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‘Bagdad Ry’ [‎21r] (41/129)

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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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7
*
II
APPENDIX.
History of the Baghdad Railway Scheme to the end of 1901.
The first attempt to open up Asia Minor from Constantinople by railways
was made in 1871, when the Turkish Government constructed a line from
Haidar Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. to the head of Ismid Bay, on the Asiatic shore of the Sea of
Marmora.
This line was leased in 1880 to a British Company on a twenty years'
lease, the Turkish Government reserving to itself the right of determining the
lease at any moment, subject to the payment of compensation. In 1888 two
Imperial Iradds were issued, the first conveying to the nominee of the Deutsche
Bank the right of working this line, and the second granting a ninety-nine
years' concession for the extension of the line to Angora, with a kilometric
guarantee by the Turkish Government of 10,300 fr. for the original line and
15,000 fr. for the extension.
The extension to Angora was completed in 1892.
At this time the only two other railway lines of any importance in Asia
Minor were the English Smyrna-Aidin Bailway, for which a concession had
been granted in 1856, and the Smyrna-Kassaba Railway, which was also at
that time in the hands of an English Company, under a concession granted in
1863.
In 1893 another Imperial Irade granted to the German Company two
further concessions, one for the construction of a branch line from Eski-Shehir
to Konia, and another for the extension of the Angora line to Kaisarieh, with
the right to prolong it eventually through Sivas to Diarbekr and down through
the valley of the Tigris to Baghdad.
The latter concession was abandoned, obstensibly because a careful survey
of the country between Angora and Kaisarieh revealed physical difficulties
which would render the cost of construction prohibitive, but really, it is believed,
in deference to Russian opposition to the scheme.
In 1893 the Turkish Government bought back the Smyrna-Kassaba Rail
way from the English Company, and immediately transferred it to a French
Company, which extended the line to Afium Kara Hissar. The German line
to Konia, which was completed in 1896, passes through this place, and, had
the French line been allowed to make a junction with it, much of the traffic
of the latter line would have been deflected to Smyrna.
The Ottoman Company of the Anatolian Railways, supported by the
Turkish Government, however, refused to allow this junction to be made, and
eventually the French line was forced to accept the terms offered by the
German Company, and passed practically under the control of the Anatolian
Rail wav Company. No sooner was this arrangement effected than the Porte
reversed its former decision and allowed the junction to be made.
The British Smyrna-Aidin Railway is now the only one in Asia Minor
which remains outside the control of the Anatolian Railway Company. German
influence at Constantinople has successfully defeated all the efforts of the
former Company to penetrate further into the interior of Asia Minor, although
no kilometric guarantee from the Turkish Government was asked for.
In 1899 the Porte formally conceded to the German Anatolian Company
the right to extend their railway to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. from Konia, instead of
by Sivas and Diarbekr, as originally arranged under the concession of 1893;
and on the 16th January 1902, an Imperial trade was issued, approving the
final Convention. As a counterpoise to the development of German enterprise

About this item

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’ [‎21r] (41/129), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/360, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100074887171.0x00002a> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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