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'Memorandum on Persian Railways' [‎97r] (5/84)

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The record is made up of 1 file (42 folios). It was created in 20 Jun 1911. 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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*17

VVu.s' document is the property of the Secretary of State for India in Council.
Secret.
Memorandum on Persian Railways.
Maps :—The choice of the map appended to the Memorandum has been
determined by the fact that a large surplus stock of copies of it
were available. Reference may also be made to —
“Persia and Afghanistan,” War Office, April 1906, Scale 64 miles
to 1 inch, accompanying Foreign Office printed Memorandum of
i2th February 1908 respecting Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . (General.j
“ Persia,” Survey of India, January 1910, Scale 40 miles to 1 inch,
accompanying Vol. XII. of Aitchisons Treaties, &c. (Detailed.)
[Note. —The paging in brackets, thus (P. 47), refers to pages in the
volumes of corresponding date of Foreign Office Prints.]
Scope of the Memorandum.
# Secret Despatch to Government of
India, No. 32, 4th November 1910.
Pol. 3990 a/10.
Report of Select Committee, 22nd July
1872.
(No. 322.)
The Reuter and other early Con
cessions.
t For an account of the Reuter Con
cession, si's Dol'd Curzon s l ersia, 1S92,
Vol. I., pp. 480-483.
1 . Hie preparation of this Memorandum was
suggested by the submission by a Russian “ Con
sortium ” of a scheme for the connection of the
European and Indian railway systems by a line
across Persia.* There are, however, other railways
in Persia of which the construction, or “ ear
marking ” has been or may shortly have to be
considered. The Memorandum, therefore, deals
with Persian railways generally. The early history
of Persian railway projects has special interest at
the present moment, since with the expiry in 1910
of the Russian prohibition of railway construction
in Persia the r position has reverted to some extent
to what it was before the end of 1890 when that
prohibition took formal and definite shape (see
paragraph 10 below).
The idea, it may be mentioned, of railway
connection with India by way of Persia is very old.
The Select Committee of the House of Commons
that reported in 1872 on the Euphrates Valley
Railway mentioned the idea only to reject it:—
“ As regards the terminus on the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ,
“ your Committee are decidedly of opinion that it
“ would be better to carry the line to some point
“ where it might be brought into communication
“ with the steam vessels which are now under
“ Government subvention to carry the mails, and
“ which ply from the Indian ports to Basra, than
“ to continue it along the coast to Karachi by a
“ very expensive, and probably unremunerative
“ route.”
2. Although then 1 had been other concessions
for railways in Persia, the first of which mention
need be made is that embodied in the Reuter
Concession of 1872, a concession which, besides
surrendering into foreign hands the entire indus
trial resources of the country, conferred upon Baron
de Reuter for the space of 70 yearsf an absolute
S. 47. A

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Content

The memorandum outlines the development of proposals for railways in Persia between 1872 and 1911. This includes discussion of the potential advantages/disadvantages (both commercial and political) for the British in the construction of railways in Southern Persia, and the potential threat posed by the expansion of Russian railways in Northern Persia towards British India, Afghanistan, and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . Proposals for various schemes are included, from those limited to internal routes within Persia, to schemes designed to link the rail networks of India and Russia via a Trans-Persian link. Consideration is also given to British and Russian efforts to maintain their spheres of influence in Persia, and their joint desire to resist any encroachment by Germany.

The memorandum is signed by John Edward Ferard, 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. .

The appendix (folios 123-132) contains supporting extracts from various papers (aide-mémoires, correspondence, memoranda, minutes, and published writings). This includes the following:

  • an extract from a minute by George Nathaniel Curzon, Viceroy of India, dated 4 September 1899, respecting the importance of Seistan [Sīstān] to the maintenance of British influence in Southern Persia (ff 123-124);
  • an extract from a minute by the Viceroy of India, dated 28 October 1901, respecting the potential threat of increasing Russian influence in Persia to Britain's strategic and commercial interests in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (ff 124-125v);
  • an extract from the Anglo-Persian Agreement (31 August 1907) respecting Persia (ff 125v-126);
  • various communications between British, Persian, and Russian authorities on the topic of railway construction in Persia (ff 126-130);
  • extracts from various published sources on the subject of railways in Persia (ff 130-132).

An index to the memorandum can be found on folios 134-136. Some extracts in the main body of the memorandum, and some papers included in the appendix are in French.

Extent and format
1 file (42 folios)
Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 95, and terminates at f 136, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, 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: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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'Memorandum on Persian Railways' [‎97r] (5/84), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/C122, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100027916873.0x000006> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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