Abstract: Memorandum describing the developments leading up to the surrender of quarantine control by His Majesty's Government to the Persian Government in 1928. It outlines the following: quarantine arrangements dating from 1864 including who was responsible for what in terms of roles and the financial outlay; an assessment of the competency of Persia in being able to administer the sanitary services in her ports without foreign intervention; requests by the Persian Government for the transfer of quarantine service to Persian medical officers; negotiations by Sir Robert Clive, British Minister at Tehran; co-operation with the Anglo-Persian Oil Company's medical officer; the termination of British quarantine officers employment.Written by John Gilbert Laithwaite of the India Office.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 7, and terminates at f 9, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, 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 file consists of a memorandum addressed to the War Cabinet by the Political Department of the India Office on the question of the employment of Japanese troops in Mesopotamia. It summarises the Government of India's views given in a telegram dated 21 November 1917, with military and political grounds for objecting to Japanese assistance. It also includes extracts from the Report of the Trade Commissioners who visited Mesopotamia earlier in 1917, and raises the concern that Japanese commercial influence will lead to political claims.Written by John Evelyn Shuckburgh, 13 December 1917, with an introduction dated 18 December 1917.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 24, and terminates at f 26, 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 present in parallel between ff 24-26; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: Memorandum communicated by the Air Ministry on 23 August 1928 concerning air communication in the Persian Gulf.Covering:an introduction to the development of the Persian and Arabian air routes;flights on the air route along the Persian shore from 1918 onwards;the association of the Government of India with the route - consisting of extracts from a memorandum by the Indian Air Board (an Advisory Committee to the Government of India) in 1926 entitled 'The Past History and Future Development of Civil Aviation in India';the attitude of Persia towards the use of the route by a regular Civil Air Service operated by Imperial Airways Limited;the air route along the Arabian shore described by section, and detailing the attitude of the shaikhs.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 77, and terminates at f 79, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, 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 memorandum written by Sir West Ridgeway, in which the author records his opinion that it is not the fault of the British Government that the Perso-Afghan boundary dispute at Hashtadan remains unsettled. The author goes on to suggest that the dispute be allowed to continue unresolved until the Russo-Afghan boundary has been settled and perhaps until after the death of the Amir [Emir] of Afghanistan.A further note records that the Shah of Persia subsequently accepted the arbitration of the Indian Government in the Hashtadan dispute.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences and terminates at folio 206, as it is part of a larger physical volume; this number is written in pencil, is circled, and is located at the top right corner of the folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel; this number is also written in pencil, but is not circled.
Abstract: This file consists of a memorandum describing the historical background to the Persian debt to the Government of India and to the British Government. The memorandum records a number of proposals for debt relief put forward by the Government of India, the Foreign Office and the Chancellor, made on the basis firstly that the majority of the debt consisted of war loans against which it was feared the Persian Government might have grounds for a counter-claim, and secondly that a number of concessions might thereby be won. The memorandum was written by John Gilbert Laithwaite, India Office.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio 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.
Abstract: The file consists of the Viceroy's Minute by Alfred Comyn Lyall, member of the Council of Secretary of State for India, pertaining to a letter from the Government of India dated 21 September 1899 (IOR/L/PS/7/116: 927/99) regarding British policy in Persia.It comments on the Government of India's views on: the lack of a clearly defined line of policy, the strategic and commercial interests of Great Britain and India in Persia, measures for strengthening the British position, and relations with Russia.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences and terminates at f 109, as it is part of a larger physical volume; this number is written in pencil, and is located in the top right corner of the recto side of the folio.Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: The file consists of the Viceroy's Minute by Donald Martin Stewart, member of the Viceroy's Council, pertaining to a letter from the Government of India dated 21 September 1899 (IOR/L/PS/7/116: 927/99) and a Minute by Alfred Comyn Lyall dated 3 November 1899 (IOR/L/PS/18/C99) regarding British policy in Persia.It comments on relations with Russia regarding the integrity of Persia, and the extension of the railway system.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences and terminates at f 110, as it is part of a larger physical volume; this number is written in pencil, and is located in the top right corner of the recto side of the folio.
