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'File 73/7 II (D 22) Status of Koweit [Kuwait] - Baghdad railway, Anglo Turkish negotiations' [‎111r] (227/540)

The record is made up of 1 volume (268 folios). It was created in 24 Oct 1911-26 Dec 1912. It was written in English, French and Arabic. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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Telegram P., dated the 10th (received 11th) June 1912.
From—His Majesty's Secretary of State for India, London,
To—His Excellency the Viceroy, Simla.
Negotiations relative to the Baghdad Railway. Please consider what
concessions to Tnrkey in territories on Gulf littoral you would he prepared to
make should such prove necessary to save negotiations on the hasis of memo
randum to Turkish Government, dated 29th July 1911, Turkish replv, and
Hirtzel s and Parker's joint minute. I have told Foreign Office that our con-
ditions as to Katar were drafted as statement of necessary minimum and did not
include stipulations to be waived by way of concession in course of negotiation.
It is clear, in the event of negotiations breaking down, that His Maiesty's
Government must be provided with a definite alternate policy to meet the
situation.
Telegram P., dated the 13th June 1912.
From—His Excellency the Viceroy, Simla,
To—His Majesty's Secretary of State for India, London.
Baghdad Railway negotiations. Please see your telegram of 10th instant.
In our opinion our conditions as to El Katar represent the irreducible miiiimum
and no margin for surrender is left. We feel strondy the necessity for the
removal altogether from the Peninsula of the Turkish troops, as we have no
confidence that any conditions imposed, however rigidly defined, will be
adhered to by the Turkish Government. No concession can be suggested
by us that can be mads with safety to the interests of India and Great Britain
and rather than make any concession in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. to the Turkish
Government we would prefer to see the negotiations broken off. In our
interests we should strenuously oppose any step which might tend to con
solidate the Turkish position on the littoral oi the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .

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Content

The volume contains letters, telegrams, and memorandums pertaining to Anglo-Turkish negotiations brought on by the Baghdad Railway and particularly the extension to Basra. Correspondents include: Percy Cox, Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. at Bushire, William Shakespear, Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Kuwait, Edward Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Louis Mallet, Assistant Under-secretary of State for Near and Middle Eastern Affairs, Charles Marling, British Ambassador to Persia, Gerard Lowther, British Ambassador to Constantinople, George Buchanan, British Ambassador to Russia, Admiral Edmond Slade, the Board of Trade, the Government of India, the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. , and several private companies, including Trans-Atlantic Trust Company, Anglo-Persian Oil Company, Imperial Ottoman Bank, and Imperial Persian Bank.

The form of the negotiations was a series of memorandums containing proposals and counter-proposals. The issues and subjects discussed are:

  • ownership and control of the line;
  • custom duty increases in the region;
  • navigation of the Shatt al-Arab, including the establishment of a commission to oversee this;
  • transport of railway materials by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers;
  • delimitation of the Turkish-Persian border;
  • status and territorial limit of Kuwait;
  • other Gulf matters, including the statuses of Bahrain and Qatar, the suppression of arms traffic, piracy, and slavery, and the protection of pearl fisheries.

Folios 261-262 are a map showing the proposed territorial limits of Kuwait.

Extent and format
1 volume (268 folios)
Arrangement

The volume is arranged chronologically. At the beginning (ff. 3-4) is a subject index, in no particular order but grouped under several broad headings. The numbers refer to folio numbers from the secondary, earlier sequence.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The volume is foliated from the front cover to the inside back cover, using circled pencil numbers positioned in the top-right corner of each recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. . There are two earlier foliation systems running through parts of the volume. The first uses uncircled pencil numbers in the top-right corner of recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. pages, and the top-left corner of verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. pages. This foliation system numbers pages if they have content on them, which is the case for all rectos and some versos. This foliation system appears intermittently through most of the volume. The other foliation system uses circled blue pencil numbers in the top-right corner of recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. pages, and appears from folios 5 to 42. Numerous printed materials contained in the volume have their own internal pagination systems. The following foliation irregularities occur: 1a, 34a, 51B, 219B, 250B.

Written in
English, French and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
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'File 73/7 II (D 22) Status of Koweit [Kuwait] - Baghdad railway, Anglo Turkish negotiations' [‎111r] (227/540), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/611, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023826001.0x00001c> [accessed 16 June 2026]

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