their Persian post offices under the regulations of the Universal Postal Union. The correspondence indicates the Government of India’s amenability to handing over certain postal operations to the Persian authorities (folio 251), and the concerns held by many in the British Government over such a prospect (ff 288-289), not least their doubts over whether the Persian authorities could run an efficient postal service themselves.The volume includes:a commentary of proceedings at the Madrid Congress, including copies of the speeches given by Persian ministers (ff 247-249), description of their reception (f 251), and a printed copy of the Madrid Convention (ff 143-158);correspondence relating to the impact of changes in Anglo-Persian relations (after the 1921 coup d’état in Persia) on Persian demands for the abolition of British Indian post offices in Persia (ff 217-218);throughout 1921, continued demands from the Persian Government for the transfer of British Indian post offices to Persian control, and in particular those now under (post-war) Mesopotamian administration (Abadan and Mohammerah [Khorramshahr]) and the post office at Ahwaz [Ahvāz];from January 1922, debate amongst British officials (Government of India, the Minister in Tehran, Foreign Office, India Office) and negotiations between British and Persian Government officials over arrangements for the transfer of British Indian postal services in Persia to Persian administration, with a view to the transfer taking place on 1 January 1922. Included is a copy in French of the agreement between British and Persian officials for the proposed transfer, dated 5 January 1922 (ff 54-57), discussion relating to the importance of sustaining a postal service for areas serving the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) oil fields, and reports of the dismissal of the Director of the Persian postal service (Camille Molitor) in March 1922, causing consternation amongst British officials (ff 47-49, ff 84-91);British officials’ examination of events at the Washington Conference (1921/1922), which provided an analogous diplomatic situation to their own (negotiations for the withdrawal of United States post offices from China) (ff 81-83);the British Government’s assent, in April/May 1922, to the abolition or transfer to the Persian authorities of its post offices in Persia and Arabistan (ff 20-22, ff 66-70).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 main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 340; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Two additional foliation sequences are also present in parallel between ff 42-62 and ff 217-321; these numbers are written in blue crayon.Pagination: a original printed pagination sequence is also present in parallel between ff 143-158.
Abstract: The volume contains parts 4 and 5 of the subject ‘Mesopotamia: Trade’. Part 4 (IOR/L/PS/10/368/1) concerns trade missions to Mesopotamia [Iraq] and the Persian Gulf at the end of the First World War (1914-1918) by the British Trade Corporation and others. Part 5 (IOR/L/PS/12/368/2) concerns the preparation of a new and up to date report on trade conditions in the region.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 for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 266; 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: 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.
Abstract: Correspondence and other papers concerning oil exploration and applications for oil concessions in Mesopotamia [Iraq] and in the frontier region between Mesopotamia and Persia [Iran] during and in the years following the First World War, when Mesopotamia was under British military occupation and administration. The papers cover: an application for an oil concession on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, made to the British Government by the Motor Petrol Association Limited, 1918; an application made to the Government by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) for an extension of their Persia oil concession to cover the ‘Persian Gulf littoral’, 1918; the development of an oilfield at Naft Khana [Nafţ Khānah] in Mesopotamia, with company expenditure paid from British military funds; discussion of the position of the Turco-Persian frontier in relation to the Naft Khana oilfields; the transfer of territory from Persia to Mesopotamia, and the formation of a new company by APOC to apply for concession rights in this territory; discussion between the British civil administration in Mesopotamia, HM Petroleum Executive, APOC, the India Office and Foreign Office, on future oil policy in Mesopotamia; the US Ambassador in London’s concern that representatives of the Standard Oil Company of New York were being forbidden to undertake geological surveying work in Mesopotamia, 1919.The file’s principal correspondents are: the Civil Commissioner in Mesopotamia, Arnold Talbot Wilson; the India Office; the Foreign Office; HM Petroleum Executive.The volume includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file 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 236; 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: 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.
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 export of wool from Baghdad and Basra in Mesopotamia [Iraq] during Britain’s military occupation of the country after the First World War. The contents of the file are a direct chronological continuation of File 3104/1915 Pt 4 ‘Mesopotamia: Trade with Baghdad & Export of wool’ (IOR/L/PS/10/567). Contents of the file include: arrangements for the export of 3,000 bales of wool from Basra to Marseilles; restrictions on the export of wool from Mesopotamia; changes in trading restrictions, including the Army Council’s insistence that all wool from Mesopotamia be imported into Britain, for distribution to its allies (specifically, France and the United States of America); a copy of a report produced by the East Indian Wool Trade Committee, dated July 1918 (ff 77-85); applications by commercial firms seeking to export wool from Mesopotamia; the Army Council’s considerations on lifting restrictions on the export of wool in February 1919. The file contains a number of items in French.The file’s principal correspondents are: the India Office; the Foreign Office; the War Office, including the Director of Raw Materials at the War Office.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 166; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.