Skip to item: of 532
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

File 2626/1905 ‘Persia:- Military Attaché at Meshed’ [‎131r] (266/532)

This item is part of

The record is made up of 1 volume (259 folios). It was created in 1 Dec 1904-16 Nov 1911. It was written in English. 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. .

Transcription

This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.

Apply page layout

proposal for the permanent appointment of a Military Attache to
His Majesty’s Consulate-General at Meshed, at a cost varying, according
to the rank of the officer employed, from five hundred and seventy-four
pounds eight shillings (574k 8 s. Od.) to nine hundred and twenty-seven
pounds four shillings (927k 4s. Od.) a year, to be borne equally between
the Indian and Imperial Governments.
With regard to the second paragraph of your letter, I am to state, for
the information of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, that the
point to which you refer had already engaged the attention of the
Secretary of State, and formed the subject of an enquiry addressed to
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. in a letter dated 14th May. That Department replied,
however, in the following terms :—
“ The suggestion in your letter that the duties at present performed
by Captain Smyth should be discharged in future either by the
Consul-General or the Vice-Consul at Meshed does not seem
practicable. The latter officer is usually a member of the
Indian Medical Service, and does not possess the necessary
technical qualifications. The Consul-General’s duties do not
afford him sufficient leisure to undertake the work. It was the
insufficiency of the news supplied by the staff of the Consulate-
General without the assistance of a special officer that led to the
appointment of Captain Smyth.”
In reply to the final paragraph of your letter I am to inform you that
the question to which you allude has not been lost sight of, though any
reduction in the existing establishments in Persia would have to be
effected gradually, and if possible in pursuance of an understanding
with the Russian Government. Sir E. Grey trusts, however, that the
appointment of a Military Attache at Meshed may be considered on its
merits, apart from the larger question; and, as inconvenience is caused
by the strictly temporary footing on which the appointment is at present
being continued, Sir E. Grey earnestly trusts that the appointment may
be sanctioned, at the joint charge of the Indian and British Exchequers,
for a period of, say, two years, the question of its continuance to be
considered at the end of that period.
I am, &c.,
The Secretary to the Treasury. Louis Mallet.
Enclosure No. 6 .
Foreign Office to 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. .
No. 39,418.
The Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs presents his com
pliments to the Under Secretary of State for India, and, by direction of
the Secretary of State, transmits herewith copy of the under-mentioned
paper.
Foreign Office,
20th November 1908.
I
1
Reference to previous letter: Foreign Office, No. 36,797, of
31st October.
Letter from Treasury to Foreign Office, dated 11th November 1908,
regarding the Military Attache, Meshed.
s. 15 .

About this item

Content

The volume contains correspondence and notes by British officials about government expenditure on the Government of India post of Military Attaché at the British Consulate General at Meshed in Persia. The main correspondents are senior officials in London at the Foreign Office, 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. , War Office and Treasury. They discuss the joint funding of this post by the Government of India and the Home Government in London (also referred to as the Imperial Government), the continuance of the existing financial contribution to the salary for this post by the Foreign Office and an additional contribution by the War Department out of Army funds, 1910-1911. The correspondence includes representations in 1905 from Arthur Hardinge the Consul General at Tehran, Lieutenant Colonel C F Minchin the Consul General for the province of Khorasan at Meshed and his successor Major P Molesworth Sykes, to the Government of India and the Home Government in London, advocating the retention of Meshed as a centre of military intelligence about Russian Central Asia and the appointment there of a military intelligence officer, given the absence of a British Consular presence in Russian Turkestan and the value of such intelligence gathering to Government of India military authorities in particular.

Extent and format
1 volume (259 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume. The subject 2626 (Persia – Military Attaché at Meshed) consists of one volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 264; 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.

Written in
English in Latin script
View the complete information for this record

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

File 2626/1905 ‘Persia:- Military Attaché at Meshed’ [‎131r] (266/532), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/85, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100027041203.0x000043> [accessed 29 March 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100027041203.0x000043">File 2626/1905 ‘Persia:- Military Attaché at Meshed’ [&lrm;131r] (266/532)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100027041203.0x000043">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000365.0x0003aa/IOR_L_PS_10_85_0266.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000365.0x0003aa/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image