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205. Coll 28/108 ‘Persia. General situation in Meshed following the Russian occupation (incl. proposed consular escort. Withdrawal of Indian Long Range Squadron.’
- Description:
- Abstract: Correspondence, reports and other papers relating to conditions in Meshed [Mashhad] during the Anglo-Soviet occupation of Persia [Iran] during the Second World War. The file includes: telegraphic reports sent by HM Consul at Meshed (also referred to as HM Consul-General for Khorasan), Clarmont Percival Skrine, to the Foreign Office, reporting on matters including the general security situation in Meshed, the activities of the Russian military, local public opinion, food production and supply, and local political developments, including the activities of the Tudeh Party of Iran; six-monthly political reports on the political situation in East Persia, also prepared by Skrine. The file also contains: correspondence dated 1945 relating to questions over the withdrawal of the Indian Long Range Squadron, originally formed in 1941 to patrol the border between the Soviet Union and Persia; correspondence, including a sketch map (f 53), over the position of the boundary between the Persia and Iraq Command (PAIC) and Indian Command. The file’s principal correspondents are: HM Consul-General for Khorasan; the British Ambassador in Tehran; the Foreign Office.The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file 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 361; 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 A previous foliation sequence between ff 2-190, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
206. Coll 28/112A ‘Persia. Tabriz – Monthly despatches of internal situation in Azerbaijan & misc. reports.’
- Description:
- Abstract: Reports and correspondence concerning the internal situation in Azerbaijan and Tabriz during the region’s occupation by Soviet military forces, part of the Anglo-Soviet occupation of Persia [Iran] in the Second World War. The file chiefly comprises reports, submitted on a monthly (and later fortnightly) basis by the British Consul-General at Tabriz, reporting on events in Azerbaijan and Tabriz. Reports up to July 1942 are printed, while subsequent reports are typewritten. The typewritten reports are organised under subheadings that vary from one report to the next, but generally cover: weather; agriculture, locust movements, food supply and reports of hoarding; consular tours; the activities of consular colleagues and counterparts; local government, local politics, and elections; Kurdish affairs, including events at Rezaieh [Orūmīyeh]; Armenian affairs; public order; the activities of the Persian, Russian and United States military; trade, commerce and labour; transport and communications, including convoys, and the activities of the United Kingdom Commercial Corporation (UKCC); propaganda. From late 1944 onwards the reports increasingly focus on rising political and social unrest in Azerbaijan, which would eventually culminate in the Iran-Azerbaijan crisis of 1946. These later reports focus on the emergence and activities of new political parties (including the Tudeh Party and the Democratic Party), new political newspapers, and Soviet activities in Azerbaijan.The file also includes: correspondence sent by the British Ambassador in Tehran, Reader William Bullard, forwarding the Tabriz Consul’s reports with comments to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; note sheets covering numerous reports, giving a précis of the report’s contents; the translation of a report by the Persian Minister for War, secretly obtained by British sources, describing military and political conditions at Rezaieh, dated 17 May 1942 (ff 560-564); a report of a visit to Rezaieh in February 1945, compiled by the British Consul-General at Tabriz (ff 147-154).The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file 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 617; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
207. Coll 28/133 ‘Persia. Resht; Monthly Diaries’
- Description:
- Abstract: Monthly diaries covering the period January to November 1947, submitted by the British Consul at Resht [Rasht] in Persia [Iran]. The diaries are arranged under numerous different subheadings which vary from one report to the next, but broadly cover the following topics: local politics and local government affairs, including the activities of local government and military officials, and local elections; Russian (Soviet) interests in the region, including the movements and activities of Russian officials; British interests; American [United States of America] interests; economic and commercial affairs, including agriculture; labour; security; communications and transport, including the installation of airfields by the Persian Civil Aviation Department; and propaganda, including the deployment of a mobile cinema van, and cinema programmes. An appendix attached to the diary for May 1947 includes a report of a tour made by Lieutenant-Colonel R O A Gatehouse. The tour encompassed the Persian coast of the Caspian Sea, including Gilan, Mazanderan [Māzandarān] and Gurgan [Gorgān], and included reports on Soviet activities and influence in the region.The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the front 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 66, 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.
