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'File VII/1. Telegraphic Connection to Kuwait.' [‎260r] (549/574)

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The record is made up of 1 file (270 folios). It was created in 13 Aug 1904-7 Feb 1930. It was written in English, Arabic and Hindi. 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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the difficulty was first solved by Messrs. Siemens and Company who offered to
construct an independent double line of telegraph from London to Teheran,
provided that Her Majesty’s Government gave them adequate support. They
received this support, and Messrs. Siemens of London and Messrs. Siemens and
Halske of Berlin were able to obtain the necessary concessions from Germany,
Russia and Persia. An English company called the Indo-European Telegraph
Company was formed to take over the concessions and w r ork them, with the
result that the combined Indo-European route, with the section London to
leheran worked by the Indo-European Telegraph Company, and the further
section 7 eheran to Karachi via Bushire worked by the Indo-European Telegraph
Department of the Government of India, was opened for traffic on January
31st, 1870. I he average speed of messages was immediately increased, and w r e
find in the year 1871 the average transit time by the Turkish route was 1 day
6 hours and 20 minutes and by the Indo route only 6 hours and 7 minutes.
When the Indo Company’s line from England to Teheran appeared likely
to mature it was anticipated that the new telegraph route to India would be
largely patronised by the public, and that a line worked by English telegraph
clerks throughout would, by greatly reducing delays and errors, cause a corres
ponding increase in the number of messages fomarded. To meet this expected
increase in traffic it was necessary to duplicate the line from Teheran to Karachi.
Up to this time the departmental system consisted of one international ware
from Teheran to Bushire, one cable from Bushire to Gwadur, and one cable
and one land line from Gwadur to Karachi. After much negotiation wath
Persia and the local Chiefs the land line was extended from Gwadur to Jask in
1869, and in the same year a new cable was laid from Jask to Bushire, the first
cable having in the previous year been moved from Mussendom to Jask for
climatic reasons. It was not however found possible to add another wire for
international use on the section Teheran to Bushire until the year 1874. Thus,
when the Indo route was opened for traffic in January, 1870, there w^ere two
wires from London to 1 eheran, a single wire Teheran to Bushire and a duplicate
line of cables and land lines thence to Karachi.
In the meantime submarine telegraphy had made enormous strides, thanks
chiefly to the genius of Lord Kelvin and the far-seeing enterprise of its com
mercial pioneers, amongst the foremost of whom was the late Sir John Pender.
Under his auspices the British-Indian Submarine Telegraph Company, soon
afterwards knowm as the Eastern Telegraph Company, completed a cable route
from England to Bombay in 1870, a few r months only after the completion
of the Indo overland route.
Thus, in 1871 the three telegraph routes between England and India, the
Turkish via Constantinople, the Indo-European via Germany, Russia and
Persia, and the Eastern cable route to Bombay, were all in operation, and so-
continued, with of course occasional interruptions to the one or the other, till,
the outbreak of war in 1914.

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Content

The file contains correspondence related to the establishment of a wire connection between Kuwait and the Bushire-Fao cable. The correspondence is mainly about the site where the wireless telegraph station at Kuwait would be, the measurements, and the cost. In 1914 construction started, and in 1916 the wireless station opened at Kuwait. The file also contains correspondence about surveying work taking place around Kuwait, as well as correspondence about the recruitment of a surveyor to undertake the work.

The file includes an introductory booklet (folios 256-269) under the title, ‘The Indo-European Telegraph Department’, written by Maurice G Simpson, Director-in-Chief, Indo-European Telegraph Department, and published in 1928.

The main correspondence is between the following: the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , Kuwait; the Foreign Department for the Government of India; the British 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. and Consulate General, Bushire; 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. ; the Political Office, Basra; and the Basra Survey Party.

Extent and format
1 file (270 folios)
Arrangement

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

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 272; 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. Two additional foliation sequences are also present in parallel between ff 1-271 and ff 3-80; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.

Written in
English, Arabic and Hindi in Latin and Arabic script
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'File VII/1. Telegraphic Connection to Kuwait.' [‎260r] (549/574), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/5/16, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100041783545.0x000096> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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