Abstract: This file consists of a note written by the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, Sir Alfred Hamilton Grant. It concerns the future involvement of the Government of India in Persia. Grant suggests that the Government of India has the following options:to clear out of Persian entirely and 'leave it to stew in its own juice without financial or other assistance';to acquire a mandate to run Persia, retaining troops there, controlling the Government and practically administering the country;to acquire a mandate for some other power (such as America or Belgium) to undertake the task;to continue – with or without a mandate – to assist Persia on a limited scale.Grant goes on to list objections to the first three options before stating that the fourth course of action is the one that the Government of India would advocate. Grant cites the concerns of Sir Charles Marling [British Minister at Tehran] regarding Persian public opinion on the presence of the British in Persia. Grant concludes his note by proposing that a public declaration should be made to the Persian Government, in which His Majesty's Government would promise a number of actions – including the withdrawal of its military presence in Persia – in return for being able to assist the Persian Government in the regulation of its finances.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 161, and terminates at f 162, 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 reproduces telegrams written between the Secretary of State for India, the Viceroy of India, the First Minister at Teheran (Sir Arthur Hardinge), and the Foreign Secretary (Marquess of Lansdowne), in which the authors assess the merits and logistics of a proposed loan to the Persian Government.The chief considerations concern the British and Indian Governments' desire to neutralize the Russian monopoly on loans to Persia, and to prevent Russia from gaining influence in southern Persia. Proposals include using revenues from customs houses in southern Persia as security against the loan, eliciting political agreement not to allow foreign road or railway construction projects in southern Persia, and a plan for the Indian Government to purchase a large stake in the Imperial Bank of Persia in order to facilitate similar loans in the future.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 150, and terminates at f 160, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: This file consists of a report, which is attributed to Hermann Anderson Haines, Secretary, Public Works Department, and which provides a brief account of a number of agreements reached between the Government of India and the Persian Government (and between the Government of India and HM Treasury) for the construction (by the Indo-European Telegraph Department) of the following four telegraph lines: the Robat-Seistan line, the Henjam [Henjān]–Bunder Abbas line, the Lingah–Bundar Abbas line, and the Kerman–Bunder Abbas–Lingah–Jask line.The report, which was received by the Political Department on 28 June 1916, addresses each telegraph line in turn. In addition to summarising the negotiations relating to each line and the agreements that were reached, each section records the overall cost of each line, and, where applicable, the date of completion.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 5, and terminates at f 6, 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: The memorandum contains a copy of a telegram (and supplementary notes) from the Government of India to the Secretary of State. It outlines the options open for securing Britain's naval supremacy in the Persian Gulf, in the event of the construction of a Trans-Persian railway which extends to the shores of Southern Persia. This includes possible sites for naval bases, and proposals for how Britain may secure control over the entrance to the Gulf. It is signed by Sir Arthur Hirtzel.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at f 25, and terminates at f 26, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto side of each folio. Pagination: the item also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: This file consists of a report by the Secretary of State for India [Joseph Austen Chamberlain], which is addressed to the Prime Minister [Herbert Henry Asquith]. The report concerns a proposal, made by the Commander-in-Chief in India [Sir Beauchamp Duff], to extend the Quetta–Nushki railway to Seistan, on the grounds that it is a 'cogent military necessity'.The report includes extracts from a telegram and a minute from the former Viceroy and Governor-General of India in Council, Lord Curzon, dated 4 September 1899 and 28 October 1901, which summarise the history of the proposed scheme and the various political, strategic and commercial arguments and counter-arguments relating to it.This summary is followed by two telegrams from the current Viceroy [Frederic John Napier Thesiger], dated 26 July and 29 July 1916 respectively. The first of these summarises the current military case for an extension to the line (which was put forward by the Commander-in-Chief in India) as follows: any continuation of the recent Turkish advance into Western Persia may result in the Government of India having to increase its military presence in Eastern Persia, which would require improved communications between Nushki and Seistan; it is further argued that a broad-gauge railway – running from Nushki to at least as far Dalbandin – although more expensive than mechanical transport, would be a preferred solution to the current reliance on camel transport.The first telegram provides the Government of India's response to these proposals. It argues that the scheme can only be justified on 'cogent military grounds', before adding that the limitation of the extension to Dalbandin would be a half measure which would not provide adequate relief to the current situation, nor aid wider strategic contingencies.The second telegram details the Railway Board's rough estimate of the cost of extending the line (2,000,000
l).Also included in the report are the following three minutes:a minute from the India Office's Political Department, dated 27 July 1916, which refrains from expressing an opinion on the strategic implications of extending the line, but concludes that the commercial prospects would be sufficient to warrant constructing a line. The minute opines that an extension as far as Dalbandin would be the more practical of Duff's two proposals;a minute, dated 28 July 1916, in which the Military Secretary to the India Office, General Sir Edmund Barrow GCB, makes the argument that the entire line would take one and a half years to build, and that therefore it is not likely to be of use during the present war. Barrow supports the Commander-in-Chief's suggestion of extending the line as far as Dalbandin, in the hope that it may be of some use in the war effort (the implication being that motor and camel transport could be relied upon from Dalbandin to Seistan);a minute from the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for India, Sir Thomas William Holderness, dated 29 July 1916. The minute argues that a decision on whether to extend the line should be made based on the actual or possible necessities of the present war, and that future political, commercial or strategic requirements should not come into consideration.The Secretary of State for India begins the report with an extract from a private telegram, dated 25 July 1916, from the Viceroy to the Secretary of State for India, in which the Viceroy suggests that the matter requires the advice of the Chief of Imperial General Staff (Sir William Robert Robertson).The Secretary of State for India informs the Prime Minister that an immediate decision is required on the following:whether an extension of the line is a 'cogent military necessity', which should be undertaken at once;whether the extension can be carried out in time to be of use for the purposes stated by the Commander-in-Chief;whether an extension to Dalbandin would be sufficient.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 8, and terminates at f 13, 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.