'PRINCIPAL DESPATCHES AND CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO PERSIA CONNECTED WITH THE SUMMARY OF EVENTS AND MEASURES OF VICEROYALTY OF HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON OF KEDDLESTON IN THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT. JANUARY 1899 TO NOVEMBER 1905. VOLUME IV-PART IV. PERSIA.' [42v] (89/136)
The record is made up of 1 volume (64 folios). It was created in 1908. 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.
4. It does not perhaps behove ns to comment at any length upon the
several propositions which have been laid down by Your Lordship. We are
ourselves far from admitting that the position gained by Russia on land
enables her as yet “ to dominate and threaten almost the whole of Persia
We think that the extent to which she is permitted to do so still depends even
more upon the action of Her Majesty’s Government than it does upon her own.
Neither do we recognise any reflection of our own views or utterances in the
remark that “ it can hardly be maintained that, in view of foreign competition,
civilised Powers can be permanently denied the benefit of access to the ports of
Persia, because their admission will infringe upon a monopoly which we have
hitherto enjoyed”. If the reference is to access by sea, clearly such approach
never has been or would ever be likely to be denied by Great Britain. If the
reference is to access by land, we have never said anything to deprecate the con
nection of the Persian ports by railway with the interior, and the free use of such
ports by the subjects or merchandise of foreign Powers. What we have all along
deprecated and must continue to deprecate is that any such railways—leading
to ports within a sphere in which British interests are unquestionably predomi
nant, and in which it cannot be alleged that any other foreign Power possesses
any interest comparable with our own—should be constructed as the instruments
of political or military ambition, and should terminate in maritime exits,
which might before long be converted into the coaling stations or the naval
bases of foreign fleets. We have no objection whatever to the construction of
railways in the south or in any other part of Persia, though we entertain the
liveliest doubt as to whether in a country so backward and so mountainous they
would ever repay the expense of construction. All that we maintain is that,
if Persia decides to construct railways in the South, she should not do so
except with our consent, and, if possible, with our co-operation; and that the
so-called development of the country should not be made an excuse for open
and flagrant detriment to British interests.
5. We rejoice to think that on this point we share the views that are
apparently held by Her Majesty’s Government. At least this is the inference
that we draw from the intimation that was authorised by the Marquess of
Salisbury to the Persian Government on the 4th April last, in which the
present Shah was reminded of the promise of his father, the late Shah, “ that
no southern railway concession shall be granted to any foreign company with
out consultation with Her Majesty’s Government We confess, however, to
a doubt whether the general character or the particular terms of this pledge
are such as altogether to preclude the Persian Government from entering
into engagements, even with regard to railway matters in Southern Persia,
with a foreign Power or Powers, which might violate the spirit, even while
observing the letter of the late Shah’s promise, and which might be
extremely injurious to the interests which it is our duty to defend. We
are fortified in this view by the fact that, in the few months that have elapsed
since the present Shah was reminded of this promise, parties of Russian
Engineers, with Persian passports, Persian escorts, and Persian official encourage
ment, have been openly travelling about Southern Persia, inspecting and
surveying the lines of possible railways, and concluding their studies by a close
investigation of the character and capabilities of the terminal ports on the Persian
Gulf. These proceedings appear to us to reflect no small suspicion upon
the attitude of the Persian Government, and do not encourage us to look
with great hopefulness to the future.
6. We are also gratified to hear that the Persian Government has been
reminded, both of another written engagement, entered into bv the late Shah, to
the effect that “ the customs of Southern Persia shall never be placed under
foreign supervision and control ”, and of Lord Salisbury’s intimation of April
1899, that “it would not be compatible with the interests of the British Empire
that any European Power should exercise control or jurisdiction over the ports
of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
”. The value of these guarantees appears to us to depend
entirely upon the manner in which they continue to be interpreted by the Persian
and to be defended by Her Majesty’s, Government. If faithfully observed and
About this item
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Published by Superintendent Government Printing, India, Calcutta.
The volume consists of a draft Part IV to the Summary of the Principal Events and Measures of the Viceroyalty of His Excellency Lord Curzon of Keddleston, 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 The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Parts I-III), published by GC [Government Central] Press, Simla, 1907 [Mss Eur F111/531-534].
The volume includes a letter from the Foreign Department, Government of India, to Lord Curzon, dated 27 August 1908, stating that an examination of their records had shown that these were the essential despatches, and hoping that the volume would answer Lord Curzon's purpose.
The despatches and correspondence cover the period 1899-1905, and include correspondence from the Secretary of State for India, and HBM's Minister at Tehran, and cover the question of the appointment of an additional consular officer in Persia, 1899 (with map); relations between Britain and Persia; the protection of British interests in Persia; British policy on Persia; the political and financial situation in Persia; and the threat of Russian encroachment.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (64 folios)
- Arrangement
The despatches and correspondence are arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the volume. There is a list of contents on folio 6, giving details of name and date of paper, subject, and page number.
- 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 66; 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 volume also contains an original manuscript pagination sequence.
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'PRINCIPAL DESPATCHES AND CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO PERSIA CONNECTED WITH THE SUMMARY OF EVENTS AND MEASURES OF VICEROYALTY OF HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON OF KEDDLESTON IN THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT. JANUARY 1899 TO NOVEMBER 1905. VOLUME IV-PART IV. PERSIA.' [42v] (89/136), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/535, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100083163671.0x00005a> [accessed 17 April 2024]
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- Reference
- Mss Eur F111/535
- Title
- 'PRINCIPAL DESPATCHES AND CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO PERSIA CONNECTED WITH THE SUMMARY OF EVENTS AND MEASURES OF VICEROYALTY OF HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON OF KEDDLESTON IN THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT. JANUARY 1899 TO NOVEMBER 1905. VOLUME IV-PART IV. PERSIA.'
- Pages
- 2r:65v
- Author
- Curzon, George Nathaniel, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
- Copyright
- ©The British Library Board
- Usage terms
- Creative Commons Attribution Licence