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File 1421/1908 Pt 4 'Persia: oil; Anglo-Persian Oil Co and Bakhtiaris' [149r] (155/292)
The record is made up of 1 item (145 folios). It was created in Jun 1909-May 1913. 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. .
Transcription
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4
3^V2-
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government.]
PERSIA.
31MAY191U
[May 8 .]
Section 11.
[17219] No. 1.
Sir G. Barclay to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received May 8 .)
(No. 57.)
Sir, Tehran, April 19, 1911.
I HAVE the honour to report that when Mr. Greenway, managing director of
the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, recently passed through Tehran, he represented to me
that as the company were contemplating resuming work on their wells at Kasr-i-Shirin
it would be desirable for the better protection of the company’s interests if a British
vice-consulate could be established in that locality.
I am inclined to share his opinion if a suitable person of British nationality could
be found to undertake the duties of British vice-consul at Kasr-i-Shirin without
remuneration.
I am consulting His Majesty’s consul at Kermanshah in regard to Mr. Greenway’s
proposal, and if he should report favourably I shall have the honour of addressing you
a further despatch on the subject, and, in the meantime, I enclose copy of a despatch
which 1 have received from His Majesty’s consul at Kermanshah shortly after
Mr. Greenway’s visit.
As Kasr-i-Shirin is in the Bussian sphere, I shall, of course, ascertain whether my
Russian colleague would see any objection to the appointment of a British vice-consul
under the circumstances.
I have, &c.
G. BARCLAY.
L
Enclosure in No. 1.
Consul McDouall to Sir G. Barclay.
(No. 25. Confidential.)
Sir, Kermanshah, March 23, 1911.
I HAVE the honour to report that the state of affairs at Kasr-i-Shirin, as
shown in to-dav’s and last week’s diaries, is that the Provincial Government of
Kermanshah has no authority there, and the continued presence of the new Turkish
consul for Kermanshah there causes a suspicion of Turkish intrigue.
Mr. Soane, who left for Kasr on the 22 nd to take charge of the Anglo-Persian Oil
Company’s affairs there, has promised to send me reliable information as to the
situation, as that obtained here is not to be depended on beyond a certain point.
Kasr-i-Shirin is situated in the Buluk of Zohab, which was conquered from the
Turks some ninety years ago by Mohamed Ali Mirza,
Prince Governor
A Prince of the Royal line who also acted as Governor of a large Iranian province during the Qājār period (1794-1925).
ofj Kermanshah,
but has never been ceded by treaty, and, in fact, is ackowledged to be Turkish by the
treaty of Erzeroum. The Persians have exercised full sovereignty there since its
conquest, and the important frontier custom-house of Kasr has existed for a long time.
Though in the Russian sphere British interests there are at present paramount,
both as all goods from Bagdad, of which most are British, pass through that custom
house in bond, and as the oil wells of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company are in that
buluk. The company has machinery there to the value of 30,000?., and will
probably in the near future start supplying this province with that oil, and the wells
will be important as soon as railways are constructed in Western Persia.
I have, &c.
w. McDouall.
[2020 h — 11 ]
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Part 4 consists of correspondence relating to relations between the Anglo-Persian Oil Company and the Bakhtiari Khans of Persia. The correspondence is mostly between the Government of India (Foreign Department), Foreign Office, and 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. . Included as enclosures are letters, telegrams, and memoranda from the following:
- Edward Grey, Foreign Secretary;
- the British Minister to Persia in Tehran;
- representatives of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company;
- Percy 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. at Bushire;
- the British Consulates at Kerman and Ahwaz.
Several matters are covered by the papers, including:
- views of various British government officers on an Anglo-Persian Oil Company prospectus (folios 214-16);
- clarification of the position of the Bakhtiari khans in relation to the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, including the allotment of shares;
- the insecurity surrounding the company's work at Kasr-i-Shirin [Qasr-e Shīrīn] and the need to appoint a Vice-Consul to the town;
- compensation for peasants displaced by the company's work.
Folio 216 is a map of Persia showing the potential and active oil wells.
The papers include a newspaper cutting from the Times and several extracts from Persian and Iraqi newspapers.
- Extent and format
- 1 item (145 folios)
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/144/2
- Title
- File 1421/1908 Pt 4 'Persia: oil; Anglo-Persian Oil Co and Bakhtiaris'
- Pages
- 72r:78v, 79v:80v, 81v:82v, 83v:91v, 92v, 93v:94v, 95v:96v, 97v:98v, 99v:101v, 102v, 103v:104v, 105v:113r, 115r:118v, 119v:128v, 129v:132v, 136r:153r, 156r:171v, 174r:182v, 185v:190v, 192r:213v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence