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File 3839/1916 Pt 1 'Persia: - Incidence of expenditure in - question of revising the agreement of 1900' [‎203v] (419/880)

The record is made up of 1 volume (430 folios). It was created in 10 Mar 1914-4 Jun 1928. 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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and the Consulates in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , when the further report of the
Government of India regarding them has been received. In para
graph 4 of the letter of the Government of India, dated the 17th
November last, the total reductions at Bushire and the Consulates in
the Gulf are provisionally stated at about Us. 67,509 (4,46 N.). The
observation o£ the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs will be borne
in mind when the report of the Government of India above referred to is
being examined in detail.
With reference to the remarks in the latter half of your letter
regarding the redistribution of Consular posts in Persia between the
Levant A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. and the Indian services, I am to say that the Earl of Crewe has
given this subject his most careful consideration, and regrets that he is
unable to find himself in agreement with Sir E. Grey.
In Sir C. Hardinge’s letter of 20th February 1909, stress is laid upon
the effect of the Anglo-Russian Convention in this connection. While
far from under-estimating the value of that instrument, Lord Crewe is
not convinced by recent events that the time has yet come when Indian
interests can be regarded as so securely established vis-a-vis of other
Powers that any reasonable precautions can safely be neglected ; and
the present moment, when the advent of German competition is
threatened in regions which hitherto have largely been supplied by
India, and when the construction is contemplated of railways that will
touch Indian interests in many vital points, would seem to him to be
singularly inopportune for the withdrawal of Indian officers from any
posts within the British sphere.
As regards Bagdad, I am to' say that in view of the present impossi
bility of obtaining for British Indians, even with an Indian officer as
Consul-General and 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. , the protection enjoyed elsewhere
by British subjects, Lord Crewe could not contemplate with equanimity
the substitution of an officer of the Levant A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Service, who, whatever his
merits, would, from his experience and training, possess no experience
of Indian feelings and customs, while the policy recently followed by
His Majesty’s Consul at Basra, of which Sir E. Grey found it necessary
to express his disapproval, in connection with Mohammera, furnishes an
example of the extent to which even an experienced and able officer of
that service may fail to appreciate the wider interests of India and
Great Britain in the Persian Gidf. Whether purely British interests
would, in the present state of our relations with Turkey, be any better
served by a reduction in the establishment of His Majesty’s represen
tative at Bagdad is not a question for the Secretary of State for India.
But I am to invite attention to the letters on this subject from successive
Consuls-General which are already in the posseesion of your Depart
ment, and to the information recorded in Mr. Lorimer’s summary for
April-May Section IX (7) to the effect that Nazim Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. had complained
to the Turkish Government of the size of 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
and had recommended that steps be taken to obtain the abolition of the
British post office and the removal of the 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. Guard and of the
R.I.M.S. Comet.
As regards the incidence of expenditure at Bagdad (vide ante
penultimate paragraph of Sir Charles Hardinge’s letter above quoted) I
am to enclose a memorandum from which it will be seen that, despite
the intention of the Agreement of 1900, the effect of that instrument
has been to throw on Indian revenues in respect of Persia and Turkish
Arabia an excess charge which more than covers the expenditure on the
Bagdad 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. .
TV hile, therefore, Lord Crewe is not less anxious than Sir E. Grey to
reduce expenditure, he is strongly of opinion that in the present conflict
of international interests in the middle East this cannot be regarded as
the paramount consideration.
I have, &c.,
The Under Secretary of State, R. Ritchie.
Foreign Office.

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Content

The volume contains papers mostly relating to expenditure incurred in Persia, and the issue of how this expenditure should be divided between the Imperial and Indian Exchequers.

The papers mainly consist of correspondence between 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. and the following: the Foreign Office, the Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India, and the Treasury; as well as 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. Minute Papers, Reference Papers, and other 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. papers and notes.

The volume mostly concerns diplomatic and consular expenditure, specifically: the question of revising the existing arrangements under which, following the recommendations of the Welby Commission of 1900, the cost of this expenditure in Persia had been shared roughly equally between the Indian and Imperial Revenues (between the Indian Political Department and the Foreign Office); the proposals of the Foreign Office that Indian Political Department posts in Persia should be transferred to the Levant A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Consular Service, and thus come under the responsibility of the Foreign Office, with the Government of India paying a yearly contribution towards the posts; and the objections of the Government of India to the Foreign Office’s proposals.

The volume also includes papers regarding: the cost of troops from the Indian Establishment employed in Oman and Persia during the First World War; and the projected contribution from Indian Revenues of a moiety of a loan of £2,000,000 to the Persian Government under the ‘Curzon Agreement’ [Anglo-Persian Agreement] of 1919. In addition, it includes some papers relating to expenditure on diplomatic and consular establishments in Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. , Muscat and China, as well as Persia.

The file includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 volume (430 folios)
Arrangement

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

The subject 3839 (Part 1, Persia, and Part 2, China) consists of two volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/626-627. The volumes are divided into two parts, with each part comprising one volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 430; 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 and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.

Written in
English in Latin script
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File 3839/1916 Pt 1 'Persia: - Incidence of expenditure in - question of revising the agreement of 1900' [‎203v] (419/880), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/626, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056594228.0x000012> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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