208. Coll 28/29 ‘Persia. Russia. Russian Refugees in Persia.’
- Description:
- Abstract: Correspondence and papers collected in response to an influx of refugees arriving in the northern provinces of Persia [Iran] from Soviet Russia, reaching a peak during 1932 and 1933, as a result of a chronic famine affecting parts of southern Russia.Extracts from consular diaries and intelligence summaries, submitted by the British Consulates and Vice Consulates at Meshed [Mashhad] (Lieutenant-Colonel Cyril Charles Johnson Barrett; Major L G W Hamber; Major Clive Kirkpatrick Daly), Tabriz (Clarence Edward Stanhope Palmer) and Resht [Rasht] (Archibald William Davis).Reports and memoranda on refugees from Russia in Persia (their numbers, condition, treatment at the hands of Russian and Persian authorities, movements) compiled by British officials at Meshed, Tabriz and Resht, and submitted to Government by the British Legation in Tehran (Reginald Hervey Hoare).Correspondence exchanged between India Office and Foreign Office representatives in response to the reports received from Persia, discussing what actions might be taken.Many of the reports and correspondence provide evidence of British officials’ suspicions of Communist (or Bolshevik) conspirators amongst the refugees, whom they suspect of intending to foment unrest in Persia. The papers also give indication of the various different ethnic groups and peoples comprising the refugees from Russia (including Turcoman [Turkmen], Armenian, Khirgis [Kyrgyz], Bukharan Jewish), and differences in the treatment and movements of these different groups, including, for example, Bukharan Jewish refugees’ attempts to obtain visas for travel to Palestine.The file contains a single item of correspondence in French, being a copy of a letter from the Secretary General of the League of Nations (f 9).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 205; 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.
209. Coll 28/33 ‘Persia., Internal. Probable happenings on the death of the Shah.’
- Description:
- Abstract: Correspondence and notes relating to the law of succession in Persia [Iran], and possible events in Persia, in the event of the death of the Shah, Reza Shah Pahlavi. The file includes:Correspondence from the British Embassy in Paris, dated 1 March 1930, informing Government of the death in France of the ex-Shah of Persia, Ahmed Kadjar [Ahmad Qajar], along with cuttings from the French newspapers Le Tempsand Le Matin, reporting on ex-Shah’s death (ff 42-45).A report, written by Lieutenant-Colonel Percy C R Dodd, Military Attaché at the British Legation, Tehran, dated 3 December 1930, on the present relations between the Shah and his army, and its bearing on the stability of the Pahlavi regime (ff 35-38).A report entitled The Future of Persia, written by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard William Craven Fowle, dated October 1931 (ff 14-30).The text of an interview between an American journalist called Mr James, and the Persian Prime Minister Abdolhossein Teymourtache [Teymourtash], undated. Notes from a demi-official letter enclosing the text, from Captain John Ignatius Ennis, Intelligence Officer at the Baluchistan Intelligence Bureau in Quetta, dated 12 August 1931, also give details of James’ impressions of his visit to Russia (ff 3-12).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 54; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
210. Coll 28/6 ‘Persia; Diaries: Khuzistan (Ahwaz) Diaries Jany 1931 – 1937.’
- Description:
- Abstract: Printed and typewritten monthly reports submitted by the British Consul for Khuzistan [Khūzestān] (Herbert Reginald Dauphin Gybbon-Monypenny; Arnold Edwards Watkinson; Alfred John Gardener) to the India Office. The reports, which evolve over time from one-page summaries to comprehensive documents consisting of up to twenty-five sheets, cover a range of affairs taking place in the west Persian [Iran] province, and its chief towns of Ahwaz [Ahvāz] and Mohammerah [Khorramshahr]:British interests, including the movements of British consular, military and naval officials, individuals involved in commercial concerns, the activities of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) at Abadan and elsewhere, and the activities of the Mesopotamia Persia Corporation Limited.Persian administration, including the movements, appointments and actions of Persian officials, and general Government administration.Foreign interests (including Soviet, Iraqi, Japanese, French, German, American) with an emphasis on trade and shipping movements at Mohammerah.Persian military affairs, including army, conscription, police, the Anmieh (rural police), air force, navy.Internal affairs, including security (robberies and raids in the region, smuggling), the activities of the region’s tribes, including the Bakhtiari, judicial affairs.Public health, including outbreaks of cholera and deaths caused by the hot weather.Public works, covering roads, railways, bridges, municipal improvements, ports, posts and telegraphs.Agricultural activity and locust reports.Trade and commerce, including customs, the National Bank of Persia, industry, Persian monopoly companies.Weather reports.The reports also mention historical events of note, including: the Silver Jubilee and death of King George V; modernisation in Persia/Iran, including changes in dress (the adoption of ‘European hats’, the removal of ladies’ veils), and changes to place names.Earlier reports are enclosed with minute papers containing handwritten notes written by India Office staff, summarising points of interest in the reports. In many instances the handwritten notes are labelled a, b, c, etc., which refer to pencil annotations in the margins of the reports.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 766; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, 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.
