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File 1912/897 Pt 2 ‘Persian Gulf:- British post offices’ [‎42r] (88/456)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (222 folios). It was created in 1914-1919. 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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military guaid -for the pumping station, near tlie oil fields, and to be prepared
to take further steps for the protection of the iields in the event of necessity
arising. Orders were given for the completion of various bridges at
strategical points, and for the accumulation of stores, &c.
l!?. At about this time, the Persian Government, after several abortive
attempts to send a representative to Arabistan, nominated one Ain ul Mulk
as Governor, to reside at Shushtar. The appointment is financially one of
the most unattractive in Persia, and soon after his appointment he came to
Basrah to ask for assistance in obtaining funds from the Belgian Director
of Customs at Mohammerah, in the latter’s capacity as Financial Controller.
After-much trouble a certain sum per month was obtained for him, to be
spent in^accordance with the “Budget” authorised in Tehran. The
. however, was so modest, and the prospect of obtaining additional
income from other sources so remote, having regard to the long standing
disrepute into which the office of Governor had fallen, that it was found
necessary later on to increase it by a personal allowance (from British
sources) It soon became clear, however, that without much more supervision
than could be exercised from a distance, the Governor would not “ make
good from any point of view. The notables of the town openly flouted
mu, it was clear that Ins resignation would be deferred only until such time
as he had accumulated a few months’ pay and extorted what he could from
the weaker of his clients.
On the other hand, he was well meaning and friendly, and nothing was
likely to be gained by a change.
13. A Political Officer, Mr. 0. J. Edmonds, Levant A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Consular Service was
therefore sent to Shushtar to act. as the Governor’s adviser when indicated
and m particular to see that he expended the sum allotted to him in
accoidance wnh the official “.Budget” approved in Tehran This
appointment ha,1 the destred effect: before long the Customs, Revenue
Judicial and Opium Departments recommenced under their old heads’
l-l A", ul Mulk applied for and obtained three months’ leave in M-iv
and IS hkely to return in September. The climate of Shushtar is considered
unhealthj and hot by Persians unaccustomed to it, and few Governors-
Gtneial have ever spent the summer there. He left one of his principal
in rpiffirf a S b"ffi C h™. n administration has since run fairly smoothly,
15. There have been few robberies in the district. The roads are kept
safe by several guard houses, some of which have been erected durim- the
puTlA lm ?l' Vn i rS ’ eml)oldened .'by the unaccustomed tranquillity of the
past. I _ months, have spent considerable sums on cleaning out old canals
am. have intimated their willingness to spend much more, if only we can
give them some guarantee that there will no reversion to the status quo ante
1J10, whereby they tvould stand to lose the benefit of anv expendLre for
the common good, owmg to the chronic feuds in which they are involved and
owtiig to the rapacity of certain, of their Northern neighbours ’
1 iie trade of the town has greatly increased, and prices have fallen •
axes, previously farmed to local notables, bring in greatlv enhanced sums '
•for* 00 t el ' Slai1 G0Vern T nt ’ ,he krr ? tax > "hich was'formerly farmed
brings in U -"oo D t “ t0 " 1U , tonoi, 1 s nitlia " else dared to take it), now
brings in 200 tumans a month on the same scale of charges.
depanment for disposaL whiLt maSgT^'^iHth’^rS
emg that departmental decrees, once given, are enforced.

About this item

Content

The volume comprises copies of printed correspondence, handwritten correspondence, notes and other papers. This relates to the operation of British Indian post offices in Persia, and in particular in the region known as Arabistan [Ahvāz] by British officials. The file is a direct chronological continuation of File 1912/897 Pt 1 ‘Persian Gulf. British post offices [also in 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. ]’ (IOR/L/PS/10/242). Principal correspondents in the volume include: HM Minister in Tehran (Sir Charles Murray Marling); 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. staff (John Evelyn Shuckburgh; Arthur Hirtzel); the Deputy Chief Political Officer at Basra (Captain Arnold Talbot Wilson); the Chief Political Officer at Basra (Sir Percy Zachariah Cox); and the Officiating 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Major Stuart George Knox).

Subjects covered in the volume include:

  • a printed copy of the Convention of Rome (dated 26 May 1906), created by the Universal Postal Union, incorporating detailed regulations for its execution, in French and English, printed in 1907 by HM Stationery Office (ff 160-224);
  • office notes relating to protests from the Persian Government at the opening of Government of India post offices at Henjam [Jazīreh-ye Hengām] and Charbar [Chābahār], and the anticipated post office at Ahwaz [Ahvāz] (ff 153-159);
  • a copy of a letter from Knox to Sir Walter Beaupré Townley, HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary A diplomatic representative who ranks below an ambassador. The term can be shortened to 'envoy'. at the Court of Persia, dated 21 June 1914, countering complaints made by the Persian Government about British Indian postal service activities in southern Persia, by pointing out the perceived inadequacies in the Persian postal system (ff 130-133);
  • complaints made by HM Consul at Kerman (Lieutenant-Colonel David Lockhart Robertson Lorimer), of deficiencies in the existing Persian postal service at Kerman. The Consul emphasises insecurities and delays on routes to Bandar Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās] and Tehran, the inefficiency of staff, and the importance of the service to Kerman’s European community (ff 135-136, ff 77-78);
  • a memorandum written by Wilson to Cox, dated 21 July 1917, giving a detailed account of the prevailing political situation (including Anglo-Persian relations) in Northern Arabistan (ff 41-44);
  • the proposal, put forward by Cox in 1916, to open a British Indian post office at the Anglo-Persian Oil Company’s (APOC) concession at Maidan-i-Naphtum [Meydān-e Naftūn]. It provokes much discussion between British officials in the Gulf, Government of India officials, and officials from 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 the Foreign Office, chiefly relating to the likely response of the Persian authorities to such a move, and whether the move could be justified. A useful précis of the differing opinions of officials involved in making the decision can be found at ff 14-18.

Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 volume (222 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

The subject 897 ( Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. : British Post Offices) consists of 4 volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/242-245. The volumes are divided into 4 parts with each part comprising one volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 226; 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: an original printed pagination sequence is present between ff 160-224.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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File 1912/897 Pt 2 ‘Persian Gulf:- British post offices’ [‎42r] (88/456), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/243, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100026393899.0x000059> [accessed 24 April 2024]

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