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File 1356/1912 Pt 1 'Turco-Persian Frontier:- negotiations at Constantinople.' [‎282v] (574/885)

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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APPENDIX (H).
Sir S. Canning - ,
No. 82,
April 2, 1845.
(Sent to
St. Petersburgh,
in No. 28,
May 6,1845.)
Sir S. Canning,
No. 222,
September 17,
1845. (Sent to
St. Petersburgh
in No. 67,
October 7, 1845.)
Sir S. Canning,
No. 51,
March 31, 1846,
(Sent to
St. Petersburgh
in No. 31,
May 5, 1846.)
Lord Cowley,
No. 109,
November 3,
1846. (Sent to
St. Petersburgh
in No. 20,
November 15,
1846.)
Lord Palmerston to Lord Bloomfield, ft'
(No. 256.)
My Lord, Foreign Office, July 12, 1850.
THE commissioners appointed by the Turkish and Persian Governments to settle,
under the mediation of British and Russian commissioners, the line of boundary
between Turkey and Persia, as contemplated by the Treaty of Erzeroum have, at the
very outset of their proceedings, so decidedly differed as to the intent and effect of
that instrument and of the notes exchanged previously to its signature and ratification
with reference to the southern portion of the boundary, that there seems every
probability of its being necessary for the Governments of England and Prussia to
pronounce an opinion on the matters on which the parties more immediately
interested in the settlement are at issue.
Your Lordship is aware that in the year 1845, when it became evident that the
respective plenipotentiaries at Erzeroura could not, even with the assistance of the
commissioners of the mediating Powers, come to any agreement, the represen
tatives of England and Russia at Constantinople drew up and submitted to the Porte
and to the Persian Government a scheme of arrangement in nine articles, and in the
second of these articles it was said, in regard to the matter now more immediately
under discussion, “ that the Porte would consent to leave Persia in possession of the
island on which Mohammerah is situated, and of as much of the left bank of the
Shatt-el-Arab as was actually occupied at that time by tribes admitted to he
dependent on Persia, including the free enjoyment of the navigation of the river
from its mouth to the point where the respective frontiers touch each other.”
The Shatt-el-Arab, or the Arab River, is the name given to the united waters of
the Tigris and Euphrates between Korna and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
In the observations which I have now to make I leave out all reference to what
passed at Tehran in regard to these articles, inasmuch as the question which is now to
be dealt with is purely a Turkish one.
The Porte at first objected that Mohammerah and the neighbouring districts had
heretofore been Turkish territory, but had been wrongfully seized upon by Persia in
1841. Eventually, however, the Porte agreed to the article respecting Mohammerah,
with the understanding that the concession was not to affect the Porte’s right of
property to the river, the course of which was still to belong wholly and exclusively
to the Porte, which only granted freedom of passage to Persian vessels ; and, in order
to secure the Porte’s right, it was required that no fortifications should be raised on
any part of the river banks remaining in the possession of Persia.
The commissioners of the mediating Powers having, however, found it
impossible, to bring the respective plenipotentiaries to agree to the terms sent from
Constantinople, drew up a draft of treaty in which they sought, as far as possible^ to
reconcile the differences between the two parties. That draft, as regards the point
now in discussion, stipulated that “ the Ottoman Government formally engaged that
the town and port of Mohammerah, the island of Khizr, and the anchorage, and
likewise the lands on the east bank, that is, on the left bank of the Shatt-el-Arab,
which are in the possession of tribes admitted to be dependent on Persia, should
remain in the possession of the Persian Government in full sovereignty. Moreover,
Persian vessels should have the right of freely navigating the Shatt-el-Arab, from its-
mouth to the point where the frontiers of the two parties should touch each other.”
Eurthermore, “ the two contracting parties, having by the present renounced their
other territorial claims, engage immediately to appoint commissioners and engineers,
who may lay dowm the boundary between the two States, according to the preceding
article.”
. But before this draft, drawn up by the mediating commissioners, came under
discussion, the Porte alleged that it had just discovered that Mohammerah was
wholly situated on the mainland, and that the town opposite to it on the island of
Khizr bore another name : and therefore it refused to cede that island.

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.' [‎282v] (574/885), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/266, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036171273.0x0000af> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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