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File 1408/1904 Pt 2 ‘Persian Gulf: telegraphs. Henjam-Bunder Abbas-cable’ [‎186v] (377/478)

The record is made up of 1 volume (235 folios). It was created in 1904-1909. 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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2
Bunder Abbas, hut this provision shall not preclude the Persian Government from
employing foreign subiectsin the service of the Indo-European Telegrap epar
should it desire or have occasion to borrow, and the Department be willing to lend
their services.”
His Maiesty’s Government attaches importance to this last provision, in view of
the attempts which have been made by the Russian Legation to induce the Persian
Government to employ Russian telegraphists on the Central Persian and Seistan
telegraph lines. , „ ...
The above is only a rough draft, embodying the substance of communications
received bv me from His Majesty’s Government, and it is possible that certain
emendations might be desired by them in it, but before^ discussing details 1 should be
glad to learn whether your Excellency would be authorized to conclude an .Agreement
on these general lines, and if so, which of the alternative suggestions sketched by me
would be most agreeable to the Persian Government. ^
With reference to the question of a land line or a submarine cable, if the line
is to be taken over when constructed by the Persian Government, it would be
necessary that it should be a land one across the Island of Kishm, as a submaiine
line would require a telegraph ship to effect repairs in it, such as those employed by
the British Government, and by British and other foreign Telegraph Companies, and
the Persian Government could hardly be expected to incur the great expense, out
of all proportion to the profits, of procuring and maintaining such a vessel, or of
providing the staff of engineers necessary for mending cables under the sea.
The cost of making and maintaining the land line across Kishm would be,
moreover, a great deal less than that of a submarine cable. It is estimated by His
Majesty’s Government that it will amount to about 75,000 rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. , or 30,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. ,
while the submarine cable would cost 124,018 rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. .
I append the estimates for the two alternative schemes. The annual charge
for upkeep is estimated at 6,400 rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. , or about 2,500 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. a-year. It is not
easy to estimate the probable profits to Government, as these for the first few years
are likely to be small; but there can be little doubt that the line will ultimately
fully repay the cost of laying and maintaining it, owing to the great impetus which
will be given by it to the trade of Bunder Abbas. It will be followed—to mention
only one result in this direction—by the opening of a branch there of the Imperial
Bank of Persia, which has hitherto been prevented by the non-existence of
telegraphic communications. It will, moreover, strengthen the hold of the Persian
Government upon the whole district of Bunder Abbas, by enabling orders from
Tehran or Bushire to be delivered in a few hours to the local Government, and thus
indirectly increase the security of traders against robberies or disorders. Nor can it
be doubted that by increasing the value of land, as the Central Persian line has
already done in Kerman, it will enable the State to draw from the district an
increasing revenue, without this being felt by the population. I should add that the
connection of Bunder Abbas with Hen jam will prove much cheaper than the line fore
shadowed in the Convention of 1865 connecting Bunder Abbas overland with Task,
which is estimated to cost 30,5001., or 150,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. .
I may mention officially in this connection to your Excellency (I have already
done so verbally) that His Majesty’s Government is prepared to agree to the proposal
that telegrams exchanged on the Central Persian line between the Persian Govern
ment and its Consul-General in India should be charged at half rates only, but I am
to make it clear to your Excellency that this concession will apply to the Central
Persian line only, and cannot take effect till the similar arrangement with regard to
British State telegrams comes into force on the final completion of that line. His
Majesty’s Government hope that the friendly spirit which has induced them to meet
the wishes of the Persian Government in this respect, and which leads them always
to desire to co-operate with it in all questions relating to the telegraphic communica
tions binding together the two Empires, will be reciprocated by the Ministers of His
Majesty the Shah in the matter of the Bunder Abbas-Henjam extension, which forms
the subject of the present communication.
I have, &c.
(Signed) ARTHUR, H. HARDINGE.

About this item

Content

The volume comprises notes, memoranda, copies of correspondence and other papers, relating to an agreement reached between the British and Persian Governments for the construction of a telegraph cable line between the telegraph station at Henjam [Jazīreh-ye Hengām] and Bunder Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās], and a subsequent dispute between the British and Persian Governments over the location of the telegraph office in Bunder Abbas. The volume’s principal correspondents are: the 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 Percy Zachariah Cox); the British Ambassador (or Chargé d’Affaires) at Tehran (Sir Arthur Henry Hardinge; Sir Evelyn Mountstuart Grant Duff); the Assistant Resident and British Consul at Bandar-e ʻAbbās (Lieutenant William Henry Irvine Shakespear).

The volume’s papers include:

  • proposals, set out by British officials, for a telegraph cable running between Henjam and Bunder Abbas, chiefly for the benefit of the Indian merchant community at the latter place;
  • papers detailing negotiations between British and Persian officials through 1905 concerning the construction of the telegraph cable from Henjam to Bunder Abbas, and the construction and operation of a telegraph office at Bundar Abbas. Much of the discussion centres on the running and costs of the telegraph office at Bundar Abbas, in response to the Persian Government’s insistence that they run the office, and the British Government’s insistence that only Persians be employed in the office (in order to prevent the appointment of Russian telegraphists). A printed copy of the agreement for the construction of the telegraph line from Henjam to Bunder Abbas, dated 13 May 1905, is included in the volume (f 149);
  • copies of telegrams and other papers dated 1906, documenting the construction of telegraph facilities at Bunder Abbas, including British intentions to run the cable via their consular buildings, Persian objection to the proposals, and the protracted dispute over the location of the telegraph office that ensued;
  • correspondence dated 1909, including a letter from Sir George Head Barclay at the British Embassy in Tehran, to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir Edward Grey, dated 8 March 1909, confirming that the dispute between the British and Persian authorities over the location of a telegraph office at Bunder Abbas has been resolved (ff 20-21).
Extent and format
1 volume (235 folios)
Arrangement

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

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 237; 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. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 130-143; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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File 1408/1904 Pt 2 ‘Persian Gulf: telegraphs. Henjam-Bunder Abbas-cable’ [‎186v] (377/478), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/39, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100026544901.0x0000b2> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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