211. Coll 28/9 ‘Persia; Internal affairs; Shah’s tours in Persia: general situation reports’
- Description:
- Abstract: Correspondence and reports submitted by British officials in Persia [Iran], along with newspaper cuttings collected from the British and Persian press, relating to the Shah of Persia, Reza Shah Pahlavi. Subjects covered include:The Shah’s tours and visits around Persia, including to the towns and cities of Sistan [Zabol], Bushire, Shiraz, Meshed [Mashhad], Kermanshah, Tabriz, Ahwaz [Ahvāz].Reports of economic and political conditions in Persia.The first Minister of the Persia Court, Teymourtache [Abdolhossein Teymūrtāsh], including his dismissal by the Shah in 1933, and his subsequent trial, imprisonment and death.Speculation over the health of the Shah.Treatment of the Bakhtiari tribes by the Shah and his Government.The Shah’s programme of modernisation in Persia, including the enforcement of European hats for men and unveiling of women, military reforms, and schemes for urban development.A rebellion and massacre at the Goharshad shrine in Meshed in July 1935, provoked by a backlash against the Shah’s modernising tendencies. Papers include a secret report written by the British Consul-General for Khorasan and Sistan, Major Clive Kirkpatrick Daly (ff 218-222).Principal correspondents in the file include: the British Legation at Tehran (Reginald Hervey Hoare; Hughe Montgomery Knatchbull-Hugessen; Nevile Montagu Butler); the Chargé d’Affaires at Tehran (Victor Alexander Louis Mallet); the British Consul-General for Khorasan and Sistan (Daly).Newspaper cuttings from the Persian press are written in French.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio 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 front and back covers, along with the two leading and two ending flyleaves have not been foliated. A previous foliation sequence, which is present in parallel between ff 222-510 and is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
212. Coll 28/97A ‘Perisa; Tehran; Air Attache’s Weekly Intelligence Summaries’
- Description:
- Abstract: Weekly secret summaries (fortnightly from January 1947) compiled by the Air Attaché at the British Embassy in Tehran. The reports cover: the Persian [Iranian] Air Force, including its activities on the ‘Azerbaijan front’ in late 1946, aircraft purchases, the training of pilots, and the Shah’s personal interest in the Air Force; Persian civil airlines, including the activities of the Persian Government’s Civil Aviation Department and its director, Ahmed Chafik Bey, and airlines including the Persian State Airline, Iranian Airways, and Eagle Airlines; foreign airlines, and their flights in and out of Persia, including the British Overseas Airways Corporation, Air France, and Russian, Swedish, Norwegian, and Czech airlines. Observations on airfields and landing strips in Persia are attached to several of the summaries as appendices. These vary in the level of detail given, but can include: location; landing area dimensions and markings; fuelling, repair and medical facilities; accommodation; transport links; and meteorological information. Also distributed throughout the file are periodic reports on the numbers of aircraft in Persia, listing owner, manufacturer, engine, and whether the aircraft is in a serviceable or repairable state.The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the front 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 139; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
213. Coll 30/232 'Arab Sheikhdoms of the Persian Gulf.'
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains three political and economic reports on the Persian Gulf states, prepared by the British Government.The reports are as follows: Foreign Office print entitled 'Arab Sheikhdoms of the Persian Gulf', dated 8 June 1949, surveying each of the shaikhdoms and some of their problems, with indications of the action that might be necessary there, including a separate paper on education (folios 53-57); Cabinet Middle East (Official) Committee Working Party paper entitled 'Persian Gulf: Economic and Social Development', dated 12 November 1949 (cover sheet states title as 'Persian Gulf States'), covering all aspects of social and economic development in the region, including detailed sections on Bahrein [Bahrain], and Muscat and Oman (folios 8-51); and Cabinet Middle East (Official) Committee Working Party paper entitled 'The Persian Gulf States', dated 2 December 1949, giving a brief overview of the region, with sections on the utilisation of oil royalties, and recommendations for the long-term development of those states with substantial oil revenues (folios 4-6).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 59; 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.
