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Coll 28/42 ‘Persia. Motor-car Registration in East Persia. Issue of Driving Licenses and Visas to British & Persian subjects; Indian lorry drivers in Persia.’ [‎141r] (281/427)

The record is made up of 1 file (212 folios). It was created in 21 Dec 1931-10 Jan 1939. It was written in English, French and Persian. 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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CONFIDENTIAL. | r , , . -
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Letter from His Britannic MAfesTY’k ' G6 nsul- NERAL IN 'i
Khorasan and Sistan, to His Britannic Majesty’s Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court
of Persia, Tehran, No. 32 (9/9), dated the 27th February
1935. //
I have the honour to refer to paragraph 3 of my despatch No.
28 (1 /24), dated the 23rd February 1935, with which was forwarded
a report on the proceedings at the Zahidan Conference. >
2. When I proceeded to Zahidan I was unaware that it was the
desire of the Government of India that the matter of compensation
for Indian lorry drivers should be taken up at the Conference.
Accordingly I took the opportunity of discussing the claims (before
the Conference opened) with General Jehanbani.
The General admitted in conversation that the lorries had been
commandeered by the Military and that the drivers had been com
pelled to drive inside the disturbed area. He also expressed the
opinion that the small escorts provided had been inadequate, especi
ally as the men were seated inside the covered lorries, on top of the
load, and were thus quite unable to resist any sudden attack.
3. I then asked the ^General how he considered the matter had
best be dealt with. Whether I should submit a claim for compen
sation through my Legation or whether there would be a possibility
of settling the matter locally. He replied that no useful purpose
would be served by submitting the claims through the Legation,
since the papers would, in any case, be referred to him for report
and his recommendations. I gathered that the Military authorities
would prefer to settle the matter within their own department and
were not anxious that it should be brought up through the Ministry
for Foreign Affairs. The General suggested that I should dis
cuss the details more fully with him at a later date.
4. It was after the preliminary discussion outlined above that I
received telegram No. 367 (No. 22 to Tehran) from the Government
of India which indicated their desire that the claims should be dis
cussed at the Conference.
5. In view of the fact that I had already determined, with
General Jehanbani, the procedure to be adopted, and as it was prac
tically certain that the Persian delegate at the Conference would
state that he had no authority to discuss the matter, the British
delegates were unanimously of the opinion that no useful purpose
would be served by bringing it up at the Conference—in fact it
might prejudice our claims, since the Persian delegate, even if he
had been prepared to discuss them, would have fought every detail;
while the General had appeared sympathetic and inclined to help
in the matter. We felt, moreover, that claims amounting to a con
siderable total, would so terrify the Persian delegate, who already
was plainly unequal to shouldering any responsibility at all, that
he would inevitably deny all responsibility on the part of his Gov
ernment and once having done so, the Persian Government would
be the less likely to support any recommendations from the General
for payment of damages.
6. I again met General Jehanbani shortly before the close of
the Conference and discussed the claims more fully. I read over to
him the details of each claim and he admitted, in general, that they
were reasonable. I laid particular stress on the fact that the two
men who were killed had not been compelled to drive into the area
of hostilities, but had gone in the ordinary course of their work as
servants of the garage-owner who supplied the lorries. This being
733(C) f&pd | --j
INDIA FOREIGN 8 £eR£T/w'b
13

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Content

Papers concerning the issue of licenses and visas for Persian and Indian lorry drivers operating between Duzdap [Zahedan] in the East Persian province of Sistan, and Nok Kundi in British Baluchistan [in present-day Pakistan]. The licenses were issued by the Governments of Persia [Iran] and India.

The correspondence includes: reports of social unrest in the border region between Persia and British Baluchistan from 1934 to 1936; the Persian military’s commandeering of lorries driven by Indians for the purposes of transporting Persian troops and provisions; reports of the ‘ill-treatment’ of some Indian drivers by the Persian military; compensation claims made by the British Government against the Persian Government, on behalf of Indian drivers who were injured or killed while driving through dangerous areas; discussion between the British and Persian Governments about the Anglo-Persian Treaty of 1857, and the entitlement of British subjects in Persia to ‘most-favoured nation treatment’.

The file’s principal correspondents include: HM’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary A diplomatic representative who ranks below an ambassador. The term can be shortened to 'envoy'. at Tehran, Reginald Hervey Hoare, Hughe Montgomery Knatchbull-Hugesson; the British Consul at Sistan and Kain [Ka’īn], Clive Kirkpatrick Daly; the Foreign Department of the Government of India; the Governor General and Chief Commissioner in Baluchistan.

The file contains several items of correspondence and newspaper cuttings in French, and a single item in Persian.

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 (212 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 213; 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, French and Persian in Latin and Arabic script
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Coll 28/42 ‘Persia. Motor-car Registration in East Persia. Issue of Driving Licenses and Visas to British & Persian subjects; Indian lorry drivers in Persia.’ [‎141r] (281/427), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3445, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100047318492.0x000054> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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