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‘Memorandum respecting the frontier between Mohammerah and Turkey.’ [‎36r] (71/82)

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The record is made up of 1 file (41 folios, 5 maps). It was created in 3 Apr 1912. 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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61
The province of Nejd is the high plateau of Central
Arabia, distant some 500 miles at its nearest point from
Bussorah, and tlie name is never applied to the valley of
the Euphrates,
It would appear from this that Persia claims the left
bank of the Shat and the Tigris as her boundary from
the sea to near Bagdad, but I know not the grounds upon
which the claim depends. At present she docs not possess
any territory on the river above Moliammernli. Girdelan
was certainly built by Persian colonists about 100 years
ago and continued with the adjoining villa2 ;es subject to
Howoizeh for some years after Nadir Shah's lurkish
conquests; but the lands watered by the Shat from Girde
lan to the sea are, nevertheless, registered in the Bussorah
records as dependencies of that city from the earliest period
to which such documents ascend, and all the ancient
geographical notices confirm this territorial allotment.
The village of Sadireh is on the Jerrahi about 40 miles
above Fellahiah; the extreme Chaab possession, however,
on this river is Khalafabad, 15 miles above Sadireh. The
country is thinly inhabited from Khalafabad to Old Doorak,
but between that point and Fellahiah the cultivation,
watered by canals from the Jerrahi, continue in an un
interrupted line and may be increased to any desired extent.
The direction of the Jerrahi from Ram Hormuz to
Fellahiah is south westerly, and from that point to the sea
the Nahr-i-Busi runs due south.
Bunder Maashar is on the sea near the mouth of the
Nahr-i-Busi; it is distant about 30 miles from Fellahiah
and nearly 70 miles from Sadireh by the river.
H. RAWLINSON, Consul at Bagdad.
been destroyed, would have become very cele-
brated. The whole country to the west of the
Shatt-el-Arab from the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. to Girdelan
opposite to Bussorah, is included in the territory
of Nejd ; but Girdelan is to the east of the river,
where the country, for a space of 80 farsangs,
belongs to the province of Fars. Throughout all
this tract the date palm flourishes, the groves in
many places stretching for a space of 8 farsangs,
in others being limited to 3 farsangs. Besides
dates the country also, which belongs exclusively
to Sheikh Thamir Khan, produces oranges, citrons,
figs, grapes, pomegranates, plums, peaches, &c.
The Keab tribes of Edres and Ansar occupy
the gardens on the banks of the Shatt-el-Arab.
the eastern shores of which are held to be an
integral part of the territory of Fars. There are
forty-six forts which acknowledge the rule of the
Keab Arabs.
The houses which are built within these forts
and around them are constructed of earth, of
bricks, and of the wood of the date tree ; the
buildings and edifices which surround the gardens
are inhabited by the Keab subjects who are
employed in gathering in the fruit. As for the
rice and corn, of which the produce is very con
siderable, the sheikh enjoys the entire revenues.
The village of Sadireh, which is situated at the
distance of 8 farsangs from Fellahiah, is one of the
dependencies of the Sheikh, it may be reached
either by land or by water.
Agents are maintained there by the chiefs to
superintend the cultivation of the wheat and
barlev. The families occupied in husbandry amount
to about 200.
The water for irrigation comes from the Jerrahi
which runs easterly " vers I'orient" towards
Fellahieh. Mnashar occurs at the distance ot
4 farsangs from Sadireh.
[2440 c—10]

About this item

Content

The memorandum concerns the border between Mohammerah [Khorramshahr] and Turkey, and was prepared by Alwyn Parker of the Foreign Office. There are a number of labels at the top of the first page: ‘Persia’, ‘Confidential’ and ‘Section 10’. The memorandum sections are as follows:

  • Part I. A preface (folios 1-5), introducing the points at issue, with two maps, the first being a sketch map of the Mohammerah district, with the proposed Turkish, Persian and mediating commissioner’s lines indicated (folio 2), and a map compiled from plane table surveys by Lieutenant Arnold Talbot Wilson in 1909, with the frontier as defined by the mediating commissioners in 1850 (folio 4);
  • Part II. An historical summary (folios 6-19) of British Government correspondence relating to the border dispute, with the chief focus being on correspondence exchanged during the period 1843-52, around the time of the Treaty of Erzeroum (c.1848). This part contains two copies of a map, a facsimile of a diagram of the disputed area, the original of which was enclosed by Colonel Williams in his despatch of 4 February 1850, indicating Turkish and Persian claims and the mediating commissioner’s proposal (folios 15, 19);
  • Part III. Conclusion (folios 20-28), with a further map (folio 23), an exact copy of that found on folio 4.

The appendices that follow are:

  • A: British assurances given to the Shaikh of Mohammerah, 1899 and 1902-10;
  • B. Protocol of December 1911 (in French) for the proposal settlement of the Turco-Persian frontier question;
  • C. An extract from Sir Austen Henry Layard’s Early Adventures in Persia, Susiana, and Babylonia , published in 1887. The extract is from volume 2, pp 431-439;
  • D. Rough notes made by General William Monteith when in Persia, on the frontier of Turkey and Persia, as communicated to the Foreign Office in 1843;
  • E. Observations by Sir Henry Rawlinson on a Persian memorandum relative to the situation of the cities of Mohammerah and Fellahiah [Fallāḥīyah], 1844;
  • F. Text of the Treaty of Erzeroum, 31 May 1847, in English and French translation;
  • G. Copy of a despatch from Sir Stratford Canning, the British Ambassador to Istanbul, to Lord Palmerston, Foreign Secretary, dated 30 May 1850;
  • H. Copy of a despatch from Lord Palmerston to Lord Broomfield, dated 12 July 1850.
Extent and format
1 file (41 folios, 5 maps)
Arrangement

The memorandum is arranged into three parts, labelled I, II and III, which are followed by eight lettered appendices, A-H. Historic correspondence referred to in the memorandum is referenced in the inside page margin.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the first folio and terminates at the last folio; 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.

Pagination: The booklet contains an original typed pagination sequence.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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‘Memorandum respecting the frontier between Mohammerah and Turkey.’ [‎36r] (71/82), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B380, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100024051501.0x000048> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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