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File 1202/1912 'Arabia:- Travellers. Capt. F. F Hunter. Herr Runkiar (Danish Expedition). Capt Shakespear.' [‎118r] (240/358)

The record is made up of 1 volume (175 folios). It was created in 4 Sep 1908-5 Mar 1920. 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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1
and a great friend of Muhammad Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. (Daghistani), the present vali of Musal also
came to Kadhimain on the 19th February; he was formerly a Persian subject, but
transferred his allegiance to Turkey some time ago.
^ 2. The Zahir-ul-Mulk (see summary, December, 1909-January, 1910, VI 5) left
Kadhimain on the 19th February with his family for his home at Kirmanshah ; he seems
to have returned there in consequence of a telegram from the governor. It is said here
that he is the principal chief of the Sinjab Kurds, and that his son at present commands
the Persian artillery at Kirmanshah.
3. I am informed by Lieutenant Wilson, His Britannic Majesty’s consul at
Mohammerah, that, in addition to the Persian Nationalist Society mentioned in my
last summary (VI 4), there is one of which the letters are dated from Bussorah and
which styles itself the “ Anjuman-i-Ghaib-i-Mamur-i-Janub-i-Iran,” that is, presumably,
the “Southern Persia Secret Society.” This society addresses abusive and threatening
letters to the sheik of Mohammerah, to Mr. Wilson himself, and occasionally to the
officials of the Mohammerah Customs House. Its objection to the sheikh appears to be
that he is well-disposed towards the British Government.
VII.— Najd.
After next month the summary will contain such news as is procurable here of
Central Arabian affairs.
VIII .—British Interests and Cases.
1. There were no further local developments in the “ Affaire Lynch ” (see Summary,
December, 1909-January, 1910, VII, 5), except that Mr. T. D. Cree, a British merchant
at Bagdad, submitted a moderately worded protest against the supposed navigation
Concession to the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company, and this I duly
transmitted to the proper quarter on the 21st February. Some supplementary
observations by Mr. Cree were sent after it on the 27th February.
Mulla Kazim (Khurasani) and Sheikh Abdullah (Mazandarani), two intriguing
Mujtahids of Nejef, both of whom are in receipt of allowances under the Oudh Bequest,
have memorialised the Turkish Government against a “monopoly of navigation.” On
the other hand the military clerk, Kadhim (Kijaili) who delivered an affecting speech at
the demonstration'^ held at Bagdad on the 20th December, has lately been seeking
employment in this residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. or with Sir William Willcocks, from which it would
appear that his antipathy to the British cannot be very deep-seated.
2. Some of the British travellers mentioned in the last Summary (VII, 6) have
since then performed considerable journeys.
Mr. Whitaker, reached his destination in safety.
Captain Teesdale, on reaching Bussorah, proceeded to Zubair, whence he made a
flying expedition by camel to Khamisieh and Suk-ash-Shuyukh on the Euphrates,
and returned to Bussorah by boat via Kurnah. The arrangements for his journey were
made by Arab Sheikh and the whole tour only occupied about a week. Captain Teesdale
then proceeded to India.
Mr. Leachman left Bagdad on the 25th January for Karbala, in the neighbourhood
of which he joined on the next day a body of Shammar, belonging to the Ja’far section
of the ’Abdal division of that tribe, who were returning to Najd. Mr. Leachman placed
himself under the protection of Sheikh Majid-bin-Ajal, whose sister was the wife of
Abd-el-Aziz, late ruler of Jabal Shammar ; Mr. Leachman had made his acquaintance
while encamped on the Mesopotamian plains. On the 24th February news, which I
believe to be authentic, was brought to Bagdad by Arabs to the effect that
Mr. Leachman had arrived at Hail in safety.
Mr. Fowle undertook a journey during part of January and February on the east
side of the Tigris and travelled by Ba’kuban and Kifri to Kirkuk, and thence to
Suleimanieh, from which he returned to Bagdad by the direct route through Kifri.
These tours by British military officers, occurring more or less together and at a
time when there was much talk of British designs on Mesopotamia, naturally rendered
the Turks suspicious, the more so that Mr. Leachman and Captain Teesdale avoided
observation as much as they could and wore Arab clothes. In fact official telegrams
seem to have been sent to Karbala, Hilla, and other places ordering the local officials to
keep a look-out for Mr. Leachman, but he succeeded in evading them. *
* See report on the “ Affaire Lynch ” in Irak.
I)

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Content

The volume concerns expeditions by British officers and by the Royal Danish Geographical Society into the interior of Arabia.

The papers cover: plans by the Royal Danish Geographical Society to explore the countries around the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , 1909; the refusal of British officials to sanction a proposed journey by Captain Frederick Fraser Hunter of the Survey of India (by motor car from Medina across mainland Arabia to Abu Thabi [Abu Dhabi] and then on to Mokalla [Al Mukalla]), on the grounds of possible Turkish suspicions, 1910; the refusal of the Foreign Office to grant permission to British officers to make journeys into Mesopotamia after Turkish suspicions had been aroused by a number of such journeys, 1910; a proposed expedition by the Royal Danish Geographical Society to explore Oman and the Hadramaut [Hadramawt], 1911; the successful expedition of Barclay Raunkiær on behalf of the Royal Danish Geographical Society into Nejd via Kuwait, including failed British attempts to obstruct the expedition, and an investigation by the Government of India into how Raunkiær came to receive assistance from Captain William Henry Irvine Shakespear, Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Kuwait, 1911-12; correspondence concerning Shakespear's own journey from Kuwait to Suez, 1913-14; and correspondence dated 1920 concerning a journey from Constantinople to Basrah made by Captain Frank R Teesdale in 1910.

Note: Raunkiær's name is rendered as 'Runkiar' in the file title.

Extent and format
1 volume (175 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

The subject 1202 (Travellers) consists of one volume only.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 177; 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. A previous foliation sequence, which is present between ff 3-176 and is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

Written in
English in Latin script
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File 1202/1912 'Arabia:- Travellers. Capt. F. F Hunter. Herr Runkiar (Danish Expedition). Capt Shakespear.' [‎118r] (240/358), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/259, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100038059065.0x000029> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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