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'SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS AND MEASURES OF THE VICEROYALTY OF HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON OF KEDLESTON, VICEROY AND GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA IN THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT. I. JANUARY 1899-APRIL 1904. II. DECEMBER 1904-NOVEMBER 1905. VOLUME IV. PERSIA AND THE PERSIAN GULF.' [‎12r] (28/384)

The record is made up of 1 volume (188 folios). It was created in 1907. 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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11
The second question propounded was—'‘What action would it be expedient
for Great Britain to take in the event of disorders occurring in Persia, and
occasioning a Russian occupation in the North—or in anticipation of such
disorder—it being understood that occupation of Persian territory would not be
directed against Russia, but would be undertaken in the interests of peace
and order, and as an assertion of the position of Great Britain as jointly
interested with Russia in the maintenance of the Persian kingdom ? ” It was
proposed that in this event we should at once occupy Bunder Abbas and
the three islands of Ormuz, Kishm, and Hen jam; that we should protect
British interests at Bushire; and that we should occupy, or be prepared to
occupy, Seistan with an adequate force of troops from India.
The third question was “ in what particular portions of Persia and by what
methods can the extension of British influence be most successfully prosecuted
and to the best advantage for general purposes and for the contingencies above
discussed ?” It was held that, consistently with the decisions on the two preced
ing points, preparations should steadily be made for the occupation of Seistan
bv’extending the railway beyond Nushki and pushing our trade; that we should
re-assert our claims at Bassidore and on the Musandim Promontory, especially in
the Elphinstone Inlet, and support the authority of the Chief of Shargah
over the coast from Dibba to Khor Kalba. All possible care should be taken
to prevent any other Power from gaining a footing at Bunder Abbas or on any
of the neighbouring islands. Por the rest, we should continue to encourage
trade on the Karun, to maintain our position at Bushire, and to support
Persia as long as possible by peaceful means. On behalf of the Admiralty,
Prince Louis of Battenburg explained that the establishment of a Russian
coal depot at Charbar might be a convenience for their cruisers and transports
going to the Par East in time of peace, but had no serious significance in case
of war so long as it was not fortified and provided with communications by
land with a Russian base. It was further agreed that the most effective
check to Russian progress towards South Persia lay in the completion of the
railway from Constantinople to Baghdad, as it would bring the Turks in
force on the flank of a Russian advance. It was recommended, therefore, that
we should encourage the project to the test of our power, provided we could
acquire our proper share of control of the railway and its outlet on the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
The opinion of Lord Curzon’s Government was invited on the proposals
thus formulated, and was expressed at length in a despatch, dated the
4th Pebruary 1904. The contingency most prominently held in view was
J the second of those discussed by the
Lord Curzon’s views. Departmental Committee, and the view
was urged that, though the measures suggested might be adequate in the
event of the Russian movement being confined to such a single point as
Tabriz on the west or Meshed on the east, yet in the event of a larger
movement covering the whole of Northern Persia, it would be advisable
that the British reply should include a wider sphere than that proposed,
and that Bushire and Mohammerah should both be occupied, and possibly even
an advance be made on Ispahan. In recommending this course, Lord Curzon’s
Government laid stress on the consideration that the object of Russia was
not so much the direct annexation of any portion of Persian territory as the
Gradual acquisition of control over the central Government, with a view to the
reduction of Persia to the position of the Central Asian Khanates; that it
was unlikely, therefore, that a British occupation in the South would bring
our troops face to face with those of Russia ; and that we should look to British
movements, not as intended to be permanent, but as a means of bringing
nresture to bear upon Russia to withdraw from the North, and thus avoid a
precipitation of the dissolution of Persia, and the placing of a permanent
harrier in the way of her southern advance. Dissent was further expressed
from the view that the presence of the Baghdad Railway on the flank
of a Russian advance was likely to be of any material benefit, and from the
opinion that German assistance should be sought in the defence of ink rests
which were exclusively our own.

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Content

Printed at the GC [Government Central] Press, Simla.

The volume is divided into three parts: Part I (folios 5-47) containing an introduction; Part II (folios 48-125) containing a detailed account; and Part III (folios 126-188) containing despatches and correspondence connected with Part I Chapter IV ('The Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ', folios 28-47).

Part I gives an overview of policy and events in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. region during Curzon's period as Viceroy [1899-1905], with sections on British policy in Persia; the maintenance and extension of British interests; Seistan [Sīstān]; and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . Part II contains more detailed accounts of selected topics, including sections on British policy in Persia, customs and finance, quarantine, administration, communications, and British and Russian activity in Seistan. The despatches and correspondence in Part III include correspondence from the Government of India in the Foreign Department, the Secretary of State for India, and the Viceroy; addresses and speeches by Curzon; and notes of interviews between Curzon and local rulers.

Mss Eur F111/531-534 consist of four identical printed and bound volumes. However, the four volumes each show a small number of different manuscript annotations and corrections.

This volume is inscribed: '1907' on the title page (folio 4), and contains a manuscript correction (folio 20).

Extent and format
1 volume (188 folios)
Arrangement

The volume contains a list of Parts I-III on folio 4; a table of contents of Part I on folio 6; a table of contents of Part II on folio 49; and a table of contents of Part III on folios 127-129, which gives a reference to the paragraph of Part I Chapter IV that the despatch or correspondence is intended to illustrate.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 190; 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. Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS AND MEASURES OF THE VICEROYALTY OF HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON OF KEDLESTON, VICEROY AND GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA IN THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT. I. JANUARY 1899-APRIL 1904. II. DECEMBER 1904-NOVEMBER 1905. VOLUME IV. PERSIA AND THE PERSIAN GULF.' [‎12r] (28/384), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/531, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100070109007.0x00001d> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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