![File 6/1912 Part 1 'Persia: Shiraz affairs; attack on Mr Smart; Swedish gendarmerie' [‎438r] (369/472)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x00005a/IOR_L_PS_10_197_0880.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "File 6/1912 Part 1 'Persia: Shiraz affairs; attack on Mr Smart; Swedish gendarmerie' [‎438r] (369/472)")
File 6/1912 Part 1 'Persia: Shiraz affairs; attack on Mr Smart; Swedish gendarmerie' [438r] (369/472)
The record is made up of 1 item (236 folios). It was created in Jan 1912-Jun 1912. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
expression of military opinion as to:-
(1) The policy to be pursued in vie?; of the present
situation in southern Persia; and
(2) The military action required to give effect to the
policy advocated.
2. It is presumed that the general policy of the British
Government under the Anglo-Russian Agreement of 1907 is to
respect the integrity and independence of Persia, with due regard
to the maintenance of peace and order in certain provinces of
that country in which Great Britain and Russia respectively have
special interests. It is further understood that, owing to the
internal condition of Persia, it was lately found necessary to
despatch a Native Cavalry Regiment from India to protect the
British Consulate at Shiraz; and that, owing to a recent attack on
Mr. Smart and the detachment escorting him to Shiraz, ana also
having regard to the attitude of the tribesmen in Southern Persia
and the weakness of the Persian Government, military action on
our part may now be called for.
Bearing in mind that, though Shiraz lies in the "neutral
zone" outside the British sphere of influence, British interests
have always predominated there, and that the Persian Government
are - and for some time to come may be - incapable of controlling
the country or of exacting reparation for the attack on Hr.Smart
and his escort, the following alternatives appear to be open to
us:-
communications open between Shiraz and lushire, or,
(b)
About this item
- Content
Part 1 consists of correspondence relating to insecurity in southern Persia, particularly around Shiraz and along the Shiraz-Bushire roads. The papers tell of the British response to the situation, covering the following matters:
- the decision of whether to arm Shiraz or to evacuate the city;
- concern over Russia filling the gap left by the British were they to evacuate;
- the situation on the ground, conveyed in several reports;
- the proposal to occupy Bushire with a battalion and to subsidize local chiefs to maintain the roads;
- the Persian Government plan to employ Swedish officers to command and train a gendarmerie along some of the roads;
- British claims for reparation from the Persian Government following an attack on the Shiraz Consul, Mr Smart, and his escort;
- the question of providing winter quarters for Indian troops in Shiraz should they have remain there for the season.
The discussion over such matters is mostly between 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, Government of India, and Minister at Tehran. Further correspondence, included as enclosures, is from Percy Zachariah Cox, 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. .
Included is memorandum on the situation in Southern Persia by J E F, Political Department, 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. , 16 February 1912.
- Extent and format
- 1 item (236 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front.
The subject 6 (Persia) consists of this one volume. The volume is divided into two parts.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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File 6/1912 Part 1 'Persia: Shiraz affairs; attack on Mr Smart; Swedish gendarmerie' [438r] (369/472), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/197/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100028474501.0x000051> [accessed 3 August 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/197/1
- Title
- File 6/1912 Part 1 'Persia: Shiraz affairs; attack on Mr Smart; Swedish gendarmerie'
- Pages
- 254r:289v, 290v:305v, 306v:446v, 447v:489v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence