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‘Bagdad Ry’ [‎4r] (7/129)

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The record is made up of 1 file (64 folios). It was created in 15 Apr 1899-9 Sep 1905. 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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[This Document is the Praperty of Hie Britannic Majesty’s Government]
PERSIA AND ARABIA.
[August 21.j
CONFIDENTIAL.
Section i.
No. 1.
The Marquess of Lansdowne to Mr. des Graz.
(No. 77. Confidential.)
Sir, Foreign Office, August 21, 1902,
I HAD the honour of being received by His Imperial Majesty the Shah at
Marlborough House this morning. His Highness the Atabeg-i-Azam was present
throughout the conversation.
His Imperial Majesty began by a pleasing reference to the visit which he had
paid to the King at Portsmouth yesterday, and to the cordiality of his reception. He
expressed his earnest desire that the relations between Persia and Great Britain should
continue to be of the most friendly character. I assured His Imperial Majesty that
this feeling was reciprocated here, and that the new Prime Minister, Mr. Balfour, was
personally anxious that the traditional friendship of this country for Persia should be
maintained.
His Imperial Majesty observed that, in his opinion, we were in the habit of
attaching too much importance to mere rumours repeated to us by our Agents, and
that we allowed such rumours to affect our attitude towards his Government. I
replied that we fully realized the necessity of accepting all such rumours with reserve.
We were, however, sometimes placed in a difficulty owing to the fact that statements
were telegraphed from Persia and were repeated both in the public press and in
Parliament, which we were not always able to deal with or to refute. I therefore
attached the greater importance to our being in a position to speak confidently as to
the attitude and intentions of the Persian Government. I mentioned, as a case in
point, the information which reached us with regard to the new Persian Tariff, and I
expressed to His Imperial Majesty my satisfaction at the assurance which had been
given me on the ISth instant by his Highness the Atabeg-i-Azam, from whom I had
learned that before the revised duties were finally approved, we should be given a full
opportunity of discussing with the Persian Government the manner in which the new
Tariff w T ould affect our commerce. His Imperial Majesty observed that wo were
treating him somewffiat unkindly in regard to the tariff question. e did not realize
that it was absolutely necessary for him to add to the resources ol his Government,
and that for this reason he had no choice but to increase the duties.
I begged His Imperial Majesty to understand that we readily admitted that in
such a case an increase of the Customs Tariff was a natural step to take. M c had,
ourselves, lately found it necessary to increase taxation of this kind. All that we
desired Tvas that the new Tariff should not in effect discriminate against us. His
Majesty observed that if his duties were adjusted so as to meet the convenience of any
particular Power, that would be “favouritism, and w’ould pro>oke legitimate com
plaint. I assured His Imperial Majesty that we did not desire any special favour but
merely practical equality, and I asked permission to reserve wdiat I had to say on this
point for discussion with the Atabeg. •
His Imperial Majesty then asked me whether he was to understand that His
Majesty’s Government desired to recognize the independence of Persia. I said
that the recognition of the independence of Persia had always been a cardinal
point in our policy. We adhered as strongly as ever to that policy, which we had
repeatedly affirmed. Our special concern was, of course, with the southein paif
of Persia and with the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and we should, if occasion arose, put foith
the w T hole of our strength in order to prevent encroachments by other Powers in
these regions.
At the close of the conversation His Imperial Majesty remarked that, as \ve
were in the habit of appointing British “ Consuls ” on the Persian frontier in districts
where British officers had not hitherto been employed, it was necessary that such
[2123 x—l]

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Content

The file contains correspondence, reports and memoranda relating to the Baghdad Railway, and papers relating to Britain’s relations with Persia [Iran], and to a lesser extent, the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .

Papers relating to the Baghdad Railway include the following memoranda: ‘Memorandum on the Baghdad Railway, and possible British participation therein’; ‘Memoranda containing a Brief Account of the Negotiations relating to the Baghdad Railway, 1898-1905’; and ‘Report (with Maps) on the country adjacent to the Khor Abdullah, and places suitable as Termini of the proposed Baghdad Railway’ (which includes two maps: Mss Eur F111/360, f 32 and Mss Eur F111/360, f 33).

The file also includes:

  • Copies of printed despatches from the Marquess of Lansdowne (Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice), Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, to Sir Charles Louis des Graz, Secretary of the British Legation, Tehran, dated August 1902, reporting conversations between himself and the Shah of Persia and the Atabeg-i-Azam (also spelled Atabek-i-Azam) concerning Britain’s relations with Persia, including the increase in the Persian Customs Tariff
  • Handwritten notes by George Nathaniel Curzon relating to Persia (folios 43 to 50)
  • Newspaper extracts from The Times , dated January 1902 and May 1903, relating to British interests in Persia and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and Russian relations with Persia (folios 54 to 63).

The file includes a copy of a letter from Sir Nicholas Roderick O’Conor, British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, to the Marquess of Lansdowne, enclosing an extract from the Moniteur Oriental of 15 August 1905, regarding the working of the recently completed section of the Baghdad Railway from Konia to Eregli and Boulgourlou, which is in French. The file also includes a copy of a letter from Joseph Naus to Sir Arthur Hardinge, HM Minister to Persia, 3 May 1903, relating to the export of cereals, which is also in French.

Extent and format
1 file (64 folios)
Arrangement

The papers from folios 1 to 42 are arranged in no apparent order, Curzon’s handwritten notes from folios 44 to 51 are enclosed in an envelope - folio 43, and the newspaper cuttings from folios 54 to 63 are enclosed in an envelope - folio 52.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 64; 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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‘Bagdad Ry’ [‎4r] (7/129), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/360, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100074887171.0x000008> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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