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Papers of the Interdepartmental Conference on Middle Eastern Affairs [79r] (157/290)
The record is made up of 1 file (145 folios). It was created in 7 Jan 1919-7 Dec 1920. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
iM a. ZuL
[This Docmnent is the Property of His Bmanms Majesty s Govermnpn^ ]
Printed for the Foreign Office. July ]919.
SECRET.
I.D.C.E., 24th Minutes.
FOREIGN OFFICE.
INTER-DEPARTMENTAL CONFERENCE ON MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS.
Minuted of Meeting held at the Foreign Office on Tuesday, July 1, 1919,
at 3 p.m.
Present :
The Right Hon. the Earl Curzon of Kedleston, K.G.. G.C.S.L, G.C.I.E
{in the
The Right Hon. E. S. Montagu, M.P.,
Secretary of State for India,
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.
.
Lieutenant-General Sir H. V. Cox, K.C.13.,
K.C.M.G., C.S.I.,
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.
.
Sir Arthur Hirtzel, K.C.B.,
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.
.
Mr. L. D. Wakeley,
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.
.
Brigadier-General W. M. St. G. Kirke,
C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., War Office.
Major L. R. Hill, War Office.
Chair).
Brigadier-General W. H. Bartholomew,
C.M.G., D.S.O., War Office.
Captain C. P. R. Coode, D.S.O., Admiralty.
Mr. S. H. Wright, Treasury.
Mr. H. M. Knatchbull-Hugessen, Foreign
Office.
Mr. W. H. Selby, Foreign Office.
Mr. W. G. Max Muller, C.B., M.V.O.,
Foreign Office.
C5
Major H. W. Young, D.S.O. (Secretary).
Meshed Mission.
1. The Chairman said that since the last meeting, at which it had
been decided that General Malleson was to hold Meshed as long as
possible, there Had been correspondence between London, Teheran,
and India, as to the line by which he should retire should it become
necessary for him to do so. The alternatives were either that he
should retire south to Kain, which was on his existing line of com
munications to Duzdap, or that he should retire westward through
Shahrud to Astrabad, or possibly to Teheran itself.
General Kirke said that, from a military point of view, it was
physically impossible for General Malleson’s force to be supported by
the General Officer Commanding, Mesopotamia, if he retired to the
'west. It was 560 miles from Meshed to Teheran, which was 460
miles from Mesopotamian railhead; the roads were very bad and
there was no transport available. It was only 550 miles from
Meshed to Duzdap, and a line of communications was already
established in this direction. It was possible that Sir Percy Cox
might, as a last resort, be able to organise local transport for
General Malleson’s force, whose total strength did not greatly exceed
2,000, but it was not specially desirable, from a military point of
view, that this course should be adopted.
[113]
About this item
- Content
This file is composed of papers produced by the Foreign Office's Interdepartmental Conference on Middle Eastern Affairs. It consists entirely of printed minutes of meetings of the conference, most of which are chaired by George Curzon.
Those attending include senior representatives of the Foreign Office, the 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. (most notably the Secretary of State for India), the War Office, the Admiralty, the Air Ministry, and the Treasury (including the Chancellor of the Exchequer). Other notable figures attending include Harry St John Bridger Philby and Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell.
The meetings concern British policy in the Middle East, and mainly cover the following geographical areas: Mesopotamia, Kurdistan, Trans-Caspia, Trans-Caucasia, the Caspian Sea, Palestine, Persia, Hejaz, and Afghanistan. Some of the meetings also touch on matters beyond the Middle East (e.g. wireless telegraphy in Tibet, ff 79-80).
Recurring topics of discussion include railways (chiefly in relation to Mesopotamia), Bolshevik influence in the Middle East (particularly in Persia and Trans-Caspia), and relations between King Hussein [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī] and Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd].
Several sets of minutes also contain related memoranda as appendices.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (145 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 145, 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 in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Papers of the Interdepartmental Conference on Middle Eastern Affairs [79r] (157/290), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/275, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100070539234.0x00009e> [accessed 9 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F112/275
- Title
- Papers of the Interdepartmental Conference on Middle Eastern Affairs
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:144v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence