Abstract: This file consists of an agreement between the British Government and the Persian Government [a provisional agreement that was never ratified; it was later known as the Anglo-Persian Agreement], dated 9 August 1919. In the agreement, which consists of six clauses, the British Government agrees to continue to 'respect absolutely the independence and integrity of Persia'. It promises to supply – at the cost of the Persian Government – the services of whatever expert advisers may be required for reforms by the several departments of the Persian administration, as well as military officers, munitions and equipment. For the purpose of financing the aforementioned reforms, the British Government offers to provide a substantial loan for the Persian Government. The British Government also states that it is prepared to co-operate with the Persian Government 'for the encouragement of Anglo-Persian enterprise' in railway construction and other means of transport. The agreement concludes with a statement that both Governments agree to the appointment of a joint committee of experts for the examination and revision of the existing customs tariff.The agreement is followed by another agreement which concerns a loan of 2,000,000
lfrom the British Government to the Persian Government. This agreement is followed by an extract from a contract between the Persian Government and the Imperial Bank of Persia, regarding a previous loan of 1,250,000
l, dated 8 May 1911.The file concludes with two letters from Sir Percy Zachariah Cox, Acting British Minister at Tehran, to His Highness Vossug-ed-Dowleh [Woṯūq-al-dawla, Prime Minister of Persia], both dated 9 August 1919. In the first of these letters, Cox states that the British Government is prepared to co-operate regarding the following issues: the revision of existing treaties between the two powers, Persia's claims to compensation for damage suffered at the hands of other belligerents, and the rectification of the Persian frontier. In the second letter, Cox states that the British Government will not claim for the cost of the maintenance of British troops that were sent to Persia to defend its neutrality during the First World War, while on the other hand the Persian Government will not claim from the British Government an indemnity for any damage caused by British troops in Persian territory.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 205, and terminates at f 206, 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.Pagination: the volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: This file consists of a report from the Political Department, India Office. The report relates to the Anglo-Persian Agreement of August 1919, to which was attached an agreement for the British Government to grant Persia a loan of 2,000,000
lsterling, at an interest rate of 7 per cent. The report provides extracts from these agreements before addressing the question of whether existing subsidies to the Persian Government (including a subsidy for general administrative expenditure, a subsidy for the maintenance of the Persian Cossack Division, a personal payment to the Shah, and a subsidy for the maintenance of a force in Khorassan 'to guard against a possible Bolshevik invasion') should be regarded as advances out of the aforementioned loan. The report advises that the loan should not be diverted to 'improper uses' and that any such allocations should be cancelled. It concludes by stating that if the British Government intends to endeavour to promote the progress and prosperity of Persia, then it must face the necessity of continuing to finance the country while the process of reform is taking place, in addition to financing the reforms themselves.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 208, and terminates at f 210, 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.Pagination: the volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: This volume consists of two parts: Part 5 (IOR/L/PS/10/736/1) and Part 6 (IOR/L/PS/10/736/2), comprising correspondence relating to the Anglo-Persian Agreement of 1919, including its content, the negotiations that led up to it, and national and international reactions.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 399; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: This volume contains correspondence on the political situation in Persia [Iran] from July to December 1920. The correspondence is primarily formed of exchanges between HM Minister in Tehran and the Foreign Office and includes material relating to:The accusations of Sepahdar [Muḥammad Valī Khān Tunikābunī, Sipahdār-i A‘ẓam] against Vossough-ed-Dowleh [Mīrzā Ḥasan Khān Vusūq al-Dawlah], Sarem-ed-Dowleh [Akbar Mīrzā Qājār, Ṣarim al-Dawlah] and Prince Firouz [Fīrūz Mīrzā Fīrūz, Nuṣrat al-Dawlah III] of having received large sums of money in bribes to support the Anglo-Persian AgreementThe recent defeat suffered by the Armenians, the Bolshevik threat posed to the Persian Province of Azerbaijan [Azarbaijan], the possibility of having to evacuate the provincial capital Tabriz, and the belief of General [William Edmund] Ironside that the Bolsheviks and Turks were ‘acting in conjunction’The discussion of the terms of the proposed Soviet-Persian Treaty between HM Minister in Tehran [Herman Cameron] Norman, the Persian Prime