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File 6/1912 Part 1 'Persia: Shiraz affairs; attack on Mr Smart; Swedish gendarmerie' [489r] (471/472)
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.
00NF1DENTIAI.
«
i
Sir O. Barclay to Sir Edward Grey.-—(Received December 28, 3 p.m.J
Tehran, December 28, 1911, 8 a.m.
(No. 757.)
MY telegram No. 753 [of 27th December].
^ I ! 0X H S ’ -Y 1 ^-usultatio 11 with colonel, that, whether or no punitive measures
are ooutemplated it will be necessary for the protection of the consulate that at least
a battalion of suitable infantry and a battery of mountain guns should reach Shiraz
before tubes move on to the roads m March, when there will be 15,000 armed tribesmen
in the Shiraz valley, and general hostilities may be expected. This is independent of
t e immediate concentration of all available forces at Bushire, which I have authorised
acting consul-general at Bushire to effect, but for which he is also asking sanction from
India, f his latter measure is needed, not for direct co-operation with Birdwood at
Nazerun, for acting consul thinks that it would be [group omitted : ? conrt]ing disaster
tor so small a force as is available to attempt to fight its way through, but in order, in
the event of Douglas being ^ unable to effect a junction with the force at Kazerun, to
make a vigorous demonstration on the Bushire side of the passes to draw off assailants
m Kazerun valley.
The battalion of infantry and the battery of mountain guns would, acting consul
thinks, be unopposed if they proceeded to Shiraz from Bunder Abbas or Lingah, as it
would be possible to enlist friendly tribesmen in the districts on that route. I concur
in above views, and think that unless the battalion and battery can be sent to Shiraz
before March there will be no safe course but to close the consulate and to inform
British residents in Shiraz that we cannot protect them and that they remain at Shiraz
at their own risk.
For a punitive expedition and to open up Bushire and Shiraz road effectively a
properly organised expedition woidd be required of four battalions of infantry and
mountain guns.
(Addressed to Foreign Office ; sent to India.)
COPY To INDIA
191./..
SEC HE TAft Y’U Nft,, $2.
973-1150)
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' [489r] (471/472), 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_100028474501.0x0000b7> [accessed 23 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