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Letters and Papers Concerning the Trans-Persian Railway and Other Railways in Persia [‎25r] (49/442)

The record is made up of 1 file (221 folios). It was created in Nov 1911-Mar 1917. 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

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This would he strategically important to Indian
defence as it would afford a means of bringing troops on the
flank of a Russian advance towards India on the Herat-
Kandahar line,
A railway also could be made without much
difficulty from Bunder Abbas to Shiraz through Lar and
Jahrum, This line would avoid the great difficulty of
the ascent from the coast to the interior plateau as it
avoids the principal ranges and has been reported as quite
easy*,'
This line might be continued from Shiraz following
the caravan route to Ispahan,
And further to complete the connection with the
line already proposed to Burujird a continuation could be
made from Ispahan to Burujird along an open undulating
country* by an easy route passing many villages.
It has also been suggested that the trace of the
line should run from Bunder Abbas through Kerman and Yezd to
Ispahan, but there are several important objections which
may be urged against this.
In
*R.Geographical Journal Yol. XXXI p.168. A journey from
Bunder Abbas to Shiraz by Lieut. A.Wilson, 32nd Sikhs. He
states that ’’between Bunder Abbas & Shiraz the road traverses
valley after valley crossing from one to the other by a
series of low saddles which would offer very little difficulty
to an engineer. A good carriage road could be constructed
very cheaply; whether it would pay as a commercial
speculation is a point for experts to determine. The opinion
of the writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. is that it would not pay, although a railway
very possibly would do so.”
*See Journal R.Geographical Society - The Bakhtiari Hills by
Lieut.Col. H.A.Sawyer & Reconnaissance Survey 1890 - 8 miles
to an inch.

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Content

The file contains correspondence, memoranda, and other papers relating to railway projects in Persia [Iran] and the surrounding region. The papers deal with the proposals for, planning, and progress of, several railway lines, including one from the Mediterranean to India, the Trans-Persian Railway, the Baghdad Railway, and the Nushki and Dalbandin extension from Quetta. The documents discuss the merits and flaws of the proposals, technical issues such as gauge sizes, and the impact of such projects on Britain's relations with Russia, Germany, France, and Turkey.

At the back of the file are a number of official reports on Parliamentary debates within the House of Commons, dating from 10 July 1912 to 25 May 1914, all of which feature railways (folios 128-218). Also at the rear of the file are three maps:

  • General Map of Asia with proposed British, German, and Russian rail lines added by hand
  • War Office map of the Middle East, showing railways and railway projects
  • As above with further rail lines added and details of gauges given.

Correspondents include: Arthur Campbell Yate, army Officer; Henry McNiel; Francis Richard Maunsell, army officer; George Lloyd, politician; Lieutenant-Colonel Charles à Court Repington, army officer and war correspondent; Lord Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, Leader of the House of Lords; Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice (Lord Lansdowne), statesman; Lucien Wolf, journalist and historian; Charles Staniforth, businessman and railway investor; Charles Prestwich Scott, Editor of the Manchester Guardian; Hugh Shakespear Barnes, Director, Imperial Bank of Persia; and Colonel Frank Cooke Webb Ware, former Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Chagai.

Extent and format
1 file (221 folios)
Arrangement

The file is arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 221; 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
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Letters and Papers Concerning the Trans-Persian Railway and Other Railways in Persia [‎25r] (49/442), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/252, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100075113115.0x000032> [accessed 13 June 2026]

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