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589. File 4535/1928 Pt 16 ‘Persian Gulf: Political Control Report of the Warren Fisher Committee.’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains papers concerning political control in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula.The first half of the file relates to the inter-departmental Sub-Committee of Political Control of the Persian Gulf Sub-Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence. The Sub-Committee on Political Control was chaired by Sir Norman Fenwick Warren Fisher, and its terms of reference (as stated in several documents in the file) were ‘To make recommendations as to the methods by which the existing machinery for political control in Arabia can be simplified and speeded up’, which the British Government considered to be necessary as a result of the changed conditions brought about by the extended use of air power in general, and the projected air route along the Arabian littoral of the Gulf in particular.It includes the following papers of the Sub-Committee on Political Control:Minutes of meetings of the Sub-Committee of 8 May, 15 May, and 24 October 1929Notes by the Air Ministry entitled ‘Co-operation between the Resident Persian Gulf and the A.O.C. Iraq on all questions relating to: (a) the use of air power in the Gulf regions, and (b) in particular the organisation of the air route’, and ‘The present position as regards the air route and the general methods which it is proposed to adopt to organise it’, dated 11 May 1929A copy of a despatch from the Foreign Office to Herbert George Jakins, Jeddah, of 10 April 1929, regarding the channels to be used for communications with Ibn SaudA copy of the draft report of the Sub-Committee dated 21 June 1929A document dated 4 August 1929 containing copies of comments on the draft report by the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, the India Office, the Admiralty, and the Air MinistryA copy of the final version of the report of the Sub-Committee, dated 12 December 1929, which is divided into two parts, Part I dealing with propositions lying within the scope of the terms of reference of the Sub-Committee, and Part II concerning the possibility of the transfer to the Foreign Office of the general control of British relations with the whole of the territories in the Middle East (Part II is signed only by the Chairman of the Sub-Committee and representatives of the Admiralty, the War Office, and the Air Ministry).This part of the file also includes correspondence between Hastings Lionel Ismay, Secretary of the Sub-Committee on Political Control, and John Gilbert Laithwaite, Principal, India Office.Most of the rest of the file relates to the question of whether the India Office or the Foreign Office should take over the responsibilities in the Persian Gulf hitherto exercised by the Colonial Office.These papers include:A copy of a memorandum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs proposing the transfer of this work to the Foreign Office, dated 10 June 1933A copy of a memorandum by the Secretary of State for India in response to the Foreign Office memorandum, stating the reasons why he thought the work in question should be dealt with in future by the India Office rather than the Foreign Office, dated 19 June 1933Correspondence between the India Office and the following: the Colonial Office; the Government of India Foreign and Political Department; and the Foreign Office.The file also includes some correspondence regarding the possibility, raised by the Government of India Foreign and Political Department, that it might be necessary in the future to post as Under Secretary to the Resident in the Persian Gulf an Indian Member of the Political Department, and the objection of the India Office to this, on the basis that in the discussions which led up to the transfer to the India Office of the responsibility for work hitherto undertaken in the Persian Gulf by the Colonial Office, the Secretary of State for India informed the Cabinet, in response to concerns raised by other Departments, that there would be no ‘Indianisation’ of personnel in this area.In addition, the file includes some papers relating to the question of the unification of political control of the parts of Arabia for which the Colonial Office, the Foreign Office, the India Office and the Government of India were responsible, and the suggestion that a single Department of Arabian Affairs should be created, under the control of the Colonial Office.As well as the papers mentioned above, the file also includes India Office Political Department minute papers, and internal correspondence between India Office officials.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 last folio with 286; 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.
590. File 4535/1928 Pt 1, 3 ‘Persian Gulf negotiations 1928’
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume contains papers relating to deliberations of the Persian Gulf Sub-Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence, in relation to treaty negotiations between Britain and Persia [Iran].Part 1 consists of papers regarding the revision of a 1908 Foreign Office memorandum on British interests in the Persian Gulf, for the information of the Sub-Committee. Part 3 concerns the status of certain islands in the Persian Gulf, including islands whose ownership by Persia had not been established in the view of the British Government.Each part 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 324; 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.
591. File 2764/1904 Pt 4 'Baghdad Railway: Anglo-Turkish negotiations; proposals of Turkish Govt; status of Kowait'
- Description:
- 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 1911-1912.The correspondence concerns three broad topics:Anglo-Turkish negotiationsproposals of the Turkish Governmentthe status of Kuwait.The discussion in the volume relates to the economic, commercial, political and military considerations impinging on British strategy for these international negotiations.Further discussion surrounds the Draft Report of the Standing Sub-Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence.The principal correspondents in the volume include Sir Edward Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs ,and John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley, Lord President of the Council.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover 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. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
592. File 2908/1907 Pt 1 ‘Persian Gulf: Quarantine’
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume contains part one of the subject file 2908/1907 Persian Gulf: Quarantine. This part contains papers regarding proposals for the improvement of the Persian Gulf Quarantine Service. It therefore contains discussion between British officials over the provision of finance, personnel, and equipment to facilitate improvements. The supply of stoves (for Jask, Bundar Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās], Lingah [Bandar-e-Lengeh], Mohammerah, Bushire, and Bahrain) and a Clayton disinfection apparatus by the Government of India accounts for a significant amount of correspondence. Some discussion surrounding possible threats to British control of the Quarantine service can also be found in the file.Printed copies of the minutes of the Sanitary Council for the Empire of Persia are included for the meetings: 29 June 1907 (folios 141-143), 5 August 1907 (folios 144-145), 2 September 1907 (folios 133-135), 4 November 1907 (folios 81-83), and 2 December 1907 (folios 84-86). These documents are written in French. A note from Dr Jean-Etienne Justin Schneider, President of the Sanitation Council, on proposed improvements to the Quarantine Service can be found on folio 196-198. This note is also in French.Printed copies of telegrams regarding a plague outbreak in Bahrain in 1907 can be found between folios 183-187.Towards the front of the file are a small number of papers related to a proposal to withdraw the mobile assistant medical officer – posted to Bushire under the improvement programme – from the Persian Gulf in 1909.The main correspondents are as follows: the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Sir Edward Grey), HM Minister at Tehran (Sir Cecil Arthur Spring-Rice), the Chargé d'affaires at Tehran (Charles Murray Marling), the Under-Secretary of State for India (Arthur Godley), and officials from the Foreign Office (Louis Mallet and Sir Walter Langley). Occasional reference is also made to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Major Percy Zachariah Cox) and the Government of India.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 front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 255; 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.
593. File 2908/1907 Pt 2-3 ‘Persian Gulf: Quarantine’
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume contains parts two and three of the subject file 2908/1907 Pt 2-3 ‘Persian Gulf: Quarantine’. Part two is concerned with quarantine arrangements at Bahrain. Part three is concerned with the proceedings of the International Sanitary Conference (1903) and German complaints against the Persian Gulf Quarantine Service (1907-1908).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 first folio (with 1) and terminates at the last folio with 181; 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.The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
594. File 4326/1919 'Persia: the Shah's visit to Europe 1919-20'
- Description:
- Abstract: This volume comprises: correspondence; deciphered telegrams; India Office Political Department Minute and Draft papers containing draft letters, draft telegrams and internal notes; covering letters of the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Under-Secretary of State for India (with enclosures); and India Office Political Department registry forms with subject and notes.The papers relate to the visit of the Shah of Persia [Aḥmad Shāh Qājār, Shāh of Iran] to Europe, chiefly the arrangements for his journey from Tehran [also spelled Teheran in this volume], departing in August 1919 and his return there, arriving in June 1920, and the defrayment of the costs thereof. The papers notably cover:The role of Sir Percy Cox, HM Minister in Tehran, in promoting and facilitating the trip, and of various British diplomats in arranging hosts, visits and accommodationPolitical considerations incumbent upon and generated by the visit, particularly with regard to Anglo-Persian relations and the Anglo-Persian Agreement of August 1919The progress of the Shah and his party on their journey: from Tehran, via Baku and the Caucasus, to Batoum [Batumi]; by sea, on HMS Ceres,to Constantinople [Istanbul] and Taranto; and through Italy by railway to Switzerland, where the Shah planned to take a ‘rest of cure’ [rest cure] (f 246) before travelling to Paris and BiarritzDetails of the persons making up the royal party (see ff 230 and 239)The movements in Europe of Nusret-ed-Dowleh [Prince Fīrūz Mīrzā Nuṣrat-al-Dawlah III], the Persian [Iranian] Foreign Minister, including: his meeting in Geneva with the Swiss Ambassador, Sir Horace Rumbold; a visit to London in mid-September; and his stay in ParisThe practical and financial arrangements for the accompaniment of the Shah by a British officer on his outward and return journeysDomestic tensions and the perceived increasing Bolshevik influence in Persia [Iran], which contributed to the Shah's decision in April 1920 to hasten his return homeProgress of the Shah and his party on their return journey including their: departure from Marseille on 1 May on the P & O ship SS Narkunda; reception in Port Said on 7 May by Field-Marshall Lord Allenby, High Commissioner for Egypt and Sudan; departure from Aden on 12 MayProgress of the Shah and his party up the Persian Gulf to Basra on the Royal Indian Marine Service steamer Lawrence, including the Shah’s: visit to Bushire [Bushehr], 17-18 May (ff 62-65); meeting with the Civil Commissioner, Bagdad [also spelled Baghdad in this volume], at Basra; visit to Mohammerah [Khorramshahr] and meeting with the Sheik [Shaikh] and representatives of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, 20 May (ff 85, 71-72, 49-50)The cost and security considerations of the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, regarding the Shah’s journey through Mesopotamia [Iraq], by railway, from Basra to Baghdad and visit to the holy sites of Kerbela [Karbala] and Nejef [Najaf], 23-24 MayReport by Cox on the public reception of the Shah on his return to Tehran on 3 JuneA dispute between the India Office and the Foreign Office over liability for expenses incurred by the Lawrencein May 1920 for conveyance of the Shah from Aden to Basra, including summaries of costs submitted by the Government of India Marine Department (ff 41-42, 34, 15-16).The primary correspondents are: the Foreign Office; the India Office; the Admiralty; the Treasury; HM Minister at Tehran; and the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad. There is also correspondence (chiefly of the Foreign Office) with commissioners, ambassadors, and other senior British Government overseas officials who were involved in the arrangements for portions of the Shah’s journey to and from Europe, notably: the Ambassador to France; the Assistant High Commissioner at Constantinople; the High Commissioner for Egypt and Sudan; the Ambassador to Berne; the Ambassador to Italy; and the Consul-General at Marseilles.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 end of the correspondence (front of the volume).Physical description: The foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 264; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
595. File 44/21 (2) ‘War Middle East Intelligence Centre Tour of Head of Intelligence Centre in Iraq, Iran & Persian Gulf. (Arrangements for P. I. A. W.)’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains correspondence from the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf to His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India regarding the ‘Defence Regulations made under the Persian Gulf States (Emergency) Order in Council 1939’. The regulations apply in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Muscat and Oman. The file also contains a report on a visit to Iraq made by the Head of the Middle East Intelligence Centre between 12 and 15 October 1939. The report is issued by the Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee, and it covers the following subheadings: the Objects of the Tour; the Preventive Intelligence Arab World [PIAW] in Iraq, Iran, and the Persian Gulf; the Situation in Iraq; the Propaganda in Iraq, Iran, and the Persian Gulf; and Propaganda General.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 24; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
596. File 4480/1923 Pt 2 ‘Persian Gulf: Naval Incidents: Visits of British Warships to Persian Ports: Persian Territorial Waters Bill.’
- Description:
- Abstract: This volume contains papers, mostly correspondence and India Office Political and Secret Department minute papers, relating to naval incidents in the Persian Gulf, and visits of British warships to Persian ports.It includes correspondence regarding the following: the Persian Government’s objection to British shipping, including HM Ships, calling at Persian ports without notice; the reporting of movements of British warships in the Persian Gulf; the treatment of HM ships in Persian ports, including Persian quarantine and customs procedure at Henjam and Abadan; incidents which took place on the occasions of the visits of HM Ships Lupinand Crocusto Abadan and Bunder Abbas [Bandar Abbas] respectively; the Persian draft bill regarding territorial waters; discussions between the Admiralty and the Foreign Office concerning the drafting of an article to regulate visits of British warships to Persian ports, for inclusion in a General Treaty between Britain and Persia; and new regulations imposed by the Persian Government in connection with the landing of officers and crews and of visits of vessels to Persian ports.The main correspondents are as follows: the India Office; the Foreign Office (including the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir Austen Chamberlain); HM Minister, Tehran (Sir Percy Lorraine, Sir Robert Henry Clive, and Sir Reginald Hervey Hoare, successively); HM Chargé d’Affaires, Tehran; the Admiralty; the Colonial Office; the Minister of Court, Persia (Mirza Abdul Hussein Khan Taimourtache [Abdolhossein Teymūrtāsh, also spelled Teymourtache in the correspondence]); the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Government of India Foreign and Political Department; the Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf; and the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies.The file includes several documents in French, including: correspondence between Sir R H Clive and Taimourtache; copies of documents entitled ‘Projet de Loi portant Réglement des Conditions d’Admission des Bateaux étrangers dans les Eaux persanes’ (Draft Law Regulating the Conditions of Admission of Foreign Vessels in Persian Waters) ‘Traduction de l'Instruction adressée par l'Administration centrale de l'Hygiène à ses Fonctionnaires au golfe Persique’ (Translation of the instructions sent by the Public Health Department to its officials in the Persian Gulf) and ‘La Quarantaine à Henjam’ (Quarantine in Henjam); correspondence between HM Minister, Tehran, and the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs; letters from the Director of Customs, Bushire, to HM Consul, Bushire; and articles of draft General Treaty with Persia.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 inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 825; 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 114-119; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
597. File 4535/1928 Pt 8, 11 ‘PERSIAN GULF: POLICY & NEGOTIATIONS’
- Description:
- Abstract: This volume contains papers relating to the policy of HM Government in the Persian Gulf, and negotiations between the British and Persian [Iranian] Governments for a general treaty between the United Kingdom and Persia.Part 8 mostly concerns the question of whether Kuwait, Bahrain, Muscat, and the Trucial Coast Shaikhdoms should become formal British protectorates. Part 11 concerns the policy of HM Government in the Persian Gulf in relation to the treaty negotiations.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 inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 291; 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.
