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'File VII/1. Telegraphic Connection to Kuwait.' [‎266r] (561/574)

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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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results. He had visited practically every' land station shown on the map, and
he could never be sufficiently grateful for the generous hospitality he had received
from the superintendents and their wives. Nor could he refrain from mentioning
the Persian linesmen on whose shoulders the welfare of the lines had rested since
they were first started ; and they were very near to his heart and half a dozen
of them had been friends of his for the past twenty years. They were a very
loyal lot of men, loyal alike to their own Government and to the Department who
paid. them. They had been attacked numberless times by brigands, and his
recollection of the treatment of their claims was that they were not always treated
so liberally by the Department as they should have been. He did not fbink there
was any other parallel for a Department of a foreign Government, such as the
Government of India or the Indian Office, controlling two or three thousand miles of
land line in a foreign country with its own staff, and yet maintaining perfectly
harmonious relations over a period of 50 years with the national government,
in this case the Persian Government, and at the end of that 50 years getting a
renewal of their concession for another 20 years—the best possible proof, if any
proof was needed, of the ability with which the Department had been administered.
When the Conventions were last renewed the Persian Government did not appear to
have attempted to strike a hard bargain, but to have been well content to have
the services of the Indo-European Department for a further period of 20 years.
That reflected very high credit not only on the administration in England, but on the
tact and discretion which must have characterised the action of the staff at all
the various centres on the spot, each one of them a centre of intrigue at one time
or another ; the Telegraph Office at each place had contrived in times of difficulty
to remain friendly with and indispensable to the party which was in power without
antagonising the party which was outside the gates and ready to cut the telegraph
lines.
The light-hearted nomad marksmen had always been a difficulty : insulators
were an irresistible target : the white porcelain variety were found to offer such
temptations to young marksmen that brown had been substituted in the hope
that the duller colour would reduce their losses, but with moderate success and
later on on certain stretches insulators were devised of cast-iron, with a porcelain
insulator inside. Even that, however, had proved insufficient ; the riflemen had
got underneath and shot upwards ! The posts too were invaluable rubbing posts
for mangy camels, and made serviceable tent-poles and roof-bearers !
Residents in Persia and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. had every reason to be thoroughly
satisfied with the speed and accuracy of the services at present existing. He
could entirely confirm what Admiral Grant had said as to the immense value of the
cables during the war to the Navy and to the British Army. During the war in
Mesopotamia they were absolutely indispensable ; and the Department had
rendered great services. The staff in all offices was heavily drawn on for war
purposes, which meant that those who were left had to do twice as much work as
they did before, and as they had always had a full day’s work it had been extremely
hard on those who remained, without extra pay, or the stimulus of war service,
and he would like to place on record his appreciation not only of those who joined up,
but of those who had to remain behind.
He could not speak about telegraphic rates. That matter had been dealt with
fairly fully by the lecturer, but he thought there was still room for improvement
from the point of view of the public. Although the remark he was about to make
was not strictly germane to the subject, as several representatives of telegraphic
interests were present, he desired to express the hope that the next international

About this item

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.' [‎266r] (561/574), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/5/16, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100041783545.0x0000a2> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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