Abstract: The volume comprises memoranda, notes, telegrams, correspondence and minutes, relating to the British Government’s policy on the future administration of Mesopotamia [Iraq]. Selected papers of the War Cabinet’s Mesopotamia Administration Committee, and its successors the Middle East Committee and Eastern Committee, are contained in the volume.The papers notably cover:Recommendations of the Mesopotamia Administration Committee, 21 Mar 1917, for the administration of the Basra and Baghdad [also spelled Bagdad in this volume] Vilayets, (respectively: direct rule; and an Arab state under an Arab ruler, in reality an ‘Arab façade’ or British protectorate in all but name), and views of the Government of India, HM Government and Major-General Sir Percy Cox, Civil Commissioner in Baghdad, including Cox’s suggestion that a Commission be sent out from England in Autumn 1917 to examine on the spot the potential administrative problemsThe Government’s decision to postpone sending a Commission to Mesopotamia, due to uncertainties engendered by the War, future political and military outcomes, and possible Peace terms (mainly in view of US President Woodrow Wilson’s powerful advocacy of the doctrine of ‘self-determination’)The recall of Cox to London in February 1918 and his proposal to the Eastern Committee, entitled ‘The Future of Mesopotamia’, 22 April 1918 (ff 102-112, 93-95 and 87-90), suggesting the precise form of administration, available resources, potential local candidates for the ‘Arab façade’ (notably King Hussein, [Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, King of the Hejaz], or the Naqib of Baghdad), and the means of consolidating British commercial influenceDecision by Captain Arnold Talbot Wilson, Civil Commissioner in Baghdad/Chief Political Officer, 15 September 1918, to amend policy and run both Basra and Baghdad Vilayets under one centralized, uniform administration directly from the Headquarters of the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad (f 62)Request by Wilson, 27 September 1918, for a small Commission to be sent out from England in October or November 1918 to discuss political and administrative questions, notably: the transfer from military to civil administration (f 60); the India Office’s endorsement of Wilson’s proposals (ff 58-59 and 51-52); and draft instructions to the Commission (ff 36-39)Agreement by the Foreign Office, Government of India and HM Government to postpone sending out a small Commission, pending the international Peace negotiationsWilson’s withdrawal of his request for a Commission following the Anglo-French Declaration of 8 November 1918 (Anglo-French Joint Statement of Aims in Syria and Mesopotamia - to encourage and assist in the establishment of government and administrations freely adopted by the native populations), citing lack of staff resources to guide a Commission now that they are diverted towards ‘ascertaining [the] trend of responsible indigenous opinion in Mosul, Southern Kurdistan, the Baghdad and Basra vilayats’ (f 15)Wilson's request, 19 July 1919, for an ‘officer of reputation and experience’ to be deputed from England to provide expert advice notably regarding financial matters (f 12), and discussion about sending Sir Walter Roper Lawrence.The volume also includes some correspondence, May-August 1918, between George Louis Beer, Lionel Curtis and Sir Malcolm C C Seton, India Office, concerning Beer's views on the position of India toward Mesopotamia, potential Indian immigration to German East Africa and South Africa, and the potential ‘civilizing’ role of the United States (ff 63-83).The principle correspondents are: staff of the India Office, notably John Evelyn Schuckburgh, Sir Arthur Hirtzel, Under-Secretary of State, Sir Thomas W Holderness, Permanent Under-Secretary of State, and Lord Islington [John Dickson-Poynder, 1st Baron Islington], Under-Secretary of State for India; Lord Robert Cecil, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Lord Curzon, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Percy Cox; and Arnold Wilson.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 183; 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 102-112; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence regarding revisions to the list of Protectorates and Mandated Territories that are the respective responsibilities of the Colonial Office, Commonwealth Relations Office, Foreign Office and India Office, for inclusion in a new edition of the General Instructions to Immigration Officers. The primary correspondents are: Home Office; Commonwealth Relations Office.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 7; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: A handwritten note from [Arthur William Moore?] to the Vice-Consul in Tehran, Harry Lionel Churchill, in which the author suggests that the British formally declare a Protectorate over a portion of the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden recently evacuated by the Egyptians. However, he warns against extending the Protectorate to territory not previously under Egyptian control, on the grounds that the British would then become financially liable for the protection of shipping in an area particularly hazardous for shipping.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at folio 92, and terminates at folio 95, as it is part of a larger 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 5-152; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This volume contains memoranda, copies of correspondence and telegrams, and minutes of letters between British officials regarding:Turkish claims over El Katr (Qatar), and the creation of Turkish administrative posts on the Qatari coast, with 'mudirs' (sub-governors) being assigned during 1903 to Odeid (Al Udeid), Wakra (Al Wakrah), Zobara (Al Zubarah), and Musalamia Island (Suwad ash Shamaliyah);'the desire of Sheikh Ahmed bin-Thani, Ruler of Qatar, to be taken under British Protection', in 1902, and a Proposed Protectorate Treaty with the Ruler of Qatar, in 1904;the Ruler of Abu Dhabi's intention to occupy Odeid in 1906.The main correspondents are: the Viceroy, the Foreign Office (Thomas Henry Sanderson), the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marquess of Lansdowne), and the India Office.The volume includes a divider which gives the year that the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in it arranged by year. This divider is placed at the front of the volume.The volume also contains the translation of a Turkish press article.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 428; 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.Condition: the spine is detached from the volume and preserved in a polyester sheet, on folio 427.
Abstract: The volume consists mainly of six bound compilations of treaties and undertakings, together with related correspondence and other supplementary material, made between the British Government and the British Protectorates of the Persian Gulf, 1820-1919. These treaty compilations were published by the Government of India in 1919 and comprise: the Trucial Treaties to January 1906, Treaties with Rulers of Kuwait from 1841 to 1913, Treaties with the Sultan of Oman and Muscat from 1845 to 1914, Undertakings with the Trucial Chiefs of Oman from 1911 to 1912, Treaties with the Shaikh of Mohammerah from 1899 to 1919 and Treaties with the Rulers of Bahrain from 1820 to 1914. In addition, there is a separate Foreign Office ‘Memorandum on British Commitments (During the War) to the Gulf Chiefs’ made in 1916, which contains at Appendix A, the English text of the treaty made with the Ruler of Qatar in 1916. The treaty compilations are published in English and Arabic, except for the treaties with the Shaikh of Mohammerah, which are published in English and Persian.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 216; these numbers are written in pencil, 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 two leading and ending flyleaves. A previous foliation sequence has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: This part contains papers relating to the question of whether Koweit [Kuwait], Bahrein [Bahrain], Muscat, and the Trucial Coast Sheikdoms should become formal British protectorates, including the views on this question of the following: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; HM Minister at Tehran (Sir Robert Clive); the Government of India; the Colonial Office; the India Office; and the Persian Gulf Sub-Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence.This part also includes papers relating to the question of the terms of a draft article for inclusion in a treaty with Persia [Iran] regarding the status of Bahrain.The papers include correspondence, India Office memoranda, India Office Political Department minute papers, and Committee of Imperial Defence Persian Gulf Sub-Committee papers.The main correspondents are the India Office, the Government of India Foreign and Political Department, and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Lionel Berkeley Holt Haworth).Physical description: 1 item (96 folios)