Minister and Mīrzā ‘Īsá KhānThe take-over of the Meshed [Mashhad]-Seistan [Sistan] telegraph line by the Indo-European Telegraph Company, the demand of the Persian Government for its restoration, and the Company’s reasons to retain possessionThe proposals of the Soviet Government to that of Persia for an anti-British alliance, conveyed through the Khan of Maku [Murtazā Qulī Khān Bayāt]The dismissal and departure of Colonel [Vsevolod] Staroselsky [Starosselsky], and suppression of demonstrations against the Anglo-Persian AgreementThe demands of the British Government that the Persian Medjliss [Majlis or Parliament] convene as soon as possible to approve the Anglo-Persian Agreement, and refusal to provide additional financial support to the Persian GovernmentThe departure of the Persian Ambassador in Constantinople [Istanbul] for Moscow, with the Persian Government’s demands that the Soviet Government abstain from ‘all interference in Persian affairs [,] provision of moral or material support to Persian insurgents, [and] all propaganda in Persia’The advance made on Resht [Rasht] by the Persian Cossack Brigade, its victory over a Bolshevik detachment and the capture of a cache of documents allegedly proving the deliberate planning of an invasion of Persia by the Soviet Government of AzerbaijanThe victory of the Bolsheviks over the Cossack Brigade at Enzeli [Anzali], the deployment by the British of Norperforce [North Persia Force] to Menjil [Manjil] to hold the line behind the retreating Cossacks, and reports that Kuchik Khan [Mīrzā Kuchak Khān Jangalī] had rejoined the BolsheviksThe departure of Agha Sheikh Mohammed Amin [Āqā Shaikh Muḥammad Amīn] and Seyyid Ahmed Behbaham [Sayyid Aḥmad Bihbahānī] with letters and presents from the Shah [Aḥmad Shāh Qājār] for the Mujtehids [Mujtahids] of Kerbela [Karbala] to issue a Fetva [fatwa] condemning the BolsheviksThe understanding reached between the Persian Government and Kuchik Khan, involving the latter’s submission if a strong force is sent to retake Resht from the BolsheviksThe attack by Persian rebels, supported by Bolsheviks, on the positions of Norperforce, led by General [Hugh Bateman-] Champain, and the latter’s retreat from MenjilThe dispatch of Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Beville Prideaux to Khorasan to assist the Governor-General in defending the province against the incursions of BolsheviksThe appointment of Colonel Starosselsky as commander of all the forces in the Caspian Provinces, and the consequent fall in prestige of British officers in PersiaThe activities of Khudduverdikhan [Khudā Virdī Khān], a Kurdish ex-brigand from Kuchan [Quchan] and prospective future Bolshevik Commissary of Khorasan.Physical description: The foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 356; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
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.
Abstract: This volume contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, telegrams and minutes. It mainly covers conversations between British officials regarding military affairs in Persia [Iran].Related matters of discussion include the following: appointment and nomination of administrative officers, mainly covering salary, travelling expenses, pay rate, channels to be paid, official visits and transports, and adjustments. Also discussed are the conditions of serving on the commissions, the organisation and recommendation of improvements on the commission.The volume also covers the relationship between the Persian Government and the Anglo-Persian Military Commission and the possible service of British officers in the Persian Army. Also mentioned is the supplying of munition and equipment to the Persian Government, as agreed in the Anglo-Persian Agreement.In addition, the volume includes:‘Agreement between his Britannic Majesty’s Government and the Persian Government’, 9 August 1919 (ff 258-259)‘Conditions of Service for British Officers Serving in the Persian Army’ (ff 134-143)Confidential supplement to the report of the Anglo-Persian Military Commission by the British Members of the Commission (ff 87-110)Report of the Anglo-Persian Military Commission, 4 April 1920, consisting of the following chapters: external and internal dangers; existing armed forces of Persia; military institutions and laws; existing communications and fertility of the country; financial position as affecting the army; confidential supplementary documents (ff 34-82)Minutes of the Inter-Departmental Conference on the report of the Anglo-Persian Military Commission regarding Persia’s need of armed forces (ff 28-32)Report of Joint Anglo-Persian Military Commission on the Reorganisation of the Persian Army (f 17)Examination of initial cost of carrying out the recommendations of the Anglo-Persian Military CommissionThe Military Commission and suggested modifications (ff 18-20).The correspondence in the volume is mostly internal correspondence between British officials of different departments. The principal correspondents are: Acting Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs; Director of Military Intelligence; War Office; and British Legation, Tehran.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 262; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Multiple intermittent additional foliation sequences are also present.