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File 1356/1912 Pt 1 'Turco-Persian Frontier:- negotiations at Constantinople.' [‎406r] (821/885)

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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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government.]
Printed for the use of the Foreign Office. March 1912.
CONFIDENTIAL.
”(99970”
OBSERVATIONS BY MAJOR (AFTERWARDS SIR HENRY) RAWLINSON ON
A PERSIAN MEMORANDUM RELATIVE TO THE SITUATION OF THE
CITIES OF MOHAMMERAH AND FELLAHIAH.
[Enclosed in Sir Stratford Canning’s despatch No. 155 of the 18th July, 1844.]
Observations.
Persian Memorandum.*
From the point of confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates
at Korna, the river flows in a general direction of south-
east to Bussorah; it is subject to few windings, and the
distance has been fixed by survey at 38 miles.
If the title of Ears is here used in its general application
to the province of that name the description is altogether
incorrect, not a single rivulet that rises within the frontiers
of the said province finding its way to the Shat-el-Arab.
The expression may, however, have a general reference to
the Persian territory; and even then, the assertion that all
rivers rising within that territory disembogue, like the
Karun, into the Shatt-el-Arab, will require to be greatly
modified—the fact is that the Karun itself does not dis
embogue into the Shatt-el-Arab, the main body of the river
finds its way by a separate channel (the Bamishere) to the
sea, and is merely connected with the Shat-el-Arab by the
artificial cut of the Hafar, on the right bank of which is
situated the town of Mohammerah. Independently of this
Hafar canal there is only one other stream which joins the
Shatt-el-Arab between Korna and the sea and that is the
Soweib, which carries off the superfluous waters of the great
Ibur of Howeizeh, a huge marshy lake, in which the river
Choaspes or Kerkha and the minor streams of the Tib and
Dowairej exhaust themselves, and which is also fed from
the Tigris through the channel of the Had.
There is much confusion in this description. The Bakh-
tiari rivers descending to the south-west from the culmina
ting ridges of Aosteran Koh, Miyaneh Koh, Zardeh Koh,
and Mungusht fall into three distinct channels. The Dizful
river to the west, the Karun in the centre, and the Tab or
Jerrahi to the east. The waters of the Feili mountains on
the contrary flow on the one side into the Kerkha and form
on the other side the petty streams of the Gangir, the Abi-
Jestan, the Teb, and the Dowairij, which are lost in the
marshy plains of Settacene. The streams of Koh Giluyeh
unite and fall into the sea at Hindiyan. The river of
Shuster is the Kerkha itself, and that of Dizful joins the
former at Bandi-Kir, while the river of Bebahan, or which
flows near Bebahan, is the main stream of the lab or
Jerrahi. The general direction of these streams is south
west, and the only channels by which any part of their
waters join the Shatt-el-Arab are the Soweib and Hatar.
It is begging the question altogether to lay it down as an
axiom that the Shatt-el-Arab is the boundary between I ersia
and Turkey. Sultan Murad’s treaty expressly names
Bussorah as the Turkish limit, and under this head includes
of course the acknowledged dependencies of the city which
have always been the lands on either side ot the Shatt-el-
Arab watered by that river. The claim of Persia to Mo
hammerah consists in the latter city being on the Hatar,
which is now a continuation of the Karun, and not on the
Shatt-el-Arab, but until the present year Persia has never
received Maliyat or revenue from Mohommerah.
The measured distance between Bussorah and Mohammerah
by the river, which has few sinuosities, is 35 miles, and a
MOHAMMERAH is situated to the east of the
Shatt-el-Arab, which is formed by the junction of
the Tigris and Euphrates at a village named
Korna, distant 10 farsangs from Bussorah.
All the rivers, great as well as small, on the
confines of Ears, flow into the Shatt-el-Arab, which
continues its course till it disembogues into the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . The Karun is one of the streams
which thus unites with the Shatt el-Arab, the
latter river passing Bussorah and forming, on the
west, the boundary of Nejd and Arabistan.
The right of Turkey to the ports which are
situated on the western bank of the river is not
contested, but those to the east of the Shatt-el-
Arab, which forms the boundary of Pars, depend
upon that province.
All the rivers, great as well as small, which rise
upon the borders of Ears, traverse the territory of
the Bakhtiaris, of the Dili Lurs, of Karoua (?), of
Koh Giluyeh, of Shuster, of Dizful, and of Beba
han. and flowing towards the east (“vers I’orient”)
disembogue into the Shatt-el-Arab and thence into
the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , the western shore of which is
formed by Arabistan and Nejd. The Gulf and
the above-mentioned river divide the two conti
nents, and Mohammerah becomes in consequence a
part of the territory of Pars, to which province
accordingly it has always paid its revenue. The
distance between the latter city and Bussoiah is
4 farsangs by land, by water the interval may be
traversed in an hour. The port of Mohammerah is
situated on the banks of the Karun, a river which
in its descent from Shuster becomes first a con-
* Communicated to the
No. 41. April 16, 1844.
Foreign Office by Colonel Shell, Her Majesty’s
[358]
Minister at Tehran, in his despatch
B

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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.' [‎406r] (821/885), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/266, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036171275.0x000016> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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