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Coll 28/51 ‘Persia. Relations with H.M.G. Treaty negotiations: Article regarding private claims.’ [‎33r] (65/357)

The record is made up of 1 file (176 folios). It was created in 13 Apr 1932-28 Dec 1936. 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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23
while sums advanced by the Treasury and the Government of India fall to be
repaid to the latter if claims for war-time outrages should be eventually met by
the Persian Government.
(B) The Consulate Claims extend over a wide field and a period of some
40 years. They are returned by the consuls in three categories (a), (b) and (c), but
many are unclassified. The (a) claims are returned as being valid, both in
^substance and evidence; the (b) claims as valid in substance but deficient in
^widence; the (c) claims and those unclassified, amounting to 352 out of the total
of 626, have now no sufficient evidence or none at all available to support them.
The (a) claims number 202; the (b) claims number 72; while the facts of
each of these 274 cases, and details of the evidence furnished in support of them,
are set out in the volumes Consulate Claims: Peace-Time and Consulate Claims:
t | ‘ War-Time, a few selected (c) claims being also included in this compilation. The
total of the amounts claimed in categories (a) and (b), i.e., in claims held by the
consuls to lie clearly against the Persian Government, is 3,585,350-65 krans,
£16,297 Is. 10d., and 168,272-5-9 rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. , apart from certain additions of interest
claimed. But, as remarked in paragraphs 19-20, it is sometimes doubtful whether
the offence for which a claim is made would justify a claim against the Persian
Government; while there are manifest differences of view among the respective
consuls as to what may constitute an (a), (b) or (c) claim; and also a wide range
in the amount of evidence furnished, from a complete dossier to little of practical
value.
(C) The Denials of Justice Claims were commented on in paragraph 28, and
amount to a total of 455,565 krans, £6,913, 11.259 rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. and 20,000 roubles.
They lack any documentary evidence whatever to support them, since none can be
traced at Tehran, and they must seemingly be dismissed from our reckoning, a
view which Sir R. Hoare upholds.
(D) The Imperial Bank of Persia Claims for the looting of their branches in
Persia during the war are commented on in paragraph 29, and amount to
5,952.027-80 krans, with interest. The head office of the bank in London are
apparently prepared to furnish any detailed evidence that may be required of
these losses; and they are also said to be engaged in a research to see how many
of their older claims of the past were met by insurance companies, who, they
presume, have never advanced claims for such payments.
' \ 1 (E) The Staff of the Imperial Bank of Persia Claims for their private losses,
mainly during the war, are similarly referred to in paragraph 30. They relate
to sixteen claimants, of whom ten are said to be Persians. Of the six British
? * subjects, only one has furnished detailed evidence of his losses, while the
remaining five, who between them claim 19,894-20 krans and £100, have not yet
furnished any. The bank, however, are understood to be preparing a statement
as to how many of their losses were met by insurance companies.
(F) The investigation made shows that to the above groups of claims there
must be added another—that of Insurance Companies or Underwriters. These
are referred to in paragraphs 42-44, but it is evident that besides those
mentioned there there must be a good many others who were concerned in pay
ments made for goods pillaged or losses incurred in Persia, and that if the
opportunity presented itself of any settlement of claims, a number might still
be advanced.
65. War-Time CZams.—These are commented on in paragraphs 51-56. If,
as Sir R. Hoare is inclined to think, the Persian Government would agree to the
exclusion of war-time claims from the scope of the proposed agreement, this will
relieve us from the prospect of having to face what, it is easy to imagine, might
be extensive claims for alleged damage done to Persian subjects or institutions
during the war period, which might far exceed any total amount we are in a
position to claim. If they accept the draft agreement in the form we propose, it
would also relieve us from the Atychides claim, which in itself appears to exceed
A - the whole of our claims. But if the Persian Government, while agreeing in
general that war-time claims should be excluded, nevertheless persist in
retaining certain classes of them, such as that of Atychides, the matter would
then seem to become one for further, perhaps protracted, negotiations, in which
we have the appearance of having in hand a large body of claims for outrages
done to British officials, subjects and institutions in Persia during the war (even
if some doubt may be entertained whether, in the conditions then existing in
Persia, we could successfully prosecute these before an arbitral tribunal). The

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Content

Correspondence and other papers relating to the drafting of an article for the Anglo-Persian Treaty, concerning private claims made against the British and Persian Governments. The correspondence concerns: the exclusion from the article of British Indian claims; an agreement by both parties to not pursue certain claims arising from the ‘exceptional circumstances obtaining during the [First] world war’ (f 155); general treaty instructions from 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. , sent to the British Legation in Tehran; details of an historic claim for approximately £900,000, made against the British Government by a Persian subject named Socrates Atychides, whose ship, the Kara Deniz , was detained and declared as prize at Bombay [Mumbai] in 1914; a printed copy of a general review of British claims against Persia, prepared by Hugh Ritchie, formerly of the Foreign Office. Ritchie’s review includes indexes to supplementary volumes (not included in the file) entitled Persia (Legation Claims) , Persia: Consulate Claims (Peace-Time), and Persia: Consulate Claims (War-Time) (ff 22-51). The indexes are lists of British claimants.

Principal correspondents in the file include: John Charles Walton and John Gilbert Laithwaite of 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. ; George William Rendel and Christopher Frederick Ashton Warner of the Foreign Office; W R L Trickett of HM’s Treasury.

The file contains a single paragraph of French text: a draft of the claims article submitted by the Government of Persia (f 168).

The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 file (176 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 178; 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 28/51 ‘Persia. Relations with H.M.G. Treaty negotiations: Article regarding private claims.’ [‎33r] (65/357), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3456, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100046162934.0x000044> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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