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'File No. II/8 Foreign Dept Memoranda of Information re. affairs in Turkish Arabia. Nov '07 --' [‎31r] (61/110)

The record is made up of 1 volume (53 folios). It was created in 1 Feb 1905-5 Oct 1909. 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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TURKISH ARABIA A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. .
102. (Vide para. 32, March 1908.) On
the 12th February, Sir
ag i a ai way. ^ Lascelles reported to
Sir E. Grey that during the discussion of the
Foreign Office estimates in the Budget Com
mittee of the Reichstag, Herr Erzberger had
enquired of the Foreign Secretary as to the
present position of the Baghdad Railway and
as to the manner in which it had been
affected by the Anglo-Persian Agreement-
Herr von Schon replied that the Baghdad
Railway and the Anglo-Russian Agreement
had nothing to do with one another. It
was stated that the Agreement between the
two Powers regarding Tibet, Afghanistan,
and Persia dealt only with commercial in
terests, that Germany was only interested
in the commercial development of Persia
and that the Contracting Powers had dis
claimed any intention of interfering with the
rights of other Powers. The Baghdad Rail
way was, by the Sultan’s concession, a Turkish
undertaking with a German character, and
the extension of the line depended upon the
ability of the Turkish Government to pay the
kilometric guarantee of 16,500 marks per
kilometre. Germany was* entirely unin
fluenced by political motives in the construc
tion of the railway. She only wished to re
open an ancient land to civilisation and to
unlock fresh doors for trade and industry.
She had no aspirations towards colonization.
Although foreign capital must be employed
in the construction of the raiiway, the German
character of the undertaking would always
be maintained.
On the 22nd February, Sir E. Grey wrote
to Sir A. Nicolson that Sir C. Hardinge had
been informed by the Councillor of the
Russian Embassy that Herr von Schon had been
continually pressing M. Isvolsky to come to
terms about the Baghdad Railway and to
agree to the construction of a branch line
into Persia via Khanikin. M. Isvolsky had,
however, absolutely refused to bind the
Russian Government to build the branch
railway, on the ground that when railway
construction was opened in Persia, on the
expiry of the Railway Convention, it -would
probably be to Russia’s interest to build some
other railway first, and that, in any case, before
the construction of a branch of the Baghdad
Railway through Persia will be agreed to,
Germany must recognise the Russian sphere of
influence in Persia. AY hen these terms had
been agreed to, the Russian Government would
be ready to consider the question of participa
tion in the Baghdad Railway and would be
ready to discuss the terms a quatre or separately
as the other Powers might decide.

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Content

The volume mainly comprises printed reports for each month from February 1905 to October 1909 entitled 'Memoranda of information received during the month of ... regarding external affairs relating to Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. '. The memoranda are dated and despatched from the Foreign Department of the Government of India.

Topics covered in the memoranda include:

  • Baghdad railway
  • Hedjaz railway
  • relations with the Ruler of Najd, Ibn Sa'ud
  • financial situation of the Turkish empire
  • attack on Messrs Lynch and Co's steamer Blosse Lynch
  • development of oil fields near Mosul
  • navigation of the rivers of Mesopotamia
  • Yemen affairs
Extent and format
1 volume (53 folios)
Arrangement

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

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 55; 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.

Additional foliation sequences are present in parallel between ff 3-53; these numbers are also written in pencil but, where circled, are crossed through.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'File No. II/8 Foreign Dept Memoranda of Information re. affairs in Turkish Arabia. Nov '07 --' [‎31r] (61/110), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/5/7, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100038497071.0x00003e> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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