598. File 4535/1928 Pt 14 ‘Persian Gulf: Political Control: 1. Telegraphic Communication between British Authorities in the Persian Gulf. 2. Conditions under which Pol. Rs. P. Gulf may communicate with A.O.C. Iraq.’
- Description:
- Abstract: This part contains papers, mostly correspondence, relating to communications between British authorities in the Persian Gulf.The papers mainly concern the following: the sharing of telegraphic communications between the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf, the Political Resident at Bushire, the British Legation at Tehran, and the Government of India; and the channel of communication to be adopted when air matters were under discussion between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and the Air Officer Commanding in Iraq.The main correspondents are as follows: the India Office; the Government of India Foreign and Political Department; the Admiralty; the Foreign Office; the Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Colonial Office; and the Air Ministry. This part also includes internal correspondence between India Office officials.Physical description: 1 item (94 folios)
599. File 4535/1928 Pt 5 ‘PERSIAN GULF POLITICAL CONTROL IN:-’
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains correspondence and other papers relating to political control in the Persian Gulf and Middle East, specifically the division of responsibility for this region between the India Office and the Government of India, the Foreign Office, and the Colonial Office.It includes papers relating to the following recommendations of Sir Hugh Trenchard, Chief of the Air Staff, made in an Air Staff Memorandum dated 8 May 1928: that the responsibilities of the Colonial Office should be extended to include Koweit [Kuwait], the Trucial Chiefs, and all political questions concerning the countries contiguous with Arabia; that one department of the Government, with the Air Ministry as advisers on air matters, should be made responsible for political and administrative action in Arabia, or at least in Iraq, Aden and Transjordan; and that the India Office and the Government of India should consider relieving themselves of their direct political and administrative responsibilities connected with Arabia. The related papers include those relating to the counter-proposal of the Government of India that a degree of the control removed from them following the report of the Masterton-Smith Committee of 1921 should be restored, and that they should now resume the position in the Gulf that they held before the First World War with regard to Bahrein [Bahrain], Kuwait, Muscat and the Trucial Chiefs.The file also includes papers concerning the following:The proposals of Sir John Cadman (Chairman of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company and the Iraq Petroleum Company) in a letter to the Prime Minister of August 1929 that control of the Middle East should be centralised under a single department of HM GovernmentLord Trenchard’s motion in the House of Lords of 20 May 1931 to ask whether HM Government would make a statement concerning an enquiry into the unification of control and policy in the Middle EastLord Lamington’s motion of 27 April 1932 to ask HM Government whether the desirability of having the affairs of the Arabic speaking peoples of Arabia, Egypt and the Sudan being dealt with by one Government Office had been consideredLord Lloyd’s motion of 21 March 1935 to call attention to the economic and political situation in the Persian Gulf.The main correspondents are as follows: the India Office; Hastings Lionel Ismay, Assistant Secretary of the Committee of Imperial Defence; the Government of India Foreign and Political Department; the Foreign Office; and the Colonial Office. Other correspondents include: the Air Ministry; the Admiralty Military Branch; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; Lord Trenchard; and John Cadman.Other papers in the file include India Office internal correspondence, India Office Political Department minute papers, memoranda, newspaper cuttings, extracts from minutes of the House of Lords, and the following:Notes by the India Office for the Sub-Committee on Political Control of the Committee of Imperial Defence Persian Gulf Sub-Committee, entitled ‘De Facto Position as Regards Political Arrangements in the Persian Gulf’ and ‘Distribution of (British) Administrative Responsibility in the Persian Gulf’Draft minutes of the 249th meeting of the Committee of Imperial Defence on 14 July 1930Papers of the Committee of Imperial Defence Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East.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 last folio with 381; 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; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
600. File 50/1914 Pt 5,6,7, & 8 'Persian Gulf Buoying and Lighting'
- Description:
- Abstract: This file contains correspondence between the Political Agency in Kuwait, the Residency in the Persian Gulf, and Trinity House in London about lighting and buoying operations in the Gulf near the Shatt al Arab waterway. Most of the correspondence relates to the placement of maritime lighting indicators to facilitate the navigation of the northern reaches of the Gulf.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 357; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.