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Coll 28/21 ‘Persia; Azerbaijan; Persia-Russian & Persia-Turkish Frontier.’ [‎414v] (828/845)

The record is made up of 1 file (421 folios). It was created in 21 Jul 1930-3 May 1946. 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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14. About twenty such persons were marched into Tabriz yesterday.
15. The general added that a Caucasian refugee named Zifikar Bey resisted
the Russian raiders. He killed one officer and three soldiers; and was himself
wounded. He escaped and is at present in hiding somewhere in the Kara Dagh.
16. A report from another source declares that the electric light is not turned
on now at nightfall in Russian Julfa, and that under cover of darkness the Russians
are fortifying this spot. ^
I have, &c.
STANHOPE PALMER.
Enclosure 2 in No. 1.
Consul Palmer to Sir R. Clive.
(No. 110. Very Confidential.)
&ir, Tabriz, June 20, 1930.
I HAVE the honour to report that the Soviets are now making overtures to the
rebels in the Caucasus highlands, and asking them to lay down their arms and
return home.
2. The reply appears to have been a flat refusal unless the policy of
nationalisation of land and livestock be completely dropped.
3. The Russians have, I am told, about 8,000 troops in the Nakchevan zone,
5,000 to 6.000 in the Zangizur zone and 40,000 at a spot near the junction of the
Baku-Julfa and Baku-Tiflis Railways, called Yevlak.
4. In the region of Nakchevan the armed rebels are said to number 3.000;
while it would now appear likely that the 1,500 rebel refugees from this district,
who had fled to Mount Ararat, have returned to the Nakchevan district before the
Turkish attack on Mount Ararat begun.
5. At least one refugee chief—Kerbalay Mohamed, sonA of Shahsuvar Bey of
Nakchevan—received warning of the intended Turkish attack on Ararat. He crossed
into Persia with 200 followers about ten days ago, and, after a stay of four or five
days, crossed into the Nakchevan district and joined the rebels there.
6. Frequent small attacks are made on the railway and railway guards by the
rebels, and one attempt has been made to wreck one of the two armoured trains.
. 7. Fighting is continuous in Zangizur and there appear to be desertions from
the Soviet troops to the rebels.
8. I hear that the Russians have asked at Tehran for the recall of Zafer
Dauleh. From the selfish point of view—of obtaining early authentic news—I can
only say that I devoutly hope that the Russian request will meet with no success.
9. The general considers that the Aznaft Bureaux which exist now in various
strategic or frontier posts, such as Ahar, do very little commercial business and
are merely G.P.U. centres.
He declares to me that the reports from the Aznaft offices gave (perhaps
deliberatelv) wrong information leading up to the Russian raid.
10. The Armenian archbishop confirmed to me that the Russians were
ostensibly looking for three refugee chiefs—although it was common knowledge here
that these men had long been sent to Tabriz. One was Sultanoff.
11. On the other hand. I am told from a different source that the Russians
hoped to surprise also one—Beg Pirimoff. an Armenian who was a colonel in the
Russian armv during the war. Lately he had been acting as factor of the Toumanian
family’s property in the Kara Dagh. and had also sent in men to pillage in Russia.
He was not found by the Russians, but the burning of Toumanian’s villa and
burning of certain crops, &c.. is now more easy to be understood.
12. The general also reported to me that a socialistic organisation had been
introduced among the porters at Persian Julfa, and the members began to wear
distinctive badges. As their numbers rapidly increased, he gave orders for these
badges to be removed.
13. The archbishop confirmed the words of the Amir Alam to Mrs. McGrath,
and my own quite independent conclusion, that the Persians are supporting the
Kurds in Mount Ararat.
But he added that the Turks had a finger in the Russian raid on the Kara Dagh,
which drew off to the Ahar zone troops which were already being marched towards
Maku.

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Content

Papers concerning affairs on the northeast frontiers of Persia [Iran], with a focus on Iranian Azerbaijan, sent to and from British Government officials based in Persia, including those at the British Consulate at Tabriz and the British Embassy in Tehran, and the Foreign Office in London.

The correspondence covers the following:

  • Throughout the period June 1930 to July 1931 (ff 379-421), the situation on the Perso-Russian and Perso-Turkish borders, and relations in the region between Persia and Russia. These papers predominantly comprise reports from the British Consul at Tabriz (Clarence Edward Stanhope Palmer).
  • During October and November 1932, calls to boycott the elections to the new Persian majlis by an organisation describing itself as the Nationalist Organisation of Azerbaijan (ff 368-378). Papers include a translation of a manifesto issued by the organisation (ff 369-370).
  • In 1935, reports responding to rumours of civil unrest in Tabriz (ff 357-363).
  • In 1938, deteriorating relations between Iran and Russia, partly in response to Russia’s unease at an increase in trade between Germany and Iran (ff 337-352).
  • The political crisis brought about by the declaration of the Azerbaijan People’s Government in November 1945, and the ensuing Iran-Azerbaijan Crisis, which arose from Soviet Russia’s refusal to relinquish Iranian territory originally occupied by Russia during the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941 (ff 4-336). Papers include a declaration (in French) made by the National Congress of Iranian Azerbaijan (ff 259-260), and the translated texts of programmes and laws announced by the Azerbaijan National Government (ff 207-209, f 92, ff 77-79, ff 61-63).
Extent and format
1 file (421 folios)
Arrangement

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

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 422; 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 also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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Coll 28/21 ‘Persia; Azerbaijan; Persia-Russian & Persia-Turkish Frontier.’ [‎414v] (828/845), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3417, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100042237691.0x00001f> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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