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Coll 5/10 ‘Air Route to India: Persia; Arabian Coast Route; Negotiations with Arab Sheikhs’ [‎228r] (466/800)

The record is made up of 1 volume (393 folios). It was created in 25 Jul 1931-25 Sep 1932. It was written in English. 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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obtaining any concession from them so long as they thought
that we were entirely in their power and dependent on
them xor enr main air communications to India*
In view therefore (l) of the fact that the South
Persian route would almost certainly not he available after
March 1932, and (2) of the fact that we were in any case
helpless in dealing with the Persians unless we had an
alternative to the South Persian route ready to fall
bach on P the Foreign Office considered it a matter of
great importance that the preparation of an alternative
route should be proceeded with with the least possible
delay, unless His Majesty's G-overnment were prepared to see
the air service to India definitely interrupted^
The establishment of an alternative route along the
Arabian coast involved negotiations with certain of the
Arabian rulers concerned* including the offer of a subsidy
in return for certain necessary facilities end guarantees.
These negotiations would be difficult and should be
initiated at the earliest possible moment« Colonel Biscoe,
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. * was expected
to visit the Trueiad Coast about the middle of November,
and it was very desirable that the necessary instructions
should be sent to him in time to enable him to initiate the
proposed negotiations during his impending visit*
MRo RITIDhL believed that there was a general
agreement among the Departments concerned on these points,
but he understood that two difficulties had arisen, and it
was particularly to deal with these that the present meeting
had been chiled* The first was that the Treasury were
reluctant to give tne necessary sanction for the proposed
subsidy to the Arabian ruler, or rulers, concerned - without
the specific autaority either of the Cabinet or of a Cabinet
Committee a The second was that the Admiralty would be

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Content

The volume contains correspondence, memoranda, and minutes related to a proposal to relocate the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Air Route (linking Europe and India) from Southern Persia to the Arabian Coast. The proposal is related to difficulties between the British and Persian governments over securing an extension of Imperial Airways' concession to operate in Persia. The volume therefore also contains papers related to the progress of negotiations between the British Government and the Government of Persia. However, the majority of the volume relates to the examination of the Arabian Coast option; this includes potential route options, possible sites for facilities, estimates of expenditure, and progress reports on negotiations between the Trucial Shaikhs – primarily at Dubai and Ra's al-Khaymah – and Hugh Vincent Biscoe, 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 volume also contains minutes of the meetings of the Official and Ministerial Sub-Committees of Imperial Defence for the Consideration of Middle Eastern Questions: 2 November 1931 (folios 226-35), 5 November 1931 (folios 217-25), 17 November 1931 (folios 175-82), 17 December 1931 (folios 89-102), and 15 February 1932 (folios 28-31 and folios 22-5). Related notes and memoranda can also be found within the volume.

A number of extracts from reports (dated 24 March, 26 April, and 25 September 1932) from E C Denison and D S McGrath, Commanding HMS Bideford , on trips to the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. can be found on folios 3-9; this includes details relating to the construction of the Sharjah Aerodrome.

The main correspondents are as follows: 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 Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, officials of the Admiralty, officials the Air Ministry, officials of the Foreign Office, and officials 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. .

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 volume (393 folios)
Arrangement

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

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 395; 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. The foliation sequence does not include the front cover, nor does it include the two leading flyleaves.

A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

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English in Latin script
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Coll 5/10 ‘Air Route to India: Persia; Arabian Coast Route; Negotiations with Arab Sheikhs’ [‎228r] (466/800), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/1955, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100049269875.0x000043> [accessed 20 April 2024]

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