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File 1912/897 Pt 2 ‘Persian Gulf:- British post offices’ [‎137v] (279/456)

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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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25 . The Community for which this Consulate speaks numbers about 26
Europeans and Americans, excluding married women and children.
These represent 10 institutions or business firms including the Telegraph
Department, the Bank, and the principal export firms of Kerman. To these are A
to be added 9 British Indian Subjects representing Indian houses of business in
whose hands is the bulk of the Import trade.
Besides these the Community comprises 5 Swedish officers of the Gendar
merie, and the Russian Consul and Doctor.
26. According to rough calculations made from information I have collected,
the amount of postage paid annually by the Community (excluding the British
Indian traders and the Swedish and Russian officials and the official correspond
ence of the Financial Department) approximates to :—
Krans 7,000, of which something over half at present represents the postage
paid on articles sent by Northern route. With an accelerated Southern post, the
bulk of the post would probably go by that route.
27. These facts seem sufficiently to justify the claims of the European and
Indian Community to demand attention to their complaints. The rapid growth
of the Community in recent years, in number and importance, has probably
escaped the notice of the Postal Authorities in Tehran. I may now put forward
the following proposals :—
1. The speeding up of the mail service on both the Bandar Abbas and
Teheran routes, by
The provision of adequate means of rapid carriage. Mules to replace
donkeys on the Southern routes ; and carriages or automobiles to
be in course of time provided on the Northern route.
2. When carriage has been reorganised, arrangement of dates of arrival
of post in Bandar Abbas, and departure from Bandar Abbas, to
suit the sea mail service.
3. Institution of a direct service between Kerman and Bandar Abbas and
vice versa, so arranged as to receive at least the protection, and
perhaps the more active help, of the Gendarmerie.
4 . Protection of the Northern post between Yezd and Isfahan, particularly
at Nau Gumbaz.
5. Establishment of a Customs house at Kerman to obviate delay, trouble
and risk of loss at Bandar Abbas and Enzeli, and the expense of
extra postage.
6 . Post always to be carried in suitable water-tight bags, which should be
replaced at once whenever necessary.
7. Keeping in repairs of small bridges over mountain torrents.
8. A stricter supervision by travelling inspectors, or other means, of the
staff of the Post Offices, to reduce pilfering and other irregularities.
At present no visible steps are taken to supervise and control the
provincial officials.
9. The sorting of the post in the Post Office, prior to issue, necessitating
the appointment of an official fully qualified to read the Roman
character and sort European letters, etc.
10. A new Post Master would probably be necessary to initiate and main
tain reforms.
n. The appointment of a postman, able to read at least Persian, and riot
habitually in a state of mental fog.
12. The provision of adequate means of carriage for the delivery of the
post, in Kerman. Also of water-proof bags to withstand rain,
dust and dirt.
13. The prompt sorting and delivery of letters immediately on the arrival
of the post, which will only be secured by :—
14. Locating the Post Office in the business centre of the town where it
will be under the eye of the public to which might be added the
hoisting of a flag in a conspicuous place when the post arrives.
C56FD—44—?4 6-14— 3 C BP Simla

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’ [‎137v] (279/456), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/243, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100026393900.0x000050> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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