Skip to item: of 644
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎222v] (444/644)

This item is part of

The record is made up of 1 file (320 folios). It was created in 6 Dec 1933-27 Mar 1947. 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. .

Transcription

This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.

Apply page layout

244. The Shah’s treatment of his own Ministers and officials continued to
be arbitrary : most notably, General Jehenbani, an outstanding Staff Officer of
Kajar descent, who was appointed Director-General of the Department of
Industry in March 1936, was suddenly dismissed in August, and forbidden to
wear military uniform. His successor, an official of the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs, was dismissed after a few weeks as summarily.
245. The morbid Iranian sentitiveness to the most insignificant remarks in
the foreign press, that is primarily a trait of the Shah’s character (see intro
duction paragraph 126 of this report and paragraph 264 of the annual report tor
1936), continued unabated. During 1937 the British press took its turn m the
pillory. What seems to cause the most acute reaction is any reference, even
laudatory in intent, to Reza’s humble origin. Nor is this exclusively a sore spot
of the present monarch. The tradition of monarchy in Persia has from the
earliest recorded times been one of an almost divinely revered being, addressed
only in terms of fulsome adulation (as testified by the court vocabulary, the native
chronicles and the accents of the contemporary Iranian press), and difficult of
approach. It is in marked contrast with the Arab conception of kingship, and
should be taken into account in estimating the manner in which the Shah insists
upon his legend and is able to ride rough-shod over opposition.
246. An impdrtant occurrence was the death on the 10th February of the
Minister of Finance, M. Davar. Officially he died of heart failure, but he is
known to have had a sharp interview with the Shah the night before, and he was
found dead next morning, having taken heavy doses of opium that indicate suicide.
One way or another, he was driven to death by a task-master who insisted on an
ever-increasing supply of funds to finance a programme that the resources of the
country are, by all sober estimates, insufficient to meet at the pace demanded.
247. Finance and economics overshadow all the present history of Iran; and
the hard-working Davar had taken so much on to his own personal shoulders of the
gigantic and growing burden of the whole experiment represented by the railway,
the factories, the monopoly companies and the control of trade and exchange, that
his sudden removal was expected to give the machine such a jolt that a relaxation of
policy was inevitable. It is characteristic of Iran that recognition of the work
and ability of a very single-minded public servant was swamped by positive joy
at the death of one whom popular imagination identified with the exactions of the
relentless policy that was not improbably forced on M. Davar by the Shah. The
fact that his removal did not, during 1937, result in any net relaxation of policy,
either in the limitation of the railway programme (an extension to Tabriz was
discussed), the abandonment of more than one or two monopolies, anything but
minor concessions in the control of trade and exchange, or, it follows, any relief
of taxation, means that the Shah’s driving force is as steady as ever.
248. In fact, the web of Government control over the national life was
actually extended. An Imperial Economic Council was set up in April, and later
the two Departments of Commerce and of Industry and Mines were raised to
Ministries, at the same time as M. Davar’s successor, M. Mahmoud Bader, was
confirmed in his rank. M. Davar’s economic task was put into commission. More
began to be heard of projects to exploit mineral wealth, and towards the end of
the year agriculture was drawn deeper into the official ambit. Legislation was
passed providing for complete reorganisation of the administrative geography
and personnel of the whole land ; the old provinces are to be carved up into
departments, divided and sub-divided, in the true Napoleonic manner. It bore
signs of hasty drafting and lack of preparation, and had not taken effect at the end
of the year, but it included important agricultural duties for the new provincial
officials, and, in addition, a further law was enacted, dealing solely with
agricultural development, and providing for putting into commission, under official
auspices, the management of any private estate deemed unproductive. The Shah’s
programme is as ambitious as ever, and not to be affected by the comings and
goings of Ministers.
249. Nevertheless, though the machine went on expanding, the movement
of its wheels showed signs of slowing down. Indecisions increased; there were
muddles in the monopolies; goods lay congested in customs; assessments of taxation
became wilder and more arbitrary, expedients for meeting the demand for foreign

About this item

Content

Annual reports for Persia [Iran] produced by staff at the British Legation in Tehran. The reports were sent to the Foreign Office by HM’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary A diplomatic representative who ranks below an ambassador. The term can be shortened to 'envoy'. at Tehran (from 1943, Ambassador to Iran). The reports cover the following years: 1932 (ff 2-50); 1933 (ff 51-98); 1934 (ff 99-128); 1935 (ff 129-165); 1936 (ff 166-195); 1937 (ff 196-227); 1938 (ff 228-249); 1939 (ff 250-251); 1940 (ff 252-257); 1941 (ff 258-266); 1942 (ff 267-277); 1943 (ff 278-289); 1944 (ff 290-306); 1945 (ff 307-317); 1946 (ff 318-320).

The reports for 1932 to 1938 are comprehensive in nature (each containing their own table of contents), and cover: an introductory statement on affairs in Persia, with a focus on the Shah’s programme of modernisation across the country; an overview of foreign relations between Persia and other nations, including with the United Kingdom, British India, and Iraq; Persia’s involvement in international conventions and agreements, for example the League of Nations and the Slave Traffic Convention; British interests in or associated with Persia, including Bahrain and Bahrainis resident in Persia, 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. at Bushire, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, Imperial Bank of Persia, and the Imperial and International Communications Company; political affairs in Persia, including court and officials, majlis, tribes and security; economic affairs in Persia (government finances and budgets, trade, industry, agriculture, opium production); communications (aviation, railways, roads); consular matters; military matters (army, navy, air force).

Reports from 1939 to 1946 are briefer in nature, Reports from 1941 onwards focusing on the Anglo-Soviet occupation of Persia, and the role of United States advisors in the Persian Government’s administration.

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 (320 folios)
Arrangement

The file’s reports are arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the file. Each report for the years 1932-1938 begins with a table of contents referring to that report’s own printed pagination sequence.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 321; 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 file contains one foliation anomaly, f 308A

Pagination: Each of the reports included in the file has its own printed pagination system, commencing at 1 on the first page of the report.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
View the complete information for this record

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎222v] (444/644), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3472A, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056661168.0x00002d> [accessed 28 March 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100056661168.0x00002d">Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [&lrm;222v] (444/644)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100056661168.0x00002d">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000648.0x00001b/IOR_L_PS_12_3472A_0444.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000648.0x00001b/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image