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'MEMORANDUM RESPECTING THE NAVIGATION OF THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES.' [35r] (70/284)
The record is made up of 1 file (42 folios). It was created in 24 Apr 1913. It was written in English. 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.
53
The following propositions on the main
questions—the navigation of the Tigris and
Euphrates by British ships—were considered by
Mr. Plowden, after an exhaustive review of the
principal documents in the Bagdad archives, to
be established :—
" 1. The British Government has under the firmans "
of 1834 and 1841, which have been confirmed by the
vizierial letters of 1861 and 1862, the right, subject to
certain specified conditions, to navigate the Euphrates
' for purposes of trade.'
" 2. Under the arrangement of 1846, also confirmed in
the vizierial letters of 1861 and 1862, British merchants
are at liberty to navigate the Euphrates and Tigris
under the British flag and without restriction as to the
number or description of the vessels employed, subject
only to the payment of the stipulated dues.
" 3. That the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Naviga
tion Company have no
firman
A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’).
granting them an
exclusive privilege to navigate the Tigris with two, and
only two, steamers. Their rights really depend on the
arrangement of 1846, and so far are neither greater nor
less than those which may be claimed by any British
merchant."
Mr. Plow den further submitted that article 2S
of the Capitulations (confirmed by articles 1 and 2
of the treaty of 1861), and article 8 of the treaty
of commerce of 1861, ilf conferred on British
subjects the right to engage in trade, internal
and foreign, anywhere in Turkey, to load mer
chandise and transmit it in their ships from one
part of the Sultan's dominions to another part,
and to employ under identical conditions British
merchant-vessels in any part of the Turkish
Empire in which Ottoman ships may be employed,
just as reciprocally in British dominions Ottoman
vessels may go wherever British vessels may go.
As Ottoman merchant-steamers plied up and
down the Tigris, therefore, he argued, British
vessels were also entitled to navigate that river
for purposes of commerce.
Prior to the receipt of Mr. Plowden's report, a
letter was received from the Euphrates and
Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company stating that
Tigris steam ^eiv right to use barges was founded on the
Company, a vizierial letter of the 2nd April, 1846, confirming
April 2, 1881. a they had long previously enjoyed,
the words used in the vizierial letter being " que
* No longer in force.
[163—1]
r
About this item
- Content
Memorandum, written by Richard William Brant and Edward Parkes of the Foreign Office, Apr 1913 regarding navigation on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The memorandum is divided into four parts:
- Historical Memorandum respecting the navigation of the Mesopotamian rivers. The memorandum describes the history of British relations with Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. and the progress of their relations in order to determine the rights that Great Britain possesses which allow it to participate in the trade and navigation of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The memorandum covers both the period where rights were acquired by the East India Company (1579-1859) and from 1860s onwards where rights and special privileges were acquired and maintained on behalf of the Tigris and Euphrates Steam Navigation Company (folios 8-66);
- British rights by treaty with regard to the navigation of the Tigris and Euphrates, which looks at the rights accrued by Great Britain through treaties with the Ottoman Government and through the Ottoman Empire's treaties with other nations (folios 67-70);
- Conclusions, which summarises the conclusions that can be drawn from the information provided in both the historical memorandum and the treaties sections (folios 71-74);
- Chronological Table covering the period 1759 to 1912, with annual entries from 1873 onwards (folios 75-119) ;
- Annex: Instances where the employment of British steamers in the navigation of the Tigris and Euphrates has been asserted or admitted to be limited by the Firmans of 1834 and 1841;
- Appendices: 34 items which are listed on folio 122, and include extracts and copies of Treaties, Firmans, Memorandum, Circulars and other relevant documents covering the period 1718 to 1912.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (42 folios)
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The main foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio (except for the front cover where the folio number is on the verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. ). An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between folios 4-139; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.
Pagination: The volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/18/B199
- Title
- 'MEMORANDUM RESPECTING THE NAVIGATION OF THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES.'
- Pages
- front, back, front-i, 2r:123r, 124r:125v, 126v:127v, 129r:130r, 133v:137r, 138r:138v, 139v:141v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence