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File 4880/1913 Pt 2 'Turco-Persian Frontier Commission: protocol of 1913' [‎111r] (89/499)

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The record is made up of 1 item (248 folios). It was created in 1913. 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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[Tins Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government.]
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 15th October,
1913, regarding the- reply of the Porte to the identic notes respecting the Turco-
Persian frontier.
My Directors note with satisfaction that the Turkish Government are prepared
fully to recognise the rights of this company in any districts that may be transferred
from Persia to Turkey north of the Kiver Elvend. This recognition, coupled with the
right to construct pipe-lines in Turkish territory, should sufficiently safeguard the
company’s interests so far as regards the oilfiefd in the neighbourhood of Kasr-i-
Shirin and Chiah Sourkh.
With respect to the country south of the Elvend, so far as my Directors can
ascertain, there are at least four localities in which there are good prospects of finding
oil. Three of these are Deh Luran in the south of the Pusht-i-Kuh, Tangi-Shashra in
the hills east of the Gilan Plain, and, further north, Tangab, near the Tangi Gilan.
The fourth, and by far the most important locality of all, is the Tangi Saumur and the
surrounding hills immediately facing the Turkish town and district of Mandali. From
all the accounts they have received, my board consider this tract is likely to be of great
value as an oil-bearing district, and they attach a high degree of importance to j
the maintenance in it of the rights granted to them by their concession. It has been |
visited by Mr. Reynolds on behalf of Mr. d’Arcy and also by Mr Soane. The former
was of opinion that probably the most valuable part of this oilfield may prove to be
that which lies at present on the Persian side of the border, and if there were any
likelihood of the transfer to Turkey of the Persian area, my Directors would feel
it their duty to press strongly for the recognition of their interest in it. But from the
War Office map and draft protocol, which I have been permitted to see, it is clear that
from Kasr-i-Shirin to a point south of Mandali (Djebel Guarebi) the frontier-line laid
down for the Boundary Commissioners to follow, as representing the status quo for
which the Turks contend, will not seriously infringe any of this company’s rights. My
board therefore are willing to agree to the restriction which the Porte wish to impose
south of the River Elvend.
It is understood that from Mandali (Djebel Guarebi) to Hawizah it will be left to
the Boundary Commission to determine the true frontier. But if in the course of their
demarcation the Boundary Commissioners should find it expedient to concede to
Turkey any areas to the east of the line which they may hold to be the status quo
frontier I suggest that it would be reasonable to ask the Porte to admit that these areas
should be included in the “ transferred ” territory, in which the company’s rights will
be recognised and maintained, or that failing an agreement to this effect the Porte
should be requested, as suggested in the final paragraph of your letter, to grant the
company, as a quid pro quo, the right to lay pipes from any of their workings, present
PERSIA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
Section 2.
[51583]
No. 1.
Anglo-Persian Oil Company to Foreign Office—(Received November 13.)
(Confidential.)
Sir,
Winchester House, Old Broad Street,
London, November 12, 1913.
or future, within Persian territory to a convenient position for export in Turkish
territory.
I have, &c.
C. GREEN WAY, Managing Director.
[1933 n —2]

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Content

Correspondence, reports and maps relating to the 1913 Turco-Persian Frontier Commission, and the production of the Protocole relative à la Délimitation turco-persane, signé à Constantinople le 4 (17) Novembre, 1913 .

The primary correspondents are: HM Consul-General at Teheran (Sir Walter Beaupre Townley); HM Consul-General at Constantinople; HM Vice-Consul at Kashr-i Shirin (E B Soane); 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. Political Department; the Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs (Said Halim); the Russian Consul-General in Baghdad (M Orlof); the Russian Ambassador to the UK (Count Von Benckendorff); HM Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Sir Edward Grey); and Albert Charles Wratislaw, head of the British section of the Commission.

The file opens with correspondence regarding reported Turkish military build-up in Kasr-i Shirin [Qaṣr-e Shīrīn], disturbances on the Baghdad-Kermaāshāh route, local raids by Persian and Turkish tribesmen, possible concessions to Turkey in the Zohab [Zohāb] district, and the difficulty of reaching an agreement which would be acceptable to Sunni and Shia tribes in the Zohab region. A map of the Zohab region is included at folio 305.

The bulk of the file concerns arrangements for the Frontier Commission, discussing: the push for a settlement; the composition of the British, Russian, Turkish and Persian commissions; the need to use surveying and triangulation to improve on pre-existing, inaccurate maps; the wording of the internal rules [ Règlement Intérieur ] to govern the Commission; arrangements over work to be conducted by the northern and southern sections of the Commission; and arrangements to preserve the rights of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in regions to be transferred to Turkey.

Key items:

Folios 224-29 Declaration regarding the frontier, signed by Sir Edward Grey and I Hakky Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , with four accompanying maps:

  • Map No 1, Sketch Map showing Turco-Persian Frontier West and South of Hawizeh [Howeyzeh];
  • Map No 2, Sketch Map of Muhammareh [Khorramshar] to indicate the Turco-Persian Boundary;
  • Map No 3, Sheet No I, Map of Shatt-Al-'Arab & Bahmanshir [Rūdkhāneh-ye Bahmanshīr] including Muhammareh [Khorramshar] & 'Abbádán I [Ābādān];
  • Map No 4, Sheet No II, Map of Shatt-Al-'Arab & Bahmanshir, including Muhammareh & 'Abbádán I.

Folios 68-87 Copy of the Protocole relative à la Délimitation turco-persane, signé à Constantinople le 4 (17) Novembre, 1913, plus: additional copies of the four maps detailed above; Annex (A), Règlement intérieur de la Commission de Délimitation de la Frontière turco-persane ; Annex (B) Statement by the Ottoman Government pledging to maintain, within the territories granted by Persia to Turkey, the rights and obligations granted to the Anglo-Persian Oil Company Ltd by the Persian Imperial Government under the Convention of 28 May, 1901; also included are notes on the meetings of the frontier delegates at Constantinople, 4-9 November, written by the British Commissioner, Albert Charles Wratislaw.

Folio 67 is a collection header sheet, giving the subject heading and a list of correspondence references found within the part, listed by year.

Extent and format
1 item (248 folios)
Arrangement

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

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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File 4880/1913 Pt 2 'Turco-Persian Frontier Commission: protocol of 1913' [‎111r] (89/499), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/430/2, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100040878370.0x00001b> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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