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Letter (Secret No. 27) from Austen Chamberlain to Charles Hardinge, Governor General of India in Council, with enclosures [‎70r] (5/8)

The record is made up of 1 file (4 folios). It was created in 10 Dec 1915. It was written in English. 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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of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company's oil-iiehls and pipe-line in South-Western
Persia. The Committee was constituted as follows :
General Sir E. Barrow, G.C.B. (India Ottice).
Vice-Admiral Sir E. Slade, K.C.I.E., K.C.\ .(>. (Admiralty).
Col. the Hon. M. G. Talbot (W ar Office).
Mr. L. Oliphant (Foreign Office).
Mr. J. E. Shuckburgh ( 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. ).
2. The general ])osit.ion with regard to the Anglo-Persian Oil Company s
concession in Persia may be brielly stated. The Company was formed in 1909
to work a concession obtained from the Persian Government in 1901 by
Mr. W. K. D’Arcy. which runs for 00 years from the 28th May 1901, and
gives the exclusive right to drill for, produce, pipe,^ and carry awcy oil and
petroleum products throughout the whole Persian Empire excluding the five
Northern provinces (Azerbaijan, Ghdan, Mazanderan, Asteiabad, an(t Khoi-
assan). The only oil-fields at present being worked by the Company under
this concession are situated in the neighbourhood of Maidan-i-Naphtun in the
Bakhtiari country,' whence the oil is conveyed in a pipe-line to the Company s
refinery on Abadan Island at the head ol the Peisian Gulf. Aftei leaving the
Bakhtiari hills the pipe-line runs through a tribal area subject to the influence
of the Sheikh of Mohammerah. Under agreement with the Company the
Bakhtiari Khans have undertaken to police and protect the field works and
upper section of the-pipe line, while the Sheikh of Mohammerah is under a
similar obligation in regard to the refinery and the lower part of the line. 1 he
Bakhtiari Khans are entitled, by agreement, to 3 per cent, of the shares in
anv company formed to work oil in Bakhtiari country, and thus have a
substantial interest in the success of the venture. In May 1914 an agreement
was concluded between the Company and the Admiralty, by which the latter
acquired a sufficient number of shares to give them a controlling interest in
the Company’s operations.
3. Up to the end of 1914, the pipe-line was never interfered with; but m
January and February of the present year considerable’damage was done by the
Bawi, an Arab tribe then m revolt against the Sheikh of Mohammciah, to the
section Ivmg between the Bakhtiari border and Ahwaz. 1 he damage has
since been repaired, and the Bawi have made their submission to the Sheikh of
Mohammerah, and have formally accepted responsibility for the security of the
pipe-line, telephone line and the ( ompany s employees, in letmn foi which a
subsidy of l,000f. has been granted to the tribe. The Bakhtiaris have
so far fulfilled their engagements; but in May 1915, when a rupture with the
Persian Government seemed imminent, it was thought desirable to execute a
further agreement with the Khans, by which they undertook, in the event of
hostilities*’between Great Britain and Persia, and of their finding themselves no
longer in a position to afford the necessary protection, to give the head of the
oil-fields community 20 days’ notice in advance, and to be responsible for the
safety of the Company’s employees during those 20 days. The agreement was
dated the 24th May 1915. It may be mentioned that the population at the oil
fields consists of some T000 souls, including 40 Europeans.
1 In the event of disturbances in Persia endangering the oil-fields, it is
considered that half-measures would be useless, and that only two practicable
courses are open to us, viz.
( 1 ) To despatch a military force sufficiently strong to defend the fields and
pipe-line against all comers ; or
(2) To shut down the fields and withdraw the personnel until such time as
the Bakhtiaris are in a position to resume their engagements.
The political objections to abandoning so important an interest, or, in
Sir P. Cox’s words, “ leaving a large and valuable settlement, representing
some millions of money, to be wrecked,” are sufficiently obvious ; and there is
the further consideration that the Admiralty attach great importance to the
continued supply of oil from the Persian fields for naval purposes. It has
been argued that the Bakhtiaris, being financially interested in the enterprise,
are unlikelv in any circumstances “to kill the goose which lays the golden

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Content

The memorandum consists of a copy of a letter from Austen Chamberlain to the Governor General of India and its enclosures. The purpose of the letter being to forward recent discussion — within the British Government — concerning the defence of the oil fields and pipelines of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in Persia.

The enclosures (folios 69-71) consist of various communications between 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. and the following Government departments: the Admiralty, the War Office, and the Foreign Office. Annexed to enclosure no. 5 is a copy of the 'Report of Departmental Committee on the Defence of the Persian Oil-fields, &c' (see folios 69v-71). This report briefly outlines the arrangements between the British and both the Bakhtiari Khans and the Shaikh of Mohammerah for the protection of the oil fields. It also outlines the measures to be taken to increase their immediate defence, and further measures to be taken in the event of war threatening them.

Extent and format
1 file (4 folios)
Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at f 68, and terminates at f 71, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. Pagination: the item also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

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Letter (Secret No. 27) from Austen Chamberlain to Charles Hardinge, Governor General of India in Council, with enclosures [‎70r] (5/8), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/C143, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100029863758.0x000006> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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