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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.' [‎52v] (109/386)

The record is made up of 1 volume (189 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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6
to conclude
BtW&Tspheres of'interTst'iTthe dominions of the Shah,' on linos analogous to
the agreement concluded between England and Ituss.a as to spheres of micros
in relation to railways in China. Such an agreement might be equally extended
to mines, roads, and other industrial or economic undertakings, and wou d
to a certain degree extend to political influence also, even though not expressly
mentioned, as in eastern countries it is in the wake of railways and trade that
political influence is most apt to follow. The line across Persia would have to
he drawn so as to include Kashan and Seistan in the British sphere, aud it would
be manifestly difficult to arrive at an engagement that no political influence
should be exercised by either party on the opposite side of the line, since it
would be out of the question to remove the British representatives, either at
Tehran Tabriz or Meshed, while corresponding objection would no doubt be felt
hv the Russian Government. But even an engagement limited to railway and
commercial exploitation would have considerable value. The following difficuB
ties and drawbacks ia the case of such an understanding were then discussed.
The line proposed was not altogether assisted by geographical conditions, Seistan
being physically and administratively a part of the province of Khorasan, and
it was doubtful whether Russia would forego her designs upon Seistan and a port
on the eastern extremity of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. - A more serious drawback* bow -
ever, was the fact that the capital of Persia would lie in the Russian sphere, and the
pressure exercised by the Russian Government would become o\ ei u helming, the
Shah would tend move and more to become a Russian puppet, and Northern Persia
a Russian proconsulate. The fate of such institutions as the Imperial Bank of
Persia and the Indo-European Telegraph Department would be more than
doubtful, the weight and influence of Russia throughout Central Asia vould be
increased and the ultimate result might be the permanent break-up of the
Persian kingdom. Nor would this policy prevent Russia from approaching
the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. via Baghdad, or other countries from attempting to acquire the
position in Southern Persia from which Russia had debarred herself. But,
while cot sanguine of success, the Government of Lord Curzon expressed them
selves of opinion that the experiment was worthy of being made, in the interest
both of Persia itself, and still more of harmony between the two great Powers,
upon whose relations the peace of Asia depends. Such a contract, even if not
of perpetual duration, would he of immense value in the respite afforded from
the strain of an otherwise ceaseless rivalry and in the opportunity presented for
a peaceful consolidation of existing interests.
24. Should, however, the endeavour to arrive at an understanding with
Russia fail, then it would still be possible to fall hack upon the alternative
policy recommended by Sir M. Durand which was that we should plainly
intimatm that any Russian encroachments in Northern Persia would provoke
corresponding measures for the protection of British interests in the south.
25. The despatch then turned to the increase of the Consular establishments
in Persia Lord Curzon recommended that Consular representatives should he
appointed at Kermanshah, Ahwaz and Bunder Abbas, that Kerman should be
made a permanent Consulate, that a Native Agent Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government. should be posted to Bam pur
and Seistan and that a British officer should he sent to the latter place if the
rumoured nomination of a Russian Consul turned out true. The principle on
which the cost should be met by Great Britain or India was then discussed.
2G. On examination of the cost of the various establishments maintained
by the British Government in Persia, it was shown that the Imperial Govern
ment spent £15,4G0 and the Government of India £01,052 per annum, or, if
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. were included in the calculation, tho totals amounted to,
Great Britain £15,597, India £71,056, contributions which did not at all fairly
represent the respective proportions of Imperial and of Indian interests in Persia
and its surroundings. Two principles might with advantage, in the opinion of
the Government of India, be borne in mind in distributing such charges between
Great Britain and India, namely, (1) either the entire charges might he added
together and divided in certain proportions between the Imperial and Indian
Exchequers, or (2j the spheres in Persia of special concern either to Her Majesty

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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 contains manuscript additions on folios 8, 11-12, 14, 42 (a sixteen word note concerning the use by the Shaikh of Koweit [Kuwait] of a distinctive colour [flag] for Kuwait shipping), and 62-66.

Extent and format
1 volume (189 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 191; 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.' [‎52v] (109/386), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/534, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100070118029.0x00006e> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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