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File 2626/1905 ‘Persia:- Military Attaché at Meshed’ [‎193v] (391/532)

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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. .

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him that the work then devolving on Captain Smyth could not be properly per
formed by the Consul-General or the Indian Political Attache. He therefore
strongly recommended that the Military Attache should be retained at Meshed
until we had not only obtained from the Russian Government the recognition of
a British Consul at Tashkent or elsewhere in Central Asia, but had also tested
by practical experience the possibilities of obtaining through him all the political
and military intelligence we require. In support of his recommendation he
pointed out that for information regarding military matters in Central Asia the
Government of India and the Intelligence Department must largely depend on
news supplied from Meshed—a remark that applies with equal force at the
present time—and he expressed the hope that, if the successful system evolved
by Captain Smyth were allowed to develop, before long we should be in pos
session of early and ample information of every important event in Central Asia.
Since the date of that letter two years have elapsed, and the result 5
attained in this interval have, in our opinion, justified Sir A. Hardinge’s expecta
tions.
6. Sir A. Hardinge’s opinion of the importance of Meshed as a centre for the
collection of military and political intelligence and of the consequent necessity for
the retention there of the Military Attache is shared by Sir C. Spring-Rice, whose
v concurrence was communicated to you in His Excellency the Viceroy’s telegram
1 of the 6th March last. In his despatch No. 122, dated the 12th June 1907, to
the Right Hon’blethe Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir C. Spring-Rice
has again urged the great importance of Meshed as a centre for the acquisition
of such intelligence, and, in his No.*i68 of the 24th of the following month,
has renewed his recommendation that the Military Attache at Meshed should be
retained.
7. We would also invite attention to the opinions expressed on this subject
by the Consul-General, Meshed.
t a ^ e ^ erj 8 ,_ C\ of the 31st May last, to the Government
of India on the subject of the recent negotiations with Russia and their
possible effects on the position of the Meshed Consulate-General, Major Sykes
wrote. . under Captain Smyth an unique net-work of intelligence
embracing Trans-Caspia and Turkistan, has been woven. Possibly, too, in the
near future this net-work may cover the provinces to the east A third
point is that the Consulate-General at Meshed watches Western Afghanistan and
Herat. Consequently it would appear inadvisable, if only on this account, to
weaken British prestige at the capital of Khorasan.”
infhipn* ^ ^ t ^ US keseen that until last month the reasons which have
influenced all concerned in urging that the military attacheship at Meshed should
made a permanency have been almost entirely of a military character We
alMn b Tn 7 v 'T 65 > by ‘ h u e St T g COnSensus of °P inion emanating from
concLfon of AT Tr W “ h authorit 7 this subject, but we think that the
conclusion of the recent Convention with Russia must necessarily involve a
reconsideration of the matter in the light of the altered conditions. Hitherto the
m vements and preparations of Russia in Central Asia have had a verv real
when "the TisturbinA 7 "™’ 7 - 77 bee " P-iodsTdthtn recTiTyeArl
vnen the disturbing rumours which have reached us from Afghanistan and
an wVwhlch tfnTd pre F arati ° nS haVe caused considerable anxiety in India
entTA wToT tended Pf, ha P s to exaggeration chiefly because we were almos
rea truth W tirThA'r l 6 ^7 u Asla whereb y we could learn the
.. r.»n £ i. C— Asia and ^SiTff'iCSS.
iv!)
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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.

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English in Latin script
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File 2626/1905 ‘Persia:- Military Attaché at Meshed’ [‎193v] (391/532), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/85, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100027041203.0x0000c0> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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