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'File 73/7 II (D 22) Status of Koweit [Kuwait] - Baghdad railway, Anglo Turkish negotiations' [223v] (454/540)
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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
(c) The terminus of the railway to be at Basrah.
(d) No railway to be continued beyond Basrah in the direction of the Persian
Gulf without prior agreement vath His Majesty's Government, and on conditions
acceptable to them.
Draft Con- (e) A convention to be signed, on the basis of the accompanying draft, for the
V (AmQx 3.) future conservancy of the Shatt-el-Arab. This convention must be read in conjunc
tion with a memorandum—which, as stated below, will shortly be communicated
to the Porte—on the subject of the frontier of Muhammerah.
(/) An undertaking that permission should be given for three British steamers
to navigate between Baghdad and Basrah in addition to the number already allowed.
(n) The respective interests of Great Britain and Turkey in the region of the
.j I*
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
.
7. His Maj esty's Government note with satisfaction that the Turkish Government
renounce their claims to Bahrain on conditions which there should be no difficulty
in accepting, but they have learnt with disappointment the attitude of the Imperial
Ottoman Government in regard to El Katr and Kuwait; nevertheless they do not
doubt that the Ottoman Government will appreciate the important sacrifice made
by His Majesty's Government in the matter of British participation in the Baghdad
Railway, and that they will meet that sacrifice by a corresponding modification of
the views set forth in the Turkish memorandum of the 15th April.
8. His Majesty's Government must, in the first instance, protest against the
contention that there is a misunderstanding with regard to the assurance given, and
repeatedly given, to Her Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople, to the effect
that Turkey did not entertain any intention of obtaining the supremacy over
Bahrain, Maskat, or the independent tribes on the coast of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
.
9. The original despatches, duly signed and dated, in which these assurances
were reported, have been carefully preserved in the archives of the Foreign Office,
and they can readily be produced for the inspection of the Turkish Embassy.
. l ®- Hls Majesty's Government maintain that prior toMidhat
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
's expedi-
tion there were on the Arabian coast no symbols of Turkish authority, no Turkish
jurisdiction or occupation, effective or ineffective, And while they are now pre-
Annex 4. to . re cogmse Turkish sovereignty between the southernmost limits of Kuwait,
(as hereinafter defined) and Ojeir, they are unable to admit that any of the areu-
ments adduced in the Turkish memorandum in any way invalidates the statement
that south of Ojeir, m the district of El Katif, there is no trace of Turkish power ever
having been paramount; and they are fully persuaded that El Katr has never been
locally regarded as forming part of, or indeed as being subject to the influence of,
the Ottoman Empire. *
For themselves, relying no less on the obvious facts than on the Turkish assur
ances mentioned above, they have never so regarded it, and they have repeatedly
iniormed the Sublime Porte accordingly.
11 ■ H ( . is v , M , a]eSty l? G r rn T ! nent cal1 onl y reiter ate their opinion that any lasting
the 0^«n e w Wef!? ftr Powers must provide for the definite renunciation by
the Ottoman Empire of the whole of the peninsula of El Katr, including El Bidaa.
They have consistently opposed any consolidation of Turkish authority, which first
opposition a 80 reCent,y m0 ' and they are bound t0 contiaue that
12. The Turkish memorandum of the I5th April does not afford His Maiesty's
Government all the information which they consider essential to a due apmeia-
tion of the attitude of the Turkish Government respecting Kuwait. His Majesty's
fhTh orKi^r'Tfi t0 /" S T ? he con «— of the local government of the
bhaikh of Kuwait, as defined m their memorandum of the 29th July 1911 which
mcontestab y forms part of the status Further, His Majesty's Government
rTcoinke ShXhl ^T ^^l 6 ^ 0Ver Kuwait -deS to
reco D nise the Shaikh as a Turkish kaimakam, but they attach cardinal importance
60
About this item
- 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 View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/1/611
- Title
- 'File 73/7 II (D 22) Status of Koweit [Kuwait] - Baghdad railway, Anglo Turkish negotiations'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 1ar:1av, 2r:5v, 16r:22v, 24r:34v, 34ar:34av, 35r:42v, 44r:49v, 51r:51v, 51br:51bv, 52r:54v, 56r:63v, 66r:67v, 72r:112r, 113r:134v, 136r:168v, 170r:182v, 184r:204r, 205v:213v, 215v, 219br:219bv, 222r:225v, 227r:236v, 238r:250v, 250br:250bv, 251r:261v, 262v:264v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence