Abstract: Printed collection of biographical notices, as well as comments on élite dynasties and tribes of Persia [Iran], written over a period of twelve months and completed in December 1897 by Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Philip Picot (Military Attaché, Teheran [Tehran]), then Acting Oriental Secretary in Her Majesty’s Legation. Amendments were added up until 23 January 1898. The author presented the manuscript to Charles H Hardinge (First Secretary, Foreign Office, London), 27 January 1898. The latter forwarded it to the Marquis of Salisbury (Prime Minister), 28 January 1898, who received it a month later (28 February 1898). The title page (f 1) is stamped as having belonged previously to the Government of India’s Library of the Foreign Office, Simla, where this copy was received with two other copies (two for Simla and one for Calcutta [Kolkata], three copies in total) and a letter from the Secretary of the Political and Secret Department, dated 8 July 1898 (location not disclosed). The contents are marked secret (originally ‘confidential,’ crossed out), and specified as, ‘For the use of Officers in Her Majesty’s Service only.’The printed work comprises two ‘inclosures’ [enclosures]: firstly, Picot’s letter of presentation to Hardinge (f 2v), prefaced by Hardinge’s letter of presentation to the Marquis of Salisbury (f 2); secondly, the treatise proper (ff 3r-60v). The contents page (f 3v) lists four main sections, but without corresponding page references. Following a brief introduction (f 4), an alphabetic register [index] of names (ff 4v-11v), and a glossary of titles and terms (ff 12r-13v), the work is divided into eight chapters comprising numbered entries. The first four chapters deal with the royal family in Teheran (forty-five entries over ff 14r-19v), the notables of Teheran (ninety-seven entries over ff 20r-32v), the merchants of Teheran (twenty-eight entries over ff 33r-35v), and the clergy of Teheran (eleven entries over ff 36-37). The remaining four chapters focus on the provinces of Fars (thirty-eight entries over ff 37v-44v), Ispahan [Isfahan] (eleven entries over ff 45-47), Khorasan (fifty-nine entries over ff 47v-57v), and Tabriz (twenty-two entries over ff 58-60).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 60; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the volume also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: This note on the memorandum produced by Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, Minister Plenipotentiary to Tehran 1894-1900, was written by Sir William Lee-Warner and focuses on various issues relating to the current situation in Persia. These include:the issue of the Regie debt;concerns over the succession of the Vali Ahd to power following the death of the Shah;the delimitation of the Perso-Baluch frontier;Anglo-Russian relations and actions in Persia;Russian influence over the region and over the Vali Ahd;considerations over how English finances and personnel could be better managed in the region.The document concludes with notes from 'E N' and 'G H'. The identities of these authors are unknown.Physical description: 2 folios
Abstract: The file consists of a printed précis of correspondence taken from India Office records, issued by the India Office. The précis relates to the following two subjects:question of employing British officers in drilling, etc. the Shah's Army in Persia, consisting of extracts from printed works and other sources dated 1832-63, and extracts of correspondence with the Foreign Office, dated 1863-72 (folios 104-110);proposal to supply the Shah with ships to be commanded by British officers, largely consisting of extracts from correspondence with the Foreign Office, dated 1868-70 (folios 111-113).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation for this description commences at f 103 and terminates at f 117, 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 also present in parallel between ff 5-137; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: Paper No.7 written by Colonel Augustus Le Messurier of the Bombay Engineers, being a diary of a journey through Persia [Iran] from Rasht to Bushire, undertaken between 24 October and 9 December 1887. The volume was published in Calcutta [Kolkota] in 1888, in Government of India Quarter Master General's Department.At the front of the volume (f 4) is a list of illustrations and tables numbered 7A-7Z, and two further items numbered 25-26. Items 7A-7E are a map, section plans, route table and equipment list, which are included in the volume (ff 16-20). Items 7F-7Z refer to photographs taken by Antoin Sevruguin, included in a separate album published by Le Messurier (Photo 198). Items 25 and 26 are drawings, included at the end of the album of Sevruguin’s photographs.