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File 4345/1912 'Trans-Persian Railway' [‎61r] (126/330)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (163 folios). It was created in 1911-1913. It was written in English. 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 Gove rnment.]
[B]
PERSIA.
^ ^ ——
CONFIDENTIAL. Section 5.
[3149] No. 1.
Sh' H. Llewellyn Smith to Sir Edward Grey.—{Received January 21.)
[January 21.]
Dear Sir Edward Grey, Board of Trade, January 20, 1913.
AT the meeting of the Defence Sub-Committee on the Trans-Persian Railway
you may remember that I raised the question of the possibility of securing predominant
British control over the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. section of any railway which might be carried
out under a concession obtained by the Societe d’Etudes. I understood the reply to
be that there was no difficulty in proposing such a condition, and that Russia had in
fact already stipulated for Russian predominance over the section of the railway
falling within her sphere. There was no opportunity of pursuing the matter further
at the meeting, but I still feel in some doubt as to the actual position, for two reasons
(1) that we appear to have formally consented to a statute of the Societe d’Etudes
prescribing that any company constituted under a concession obtained by the societe
for the purpose of making a railway shall be controlled by Russian, French and
British interests in equal proportions. The provision is found in the protocol to the
statute on p. 26 of the pamphlet sent to Foreign Office in Mr. Baring’s letter of the
27th March, 1912, and British adhesion thereto is expressed in the Foreign Office
letter to Lord Erington of the 1st June, 1912. In these circumstances it would appear
that the societe is precluded by its constitution from entertaining any proposal for
predominant control by any of the three Powers over any particular railway. (2) The
second reason is that even if means were found to satisfy the Russian demand for
predominance within her sphere it by no means follows that we could secure
predominance outside our sphere, and as practically the whole of the railway Ispahan-
Bunder Abbas will lie outside our sphere any reciprocal arrangement with Russia for
predominance within our sphere would be quite useless to us. If the difficulties to
which I have called attention prove insuperable it seems to me that we ought to dis
courage the British group from proceeding further, since it seems to me an impossible
proposition that we should encourage a railway to be constructed from Bunder Abbas
into the interior of Persia in which we should have only a third of the control, i.e., no
certain control at all.
In these circumstances I have been thinking whether there is any way of recon
ciling the principle laid down (with our express approval) in the statutes of the societe
with what we regard at the Board of Trade as the essential condition that British
control should predominate in the Gulf section of any Trans-Persian line.
The only plan that occurs to me is this. Let the Trans-Persian Railway, Resht
to Bunder Abbas, be one concession, but let the actual line be constructed and
operated in two sections by two companies working in co-operation, Russian interests
predominating on the northern section, British in the southern, while the relative
interests of the three Powers in the enterprise as a whole are maintained on a basis of
absolute equality. An illustration will show that this may not be impossible. If, for
example, for the sake of simplicity, we suppose the northern and southern sections to
he equal, the following distribution of capital and control would effect the object
aimed at :—
Great Britain
France ..
Russia ..
[2763 5]
Northern
section.
Southern
section.
Railway
as a whole.
1
5
6
3
3
6
i v r
5
1
6
N2 6
)

About this item

Content

This volume comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, notes, printed reports, a press cutting and a map, relating to the connection of the railway system of Europe to the railway system of India by the construction of railway lines through Persia.

The discussion in the volume relates to the proposal of a Russian consortium and the response of the Government of India to this proposal. A Report (No. 18 of 1911' folios 144 - 160) notes that the Government of India would do well to accept in principle the Russian proposal subject to a number of modifications. A map entitled 'Indexed Map Showing Proposed Railways in Persia' (folio 160) accompanies the report. Suggested modifications included:

  • the point of intersection of the trans-Persian railway with the Indian railway system (British preference for Karachi); and concessions for branch lines (Bandar Abbas, Charbar, Mohammerah);
  • the requirement that both main and branch lines in Persian territory be deemed international with Russia and Britain holding preponderant shares and Persia included as a participant;
  • and the use of a different gauge railway in the British and Russian zones. As a quid pro quo for their support on this matter Britain expected the Russians to cease any consideration of extending the Trans-Caspian Railway to the Persia-Afghan border.

Also discussed are the negotiations about a loan between the Société des Études du Chemin de Fer Transpersan and the Persian Government and a suggestion that the British and French governments should guarantee a substantial loan by securing it against the crown jewels.

The following topics are also discussed: the Foreign Office proposal to refer the whole question of railway development in Persia to the Committee of Imperial Defence; a draft application for the concession; a memorandum by Brigadier General A H Gordon; dispatch of instructions to His Majesty's Ambassador at St Petersberg on the attitude of the Her Majesty's Government; the view of the Sir G Buchanan on the attitude of the Russian Government to the question of alignment.

The principal correspondents in the volume include: His Majesty's Secretary of State for India, the Earl of Crewe; Deputy Secretary to the Government of India, E H S Clark; His Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir Edward Grey; 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. , Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Zachariah Cox; the President of the Railway Board; Agent to the Governor-General and Chief Commissioner in Baluchistan.

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

Extent and format
1 volume (163 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume. The subject 4345 (Trans-Persian Railway) consists of 1 volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 163; 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.

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English in Latin script
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File 4345/1912 'Trans-Persian Railway' [‎61r] (126/330), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/307, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036625670.0x00007f> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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