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'Persia, Herat, and Seistan' [79r] (1/28)
The record is made up of 1 file (14 folios). It was created in 1 Jan 1880. 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.
r\
Separate and secret.
PERSIA, HERAT, AND SEISTAN.
!
Note .—This Abstract is submitted in con
tinuation of Political Secretary’s Note, of 1st
December 1879, on Persia.
From Foreign Office, 14th Jan. 1879.
Consequent upon certain despatches received from
Her Majesty’s Minister at Teheran in the autumn
of 1878, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
early in 1879, took into his consideration the ques
tion of the relations between England and Persia,
and addressed this Office in the following terms:—
a The despatches noted in the margin, which
have been communicated to the
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.
, will
have brought to Lord Cranbrook’s notice the fact
that the relations of the Shah of Persia with
England are very much occupying His Majesty’s
mind and that of his advisers at the present time.
To Mr. Thomson, Her Majesty’s Charge d’Affaires,
he expresses a great anxiety to stand well with
England, and gives assurances that he is under no
engagement with Pussia. In his conversations
with the Turkish Ambassador at Teheran, the
dominant feeling, on the other hand, seems to be a
fear lest the growth of English power on his
western frontier should threaten his independence.
The feelings of the Persian Minister for Foreign
Affairs appear to be uniformly more favourable
than those of the Shah, and, from the information
conveyed to this Department by Sir H. Layard, the
same leaning in our favour is observable in the
Persian Ambassador at Constantinople.
“ I am directed by the Marquis of Salisbury to
request that you will point out to the Secretary of
State for India that it appears, from the indications
afforded from these and other sources, that there is
a party at the Persian Court which is anxious to
cultivate the alliance of England as a safeguard
against the menacing approach of Fussia, and that
this party includes the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
The opinions of the Shah are less favourable, but
his refusal of supplies to the Prussians during their
late expedition beyond Chat, which appears to have
been carried so far as to entirely baffle General
Lomakine, and force him to retreat, shows that he
has by no means surrendered himself wholly to the
influence of llussia. The same inference may be
drawn from the fact that the Russians have lately
made the utmost efforts to conciliate His Majesty
bv costly presents and other demonstrations of good
will. His state of feeling, indeed, seems analogous
to that of Shere Ali, whose position in many ways
resembled his own. He distrusts both Poweis, but
to him the Russian is the nearest, and therefore
the most dreaded of the two.
“ The language consistently held by the Persian
Minister in London points also to the conclusion to
3627. L171. A
i fi
About this item
- Content
The memorandum concerns the state of diplomatic relations between Britain and Persia; it is the view of a number of British officials that the time is ripe to secure a privileged position for Britain at the expense of Russia. To this end it therefore discusses the pros and cons of ceding Herat, Seistan [Sīstān], or other Afghan territory to Persia.
A narrative (from 14 January 1879 to 1 January 1880) of these diplomatic exchanges is outlined through extracts from correspondence (largely telegrams), and through recollections of conversations, between British and Persian officials. This then develops into more detailed proposals on the terms by which the British might be willing to cede, and the Persians willing to accept, Herat. Parts of the narrative are in French; presumably the original conversation/correspondence was in this language.
The memorandum is signed by Owen Tudor Burne of the 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. .
This narrative is continued in IOR/L/PS/18/C29/2.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (14 folios)
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 79, and terminates at f 92, 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 pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/18/C29/1
- Title
- 'Persia, Herat, and Seistan'
- Pages
- 79r:81v, 82v:89r, 90v:92v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence