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File 6/1912 Part 1 'Persia: Shiraz affairs; attack on Mr Smart; Swedish gendarmerie' [482r] (457/472)
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.
CON'KIDENTIAL
P
;60
1912 j
Sir Edward Grey to Sir G. Barclay (Tehran).
(No, 13.) Foreign Office, January 5, 1912, 1*30 p.m.
M\ immediately preceding telegram [of 5tli January: Viceroy’s telegram of
29th December]. T to h
Following are the views of
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.
on the above :— (
Disadvantages attending withdrawal proposed by Lord Hardinge are grave.
Firstly, it involves postponing until Shiraz is actually in danger measure which would
probably take two months to carry out. Secondly, it involves occupation and partial
administration of_ Bushire indefinitely. His Majesty’s consul could not return to
Shiraz nor Bushire be evacuated till Persian Government had inflicted on the
tribesmen condign punishment, which Government of India admits would be difficult
and dangerous for 5,000 men of the Indian army.
“ Persian Government have no means of carrying this out at once, and compli
cations in the north might defer or hinder them ; to occupy Bushire would afford but
little lever, and we could only evacuate Bushire after complete satisfaction, or appear
to have been defeated. Finally, the Russians might occupy position hitherto held by
Great Britain in region which, though nominally neutral, has in the past been
accustomed to only British troops, and whole policy of understanding would be very
gravely affected.
“Alternative advocated by
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.
is immediate occupation in force of Shiraz
and effective control of the road to Bushire, in order to ensure the safety of British
troops and subjects in Shiraz against overwhelming numbers and of maintaining
prestige in a sphere where British influence has been predominant. With a brigade
of infantry and a battery of mountain artillery at Shiraz with other troops to keep
Bushire road open, presumably His Majesty’s Government could dictate to Persian
Government and the tribes our terms for withdrawal, while they on their part would
find it worth their while to secure our withdrawal with least possible delay, and to
take measures to ensure that no similar occupation would again be necessary.”
There are very grave objections to this alternative, and I think that the wisest
course would be the immediate dispatch of sufficient force to ensure the safe evacuation
of Shiraz, and, if necessary, other places inland, holding Bushire and Bunder Abbas,
and obtaining from Russia meanwhile an agreement not to intervene in the neutral
zone, but I should be glad to receive your views on the question.
[152—63]
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' [482r] (457/472), 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_100028474501.0x0000a9> [accessed 25 July 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