214. Coll 6/37 'Jeddah Situation Reports: Distribution.'
- Description:
- Abstract: This file documents changes to the distribution and general nature of situation reports produced by the British Consulate (later Legation) at Jedda. It features correspondents from the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, the India Office, and the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department.According to the file, copies of the reports were sent directly to Bushire, Muscat, Singapore, Koweit [Kuwait], and Bahrein [Bahrain] until April 1926, when it was arranged that five copies of each report would be sent to the Government of India via the India Office, before being distributed to the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department and to Bushire, Bahrain, Kuwait and Muscat respectively. Subsequent correspondence in the file discusses the following: requests from the Government of India for additional copies of the report, the Legation's and Foreign Office's reluctance to comply with these requests on the grounds of practicality and discretion, and a proposal made by His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan) in 1932 to change the format of the report to that of a newsletter and to reduce its length by a third.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 1).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 28; 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.
215. Coll 28/39 ‘Persia: Printed Correspondence 1929-1936’
- Description:
- Abstract: Printed correspondence from the Government of India’s Foreign and Political Department (later referred to as the External Affairs Department) relating to Persia [Iran]. The original correspondence was exchanged between British representatives in Persia (chiefly the British Legation in Tehran), the Foreign Office, and the India Office. The correspondence concerns: the announcement by the Persian Government of laws, decrees, regulations, budgets, and other governmental communiqués, the texts of which were usually published in Persian newspapers (including Le Journal de Tehran, Shafaq-e-Surkh, Le Messenger de Teheranand Iran); reports on provincial affairs in Persia, chiefly in the form of reports submitted by British Consuls; Persia’s foreign relations, particularly those with Soviet Russia [Soviet Union, USSR]; correspondence dated 1929 and 1930 reporting on events in northern Persia (Azerbaijan and Khorasan) where large numbers of Russian refugees settled in the wake of the October Revolution; copies of diplomatic exchanges between the British Legation in Tehran and the Persian Government, the latter represented by figures including the Persian Prime Minister Mirza Mohamed Ali Khan Feroughi, the Minister of the Court of Iran Abdolhossein Teymourtash, and Hassan Ali Ghaffari of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the activities of the Shah, with a particular focus on his modernisation policies that were implemented across Persia during the 1930s.A large number of items in the file are in French. These include the texts of Persian Government laws, Persian newspaper articles, and correspondence from Persian politicians. The file also includes a memorandum on the Persian renderings of ‘imperial’ that contains Persian text (ff 305-306).The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 579; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, 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 leading and ending flyleaves. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
216. Coll 28/39(2) ‘Persia. Printed Correspondence, 1937–’
- Description:
- Abstract: Printed correspondence from the Government of India’s Foreign and Political Department (later referred to as the External Affairs Department), collated into yearly collections under the heading ‘Iran Series’. The original correspondence was sent by British representatives in Iran (chiefly the British Legation in Tehran) to the Foreign Office. The correspondence concerns: the announcement of laws, decrees, regulations, and budgets by the Government of Iran, the texts of which were frequently published in the newspaper Le Journal de Tehran; reports from British consular officials covering a range of subjects, including commercial activities, foreign relations and the commercial activities of foreign individuals and companies in Iran, provincial affairs, and the activities of the Shah; in 1939 and 1940, reports concerning the impact of the Second World War on Iran, with a large number of reports from the Press Attaché to the British Legation in Tehran, reporting the dissemination of propaganda and public opinion in Iran.At the end of the file is a single item of original correspondence, sent by the Secretary to the Government of India. Dated 24 August 1942, it announces the discontinuation of the printing of the Persia [Iran] series for the duration of the war (f 159).A large number of items in the file are in French. These include the texts of Iranian Government laws, regulations and announcements that were published in Le Journal de Tehran.The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file 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 160; these numbers are written in pencil and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.