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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.' [‎54v] (113/384)

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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and integrity of Persia, and to discuss, in tlie most friendly spirit, a possibility
of arrangements for 3> simnlt&neons ciclvcince by Client liiittiin. and Russia, each
accepting its security of Persian revenues falling within the indicated sphere.
The only result was to prove the practical futility of Russian assurances.
32. Nor was Russian interference limited to efforts ,to reduce Persia to
financial tutelage. Her activity was widespread; her policy unswerving from
her unmistakeable goal and Lord Curzon decided in November 1901 to review
the general question of Persian Affairs in a despatch,
33. The place which this Despatch and Minute occupy in the subsequent
policy and pronouncements made by our ^Minister and Ambassador at lehianand
St. Petersburg!! respectively under instructions from His Majesty’s Government
both, to the Russian and Persian Governments and in the public declarations of
responsible Ministers is so marked that some detailed events of later Chapters
would be imperfectly understood without a study of the complete text. Hi©
despatch, dated the 9th November 1901, ran as follows : —
“Inour despatches of 21st September 1899 and 6th September 1900, we have already
fully acquainted Your Lordship and His Majesty's Government with the views which are enter
tained by us with regard to British interests and British policy in Persia. Subsequent events
have more than conilrmed the forecasts that were contained in our earlier letter, aud have lent
additional weight to our appeal for a clear and emphatic enunciation of British policy in
regard to that country. The negotiations for a further Russian loan to t he Persian Govern
ment, and for a new Commercial Treaty, designed in the interests of Russian and to the detri-
ment of British trade; the apparently imminent construction of a Russian railway from
Ashkabad to Meshed, the capital of Khorasan; the activity of Russian representatives and
agents in Seistan and the regions c ntiguous to the Baluch border; the obstacles placed in the
way of the Nushki-Seistan trade route by Russian influence, both in respect of customs
arrangements and of quarantine ; the appearance of Russian Consular Agent* and of a mercan
tile service subsidised by the Russian Government in the Persian Gulf—ail of these circum-
stancts illustrate the rapidity with which the weakness of Persia is being turned to account by
her powerful neighbour ; while they also testify to the unswerving purpose with wh'ch the
roliey of the Russian Government is directed to an obvious and unmistakeable goal. We have
so recently submitted to Your Lordship our views of the imperative necessity of making up our
minds as to the point to wlmh these ambitions may safely be pursued without coming into
direct collision with British and Indian interests, and of shaping our future action, both
diplomatic and commercial, accordingly, that we do not propose- upon the present occasion
to trouble Your Lordship with any repetition of opinions with which you are already familiar.
It is sufficient to say that the even’s of the past two years have but strengthened the
unanimity and force of the conviction to which we have previously given expression ; and
that, in our judgment, the question of Persia and the Ptruan Gulf is on the verge of
becoming the most critical issue « f Central Asian politics. That these views are not substan
tially dissentfd from by His Majesty's Government is apj avent from the telegraphic inform
ation which has leached rs from Y'our Lordship since the above puagrapb was written—
to the effect that the British representative at St. Petersburg has been authorised to
speak frankly to the Russian Foreign Minister concerning the respective par's that should
be played by Great Britain and Russia in the future maintenance and development of the
Persian Kingdom.
“2. On the present occasion we address Yonr Lordship with another though correlative
object. The determination of the attitude which is to be adopted by the Brit : sh Government
in view of the conditions which we have described, while to a large extent dependent upon
declarations or pledges already made, and upon the traditional history of British policy in
those regions, must also be greatly affected by a consideration of the practical effect likely
to be produced upon British interests in the future by a continuance of, or an abrupt departure
from, those traditions We take it to have been a common-place of British statesmanship
throughout the past century that in Southern Persia and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. British influence
should remain supreme; and that, while at no time could the commercial competition of
other Powers be reasonably resented, or legitimately opposed, yet the creation of rival
political interests in that quarter could not be permitted, without seriously compromi-mg
the interests of India and therefore of Great Britain. We know of no Indian adm nistration
and of no responsible Biitish statesmen, who have not subscribed to these views. More
recently we have observed indications of a willingness in some quarters to recede from this
attitude, and to argue that the political predominance which has been acquired by Great
Britain in the regions in question, at so great an expenditure of energy and treasure,
may with impunity be challenged by others, and can safely be shared with them, and that no
menace need ensue to British interests from the construction, for instance, of a Russian
railway to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. or the acquisition by that Power of a port and naval station
upon its coastline. Upon this subject we conceive that no one has so strong a right to
speak as the Government of India seeing that it is Indian interests that are directly
involved : and we are confident that in any decision that may be taken by His Majesty’s Gov*
ernment due weight will be attached to this plea.

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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.

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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.' [‎54v] (113/384), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/531, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100070109007.0x000072> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100070109007.0x000072">'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.' [&lrm;54v] (113/384)</a>
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