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File 1356/1912 Pt 1 'Turco-Persian Frontier:- negotiations at Constantinople.' [‎56v] (122/885)

The record is made up of 1 volume (436 folios). It was created in 7 Feb 1912-25 Sep 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. .

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1
i!
There is a well-known tradition current locally that the bed of the Karun from
Marid, where the old Karun diverges, to the head of the Bahmanshir, was once an
artificial cut for small boats, and so narrow, to quote the words of the tradition, “ that
one'woman could hand to another a basket of dates across the water.” ^
Gradually, however, the Karun tended to adopt the canal for its surplus waters, as
the Kubban Channel became silted up ; dams were built to counteract this tendency,
but in vain, and finally the river abandoned the Marid-Kubban bed and flowed south
wards to the Bahmanshir.
There is strong inductive evidence of the correctness of the above tradition
deducible from the levels of the old and new stream beds and other considerations,
which have received the endorsement of Sir W. Willcocks, who has made a close studv
of the question.
It may further be asked, when the Karun entered the sea via Kubban, what was
the position and raison d’etre of the Bahmanshir, if it was not at that time a mouth of
the combined waters of the Euphrates and Tigris ?
Other pertinent arguments may be adduced, such as the great size and depth of
the Hafiar, and the nature of the delta of the Bahmanshir, but the subject is not one
which atfects the frontier directly, and is only touched on here to show that the
arguments of the responsible officers of that period were not always founded on a basis
of unassailable fact.
Note 3.
Page 12 : The Independence of the Kdab and their original Nationality.
Whether the Ka’ab (or Chaab) emigrated from Najd (as stated by Mr. Lorimer
in his “ Gazetteer ’ at p. 961) or from the Arabian coast (as stated by Lieutenant Wilson
on the authority of an old native historical record, vide p. 8 of his precis), their stay
at Wasit, on the Shatt-el-Hai in Turkish territory, was only a short one, and Najd and
the Arabian coast being alike independent at the time, their brief sojourn in Turkish
territory does not make them a Turkish tribe.
lurkish dominion over Mesopotamia was then very shadowy except at Bussorah
and Bagdad, and the statement of Mr. Townley in his memorandum of 1891, on the
authority of information obtained in Tehran from the Turkish Embassy, that the Ka’ab
were recognised as independent by the treaty of 1639, coming as it does from a Turkish
source, is primd facie probable.
There is, I think, no doubt that the Chaab were not recognised as independent by
the Treaty of 1639: all the versions we possess, including the Turkish versions and
that obtained from Vienna and regarded as the most reliable, omit all reference to
the Chaab, and the ipse dixit of the Turkish Embassy at Tehran, without any
documentary proof, is, I submit, not of any decisive weight in view of the
consistent evidence to the contrary afforded by all the versions of the treaty
extant. Moreover, it is hardly conceivable that, if the Chaab were recognised as
independent by the Treaty of 1639, the fact should not have transpired between
1842 and 1850.—A. P.
Major Bawlinson’s conclusions at the top of p. 14 may, so far as they relate to
the independence of the Ka’ab, be accepted as correct, with the exception of the
assertion that they were Turkish subjects in 1639. It is impossible to reconcile this
general statement with the record (printed at p. 8 of Wilson’s precis), to the effect
that about 16 -jO on the accession of Shah Abbas, Imam Kuli Khan, Governor of
larsistan, headed an expedition against the Ka’ab, and compelled them to pay revenue
to the Shah of Persia. This statement indicates that some years before the treaty
of 1639 the Ka’ab were admittedly Persian subjects, and one of the principal Turkish
assertions thus falls to the ground. p P ±
In any case it may be asked, What are the rights “ of which Turkey never made
any formal renunciation ? ” The payment by the tribe of rents to Bussorah may, with
due reseive, be admitted as evidence of the nationality of the lands concerned, but not
of the subjectivity of the tribes paying it, as it has been constantly admitted that
Persian tribes might occupy lands belonging to Turkey without surrendering their
nationality, though without, of course, giving Persia a valid claim on that ground
alone to the ownership of the lands occupies!. (See second query, p. 24.)
I am not aware where this is “ constantly admitted;’ at any rate to the extent
of allow nig the exercise of jurisdiction by a foreign Sheikh on Turkish territory.
1 would also refer to my minute under Note 7 on p. 10. A. P.

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Content

The volume discusses the disputed Turco-Persian Frontier, particularly at Mohammerah, and the negotiations in Constantinople to attempt to settle it.

The correspondence focuses on:

  • the differences of opinion over the actual boundary at Mohammerah, including several maps demonstrating these differences;
  • movements of Turkish and Russian troops;
  • ownership of the Shat-el-Arab and questions of access for navigation;
  • copies of treaties, correspondence and memoranda dating back to 1639 relating to the question of the Turco-Persian frontier.

The principal correspondents in the volume are the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Sir Edward Grey); the Secretary of State for India (Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe); the 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. (Sir Percy Zachariah Cox); the British Ambassador to Constantinople (Sir Gerard Lowther); the British Ambassador to Russia (Sir George Buchanan); the Viceroy of India (Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst); the British Ambassador to Tehran (Sir George Head Barclay); representatives of the Foreign Office (particularly Alwyn Parker) and 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 Arthur Talbot Wilson, on special duty in relation to the Turco-Persian Frontier.

This volume is part one of two. Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 volume (436 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

The subject 1356 (Turco-Persian Frontier) consists of 2 volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/266-267. The volumes are divided into two parts, with each part comprising one volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 436; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, 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.

The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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File 1356/1912 Pt 1 'Turco-Persian Frontier:- negotiations at Constantinople.' [‎56v] (122/885), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/266, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036171270.0x00007b> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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