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 22; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: This file consists of a Foreign Office memorandum (author unknown), followed by an annex written by Charles Murray Marling, British Minister at Tehran.The file concerns the revision of the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907. The convention divided Persia into three areas: a Russian sphere in the north, a British sphere in the south-east, and a remaining neutral zone.The memorandum refers to a recent invitation by the Russian government for Britain to enter into possession of practically the whole of the neutral zone. It discusses the possibility of negotiating for a considerable area of the current Russian sphere to be included in the new British territory. The memorandum suggests that Britain's efforts should be concentrated on the towns of Ispahan and Yezd (both of which lie in the Russian sphere) or in the last resort, on Yezd alone. The memorandum goes on to suggest that, as a counterpoise to Russia's cession, Britain might wish to surrender to Russia the oil-bearing districts in Kermanshah, which are located in the Russian sphere, but which currently belong, 'in a more or less undeveloped state', to the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.Also discussed is the possibility of Britain agreeing with Russia to limit the activities of the Imperial Bank (Persia's state bank), which currently has nine branches in the Russian zone, to the neutral zone of Persia. The memorandum suggests that such a course of action would hardly be possible unless Britain would be prepared to pay an indemnity to the Imperial Bank for the loss of its branches. However, it is argued that this action would give Britain a valuable lever in its efforts to have Ispahan included in the new British territory.In the annex which follows on from the memorandum, Charles Murray Marling recounts a brief meeting with Sazonof [Sergei Dmitrievich Sazonov], the Russian Foreign Minister, in Petrograd [Saint Petersburg], who reportedly stated that Russia wishes to retain both the district and town of Ispahan, in order to protect Russian trade in the Russian sphere from British merchants.Marling suggests that it would be both in Britain's and in Russia's interests for Ispahan to be included in the new British sphere, on the grounds that to do otherwise would result in a partition of the Bakhtiari tribe's territory. Such a partition, Marling argues, would divide the tribe into 'British' and 'Russian' parties, and would result in both parties possessing a common grievanace against Britain.Marling questions the extent to which the inclusion of Ispahan within the Russian sphere would benefit Russian trade. He speculates on the real reason for Russia wishing to retain the territory, before emphasising the importance of Ispahan, both to Britain's interests in the oilfields of Bakhtiaristan, and to its future position in Mesopotamia.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 15, and terminates at f 17, 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. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: Chart 27.Hydrographic chart covering a twelve-mile length of coast around Abu Shahr, Persia [Bandar-e Bushehr, Iran] on the Persian Gulf. Portrays hydrology, including depths by soundings and contours, sands, mud and rocks, relief by spot heights and rock drawings, vegetation, cultivation, settlements, public buildings, forts and place names, and includes topographical notes and navigational aids, including beacons and prominent buildings.The sheet also portrays, at an unspecified scale, an annotated sketch view (40 x 590mm) of Abu Shahr and adjacent coastline from the west.Chart surveyed by lieutenants Thomas Henry Herbert Hand, Charles Steward Hickman, Edward James Headlam, Alexander Gordon Bingham and William Kirkwood Thyne, Royal Indian Marine under the direction of Captain Thomas Henry Heming, Royal Navy, Marine Survey of India, 1904. Inner anchorage re-sounded by Lieutenant A D D Smyth, Royal Navy, 1911. Engraved by Davies & Company. Published at the Admiralty, 1906, new edition 1912 with small corrections.The number '184.12' is stamped in the top right margin.Physical description: Materials: Printed on paperDimensions: 973 x 637mm, on sheet 664 x 1009mm
Abstract: A copy of a statement of the fixed revenues of Persia [Iran]. It includes columns showing the following (in tomans and dinars): the amount of revenue, the total amount of revenue, the amount of moostamaree to be deducted, the total amount of moostamaree to be deducted, and the net amount of revenue for different provinces and districts of provinces. (A note on the verso of folio 2 explains that moostamaree was the fixed salaries paid by the government to different people in the province.)The copy is signed by Brigadier-General John Malcolm, and it was received via the ship
Exeteron 8 August 1811.Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: A confidential publication compiled, by arrangement with the Government of India, under the direction of the Historical Section of The Committee of Imperial Defence, by Brigadier-General FJ Moberly. The volume is part of the
Official History of the Great Warseries produced by the British Government.The volume begins with a preface by Moberly and is then divided into 11 (I-XI) chapters, plus appendices, as follows:Chapter I: IntroductoryChapter II: August 1914 to June 1915, Enemy efforts to bring Persia into the WarChapter III: July to November 1915, Enemy action and Persian weakness necessitate Allied interventionChapter IV: December 1915 to May 1916, Successful results of Allied operationsChapter V: May to December 1916, Turkish invasion of Western Persia and British measures in South and East PersiaChapter VI: December 1916 to August 1917, Effects of British success in MesopotamiaChapter VII: September 1917 to April 1918, The failure of Persia to maintain her neutrality necessitates further British interventionChapter VIII: May to July 1918, The effect in Persia of the German successes in France; and the anti-British outbreak in FarsChapter IX: July to September 1918, The tide turns in favour of the AlliesChapter X: October to 11th November 1918, The effect of our victoriesChapter XI: ConclusionThe volume contains fourteen maps, some of which are in a pocket in the inside back cover, as follows:1. Operations at Bushire 1915 (folio 275)2. Portion of Perso-Afghan frontier (folio 276)3. Operations at Dilbar, 13th-15th August 1915 (folio 66)4. Operations of General Dyer in Sarhad, April-August 1916 (folio 277)5. Wanderings of German parties in Persia and Afghanistan (folio 278)6. Affair of Dasht-i-Arjan, 25th September 1916 (folio 128)7. Affair of Kafta, 5th July 1917 (folio 144)8. Northern Fars (folio 177)9. Action of Deh Shaikh, 25th May 1918 (folio 182)10. Shiraz (folio 194)11. Operations from Bushire, September 1918-January 1919 (folio 279)12. Plan of East Persia L. of C. (folio 231)13. Operations for relief of Firuzabad, October 1918 (folio 236)14. Persia (folio 280)The volume also includes a bibliography (folio 14).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 281; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: Geographical Section, General Staff No. 2555, sheet North J-38, Tabriz, Provisional Edition bearing the imprint 'Compiled at the Royal Geographical Society under the direction of the Geographical Section General Staff. Drawn and printed at the War Office. 1916.'Covers an area of up to 200 miles radius of Tabriz in north-western Persia [Iran], extending northwards into present-day Armenia and Azerbaijan. The printed map portrays hydrology, relief by contours and spot heights, railways, roads and tracks, settlements, telegraphs, post and telegraph offices, place names, and international and internal boundaries. A copy of this printed map is held at Maps MOD GSGS 2555; versions printed with gradient tints (see manuscript additions below) are held at Maps 46820.(185.) and Maps MOD GSGS 2555.Manuscript additions provide gradient tints, a route leading south from Tabriz and the underlining of a small number of settlements.The map bears the accession stamp, recto and verso, of the Director of Military Intelligence, War Office, 7 April 1920.Physical description: Materials: Printed in colour, with manuscript additions in coloured ink, watercolour and crayon, on paper (backed with linen)Dimensions: 445 x 540mm, on sheet 663 x 683mm
Abstract: A translation of a letter from Meerza Mohammed Sheffea [Mīrzā Muḥammad Shafī' Māzandarānī], Prime Minister (Sadr-e 'Azam or Grand Vizier) of Persia [Iran], to the Chairman of Court of Directors of the East India Company, conveying ‘sentiments of esteem & friendship’. It was translated into English from Persian by the interpreter Lieutenant Henry Willock of the Madras Cavalry.The verso of the last folio indicates that it was enclosed in a letter from Sir Harford Jones, British Envoy Extraordinary to Persia, to the Chairman dated 3 May 1809, and that it was received via James Justinian Morier, Jones’s secretary, on 5 December 1809.Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: Corrections to Volume I (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/20/C101/1) of a series of official publications on Routes in Persia [Iran] produced by the Division of the Chief of Staff, Army Headquarters, India, dated October 1912.The corrections concern routes nos. 44, 69-A, 59-A, and 93-A. The corrections contain revised and additional information including: road conditions; topographical information; settlements along the routes; and the availability of supplies.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 6; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: The volume consists of corrections to the
Gazetteer of Persia Volume II(1st Series, 1917). It provides an index to the sub-tribes referred to in the volume.Printed at the Government Monotype Press, Simla, 1918.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 12; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.