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File 1356/1912 Pt 1 'Turco-Persian Frontier:- negotiations at Constantinople.' [‎348v] (706/885)

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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2
Government of India print. The passage in question will be found in paragraph 6,
p. 8, of Foreign Office print, Confidential 8800, dated December 1906.^
I should explain, in conclusion, that although the Acting Consul’s letter is dated
the 12th March, and was awaiting me on return to Bushire from leave on the
31st March, Lieutenant Wilson, after discussing the map with me personally a fe\ A
days later, asked permission to modify one or two passages. J lis amended letter did
not reach me till the latter part of April, and I had not been able to study it up to the
moment when the sudden quarrel between the Mali of Bussorah and the Sheikh of
Mohammerah supervened, and, curiously enough, threatened to involve this question.
I have, &c.
P. Z. COX, Lieutenant-Colonel,
British Resident in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
Enclosure 2 in No. 1.
Lieutenant
Wilson to Consul-General Cox.
I HAVE the honour to refer to the correspondence on the subject of the
Turco-Persian frontier at Mohammerah forwarded to me under your endorsement
of the 8th March, 1910.
2. Sir George Barclay states in his despatch No. 20 of the 6th December, 1909,
that the map enclosed in my letter to you of the 12th June, 1909, is that of the
mediating commissioners of 1850.
3. This being the case, the discrepancy between the frontier defined by the
mediating commissioners and that locally recognised by both sides for many years is
greater than I at first thought.
4. Commencing from the north, the line runs from the middle of the town of
Hawizeh to Failieh. Any such division of the town of Hawizeh is plainly
impracticable, as the country for many miles west of this town is, and has for many
years been, in undisputed possession of the same tribes which now occupy the town,
and who are tributary to Sheikh Khazal.
5. The mediating commissioners’ line strikes the Shatt-el-Arab on the east bank
of the Abu Jidieh Canal, thus placing the sheikh’s court-house and official quarters
at this point in Turkish territory, and giving to Turkey the control of the head of this
important canal on which extensive date groves depend.
Even the sheikh’s palace half-a-mile above Failieh and his two other residences
behind the island of Barin and Aqawat would all fall in Turkish territory.
6. Southwards from Failieh the line follows the left bank of the Shatt-el-Arab,
not the main channel. Thus the large islands of Mohallah and Dawasir, now Persian
territory, are assigned to Turkey, which has in consequence the full control of both
banks of the Shatt-el-Arab at several points south of Mohammerah.
7. Were Turkey to raise the question of the frontier and claim to take possession
of all the lands assigned to her by the mediating commissioners in 1851, the Persian
Government and the Sheikh of Mohammerah would be deprived of large areas of
valuable land, and the Shatt-el-Arab, instead of being under the joint control of
Turkey and Persia, would become solely a Turkish stream.
8. The frontier near Mohammerah, as mutually adopted by both sides both now
and for many years past, probably does not differ greatly from the status quo
provisionally accepted by the Ottoman and Persian commissioners in 1851 (vide
8th paragraph of p. 7 of Mr. Parker’s memorandum), and is shown in detail in the
1 mile = 1 inch maps forwarded to you under my letter of the 18th September and to
His Majesty’s Minister under cover of my despatch of the same date.
9. Keeping some 10 miles west of Hawizeh, this line approaches the Shatt-el-Arab
near Diaji, where it is marked by a well-defined mud wall. It does not, however,
reach the main channel of the Shatt-el-Arab, but, turning east, runs parallel to the
river about a-mile from the left bank of the main channel or half-a-mile from the boat
channel along a small canal. It strikes the main channel at a point 1^ miles above
Failieh, and thence is locally considered to run down midstream along the main
channel of the river to the open seas.
The islands of Mohallah and all other islands on the left side of the main channel
are thus admitted to belong to Persia, and no contrary claim has been raised by
Turkey as far as is known for the last fifty years or so.

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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.' [‎348v] (706/885), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/266, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036171274.0x00006b> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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