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'The Middle Eastern question or some political problems of Indian defence' [‎156r] (316/616)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (306 folios ). It was created in 1903. It was written in English and French. 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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OUR SELF-DENYING ORDINANCE
many covenants and treaties under which the tribes
have been bound over to us to keep the peace, or
voluntarily refer their local differences to us for arbitra
tion and settlement, and last, but not least, the heavy
and often unendurable strain to which the climate of
one of the hottest regions in the world subjects the
constitution of European residents, the cost must un
questionably have been very great. Yet, great as it
has been, we have derived no material advantages for
ourselves beyond those which British trade and British
shipping can reap from the freedom and security of
commerce and navigation in open competition with
the rest of the world ; we have claimed no direct com
pensation, no exclusive privileges ; we have not only
refrained from turning to account the absence of any
effective authority along the coast in order to make
territorial acquisitions for ourselves, but, perhaps with
more generosity than wisdom, we have tolerated,
and even encouraged, the establishment of effective
authority by both Turkey and Persia without any
guarantee that it might not be eventually used to our
detriment.
We have acted in this matter solely under a self-
denying ordinance, for the opportunities we have had
in the course of the last hundred years for giving a
territorial sanction to the authority we exercise in the
waters of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. have been unlimited. In
fact, all the way down the Gulf one passes point
after point which we have occupied at some time or
other during the last century, but not one of them have
we retained after the necessity for temporary occupation
appeared to have passed away. Muhammerah and the
lower valley of the Karun river were occupied during
the expedition of 1857, as was also Bushire. The

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Content

The volume, written by Valentine Chirol and printed in London by John Murray in 1903, is based on a series of letters written by Chirol during a journey through Persia and the Persian Guf, that appeared in The Times in 1902 and 1903.

The main topics are: the concept of 'Middle East'; the Baghdad Railway; the British role in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; the Russian influence over Persia; the border of Afghanistan; the North-East Frontier of India, and Tibet. An appendix at the back of the volume contains copies of international treaties, and documents in French on the Baghdad Railway.

The volume contains numerous illustrations and three maps:

  • 'Sketch Map of the Borderlands of India';
  • 'Sketch Map of Asia showing railway expansion';
  • 'Sketch map of Persia and adjoining countries'.
Extent and format
1 volume (306 folios )
Physical characteristics

The 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. The volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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'The Middle Eastern question or some political problems of Indian defence' [‎156r] (316/616), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/G43, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023644753.0x000075> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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