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Notes Prepared for Reference during Curzon’s Tour of the Persian Gulf, and Other Papers on Persia and the Persian Gulf [‎146v] (292/678)

The record is made up of 1 file (337 folios). It was created in 4 Aug 1895-21 Nov 1903. 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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Towns.
Hit.
Anah.
Der.
H
The road keeps partly along the level ground and partly across the stony
desert, the latter either to cut off bends or to avoid marshy ground. It is a good
caravan road throughout, and with a little trouble field-guns could be got along
it. 1 he only difficulty at present is either when the road ascends horn the low
ground to the desert, or when crossing some of the stony ravines or ' wadys, ’
which intersect the high ground. Some of these ascents and descents are
rocky and narrow, but with a little work field guns could always be got across.
Between Der and Aleppo carriages can now go, though the road is everywhere very
rough for them and travelling by them must be far from comfortable.
The only towns of any size passed through are Hit, Anah and Der.
7/2/contains about 300 houses and is built on a mound raising above the river
on the right bank. It is a dirty, uninteresting place, and owes its existence entirely
to the bitumen springs in the vicinity, which have been well-known for thousands
of years. There are also sulphur springs close outside the town, and the whole
place is pervaded with a strong smell of sulphur and boiling bitumen. Its one
tall minaret forms a striking landmark for some miles, There is a regular ferry
at Hit.
Anah is a long straggling town consisting of one street, which extends
nearly five miles along the banks of the river, with houses, gardens and date
groves on both sides. There is a good deal of cultivation on both banks, and
also on the islands in the river, and the place is famous for its " abbas ” or Arab
cloaks, made of a mixture of cotton and wool, and worn by almost all the
Bedouin tribes who visit this part. At the north end of the town, on the opposite
bank, in the bend below the village of Rawa, is the fort which Midhat Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
built. It is a fine building, but is now empty, and has been so for years, and the
walls have fallen down in places on the face nearest the water. The story told
of it is that an old Shekh who lived there, and whose tomb is now pointed out
close to the fort, warned Midhat not to build it there. He disregarded the warn
ing, but when it came to be occupied 6 or 7 of the garrison went mad every
day, and it had to be abandoned, and has never been inhabited since. At the
time of my visit there were about 200 regulars in the town, 80 horse and 120
foot. These were said to have come from Baghdad to collect and take back
the revenue; the permanent garrison consists only of about 20 Zaptiehs.
Der is by far the largest town passed through on the road. It has one
fairly broad, straight street, in which is the bazar with numerous “khans " or
caravansarais and the principal public buildings, the remainder of the town
consisting of a maze of narrow streets and houses. Der is the head-quarters of
the district of Zor and the residence of the Mutassarif, a Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. who is directly
responsible to Constantinople. The troops belong to the Aleppo district, and the
garrison consisted at the time of my visit of 500 Nizam infantry, 400 Redif
(mobilised there), and about 200 Zaptiehs. The town is said to contain 7,000
inhabitants, mostly Muhammadans and Jews, with about 100 families of
Armenian Christians. In the river opposite Der is a fair-sized, well-cultivated
island, this is connected with the town by a wooden bridge about 100 yards long
and broad enough for carnages. The supports are wooden trestles, 15 to 20 feet
apart, and the bridge would carry field guns On the further side of the island
is a ferry, and it is here that caravans from Mosul cross. As one goes westwards
from Baghdad this is the first place where the Turkish element is noticed but
here there is a good sprinkling of Turks, officers of the army and police and other
officials Der is the junction of the roads from Aleppo and Damascus to
Baghdad, and the desert route from Mosul also strikes the valley here, so that
caravans are constantly passing through, and nearly all halt a day in the town.
A carriage can usually be hired from Der to Aleppo, but the road is very bad for
driving, and the same horses have to go the whole way through. It takes at
least seven days and probably more. Seven liras was asked for the journey A
single hue of telegraph runs from Der up the valley to Maskanah, with a station
opposite the town of Rakkah, and from Maskanah to Aleppo.
The question of a railway along the Euphrates Valiev is one that has often
been discussed, but nothing but paper schemes have resulted, and it seems im-
Railway schemes.

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Content

The file contains papers relating to Persia [Iran] and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , including a document entitled ‘Notes on current topics prepared for reference during his Excellency the Viceroy’s tour in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , November 1903.’ It also includes printed extracts of letters relating to the tour from Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Arnold Kemball, 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. , and Major Percy Zachariah Cox, Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Maskat [Muscat], dated August to October 1903.

In addition, the file includes the following papers:

  • Handwritten notes by George Nathaniel Curzon, Viceroy of India, including notes on Muscat, Koweit [Kuwait], and the Mekran [Makran] Coast
  • Memoranda concerning Koweit
  • A copy of a letter from Colonel Charles Edward Yate, Agent to the Governor-General and Chief Commissioner in Baluchistan, to the Secretary to the Government of India Foreign Department, forwarding the camp diary kept during his tour in Makran and Las Bela, from 1 December 1901 to 25 January 1902
  • A copy of a 'Report on a Journey from India to the Mediterranean via the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Baghdad and the Euphrates Valley, including a Visit to the Turkish Dependency of El Hasa' by Captain J A Douglas, Staff Captain, Intelligence Branch, Quarter Master General’s Department in India, 1897 (which includes three sketch maps: Mss Eur F111/358, f 138; Mss Eur F111/358, f 158; and Mss Eur F111/358, f 141).

Folios 232 to 338 largely consist of printed copies of correspondence between Sir (Henry) Mortimer Durand, HM Minister at Teheran [Tehran], and the Marquess of Salisbury (Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil), Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, dated 1895-1896, relating to Persia.

The file includes a copy of a Collective Letter addressed by the Turkish, British and French Consuls to the Valiahd regarding the Tabriz Riots, 5 August 1895, which is in French (folios 332).

Extent and format
1 file (337 folios)
Arrangement

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

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 339; 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.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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Notes Prepared for Reference during Curzon’s Tour of the Persian Gulf, and Other Papers on Persia and the Persian Gulf [‎146v] (292/678), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/358, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069731505.0x00005d> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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