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File 1356/1912 Pt 1 'Turco-Persian Frontier:- negotiations at Constantinople.' [‎272v] (554/885)

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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believed, interfere, provided you had acted in accordance with our advice ; and our fleet, which
is the strongest of any in the Gulf, would be employed to prevent any forcible measures against
you. I stated, however, that I would refer these questions to the Foreign Minister of the British
Government, and he has now authorised me to say that we shall protect Mohammerah against
naval attack by a foreign Power, whatever pretext for such action may be alleged, and also, so
long as you remain faithful to the Shah and act in accordance with our advice, shall continue tf^
give you our good offices and support.
As I have, however, said above, I do not regard the danger—at any rate, at present—as a
real one.
The Persian Government desires, I am sure, as earnestly as you do, the preservation of peace
in Arabistan, and the establishment of a custom-house at Mohammerah is, as l assured you last
year, a fiscal, not a political, measure. It has already informed me in a friendly spirit of the
conditions under which the new arrangement has been made, and the British Government has
instructed me to intimate its acquiescence in them. We reserve, of course, our right to object to
any further change which we may consider likely, as affecting peace and trade on the Karun, to
be detrimental to our interests.
1 trust that the new arrangement may work smoothly. There will be very likely some small
difficulties and friction at first, but I trust to your wisdom and judgment to deal with them
prudently and patiently.
Our consul has my orders to afford you all help and advice, and you may place every reliance
on my friendship. You can write to me freely should you wish to do so, as well as to the
Resident at Bushire.
Arthur PI. Hardinge.
The assurances given in the foregoing letter were confirmed in a further note
from Sir A. Hardinge to the sheikh, dated the 21rd December, 1903. The following
is the text of this note :—
Sir A. Hardinge to the Sheikh of Mohammerah.
(After compliments.)
Your Excellency, Bagdad, December 24, 1903.
I have received a telegram in reply to the one to His Majesty’s Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs from Mohammerah, after my first interview with your Excellency.
Lord Lansdowne says that if, as he presumes is the case from my account of your
Excellency’s statement to me, the Persian Government is really attempting to repudiate the
arrangement made with you last year, I am authorised to say that you are, in his opinion,
justified in opposing such attempt. He instructs me to remind you of the message which he
sent you last year, and to add that you may rest assured of the support of the British
Government so long as you on your side observe the conditions of the arrangement made
between the Persian Government and yourself. He has authorised me to point out to that
Government the necessity for respecting the conditions of the arrangement on their side. I
do not propose to do so until 1 hear further from you, as I think it will be better in the
interests of good relations between the Persian authorities and yourself that our intervention
should not be invoked until all other means of adjusting matters directly between them and
you have been exhausted. Meanwhile, I should be obliged if you would send me to
Tehran, through Plis Majesty’s resident at Bushire, a copy of the note from M. Nans,
promising not to tape duty on your personal imports, and any further information on the
subject.
I have, &c.
Arthur H. Hardinge.
On the 1 st December, 1908, Major Cox, consul-general at Bushire and British
resident in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , in pursuance of instructions received from Tehran,
addressed a note to the sheikh repeating the assurances previously given in 1902
by Sir A. Hardinge and extending them to the sheikh’s successors. This note was
thus worded:—
Consul-General Cox to the Sheikh of Mohammerah.
(After compliments.) December 1, 1908.
After enquiry after your welfare and congratulations on the satisfactory conclusion of your
business with the Arab tribes, I have the honour to inform you that 1 duly communicated
to Government all that passed at the interview which I and our friend Mr. McDouall had with
your Excellency on the 7th January last, and also placed before them the statement of Govern
ment expenditure subsequently received from you through Mr. McDouall. The reply of His
Majesty’s Government reached me through His Majesty’s Legation in September last, but, in
view of the importance of the subject and the insecurity of the post, I thought it best to delay
addressing you until my return to head-quarters
On arrival here I learnt of your own absence in Arabistan, and have since waited for your
return to Failieh.
I am directed to repeat, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the assurances given to
your Excellency in the letter of His Majesty’s Minister, Sir Arthur Hardinge, dated the 7th
December, 1902, which is in your possession, and the terms of which I repeated to you at our

About this item

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.' [‎272v] (554/885), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/266, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036171273.0x00009b> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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