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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.' [‎53v] (111/136)

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. .

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if she ventured to make any, would be answered nruch^ as were those of
Denmark when we seized the Danish fleet to prevent its being captured by
Napoleon. In such a case the detachment of any troops from the defence of
India for operations in the interior of southern Persia would be of no advantage,
even if it were feasible, and Persia, except where parts of her territory were:
more or less temporarily occupied for its own convenience by one or other of
the hostile armies, would doubtless lapse into a condition of anarchy similar
to that which prevailed between the death of Nadir Shah and the accession of
the Kajar Dynasty, until her future status and Government were settled with*
out reference to herself by England and Russia at the peace.
The position would, however, he very different if the entry of Russian
troops into Persia were occasioned by a question arising within Persia itself,
for it may, I think, be taken for granted that if we did not, in the event of a
Russian invasion of northern Persia, do more than hold Bunder Abbas and
Seistan, Russia would take possession of all the rest of the country, at any
rate of the great cities and of the routes connecting them, and would not
evacuate it until she had reduced it, like Manchuria, to the condition of a
Russian Egypt. She might, as the price of our acquiescence in this state of
things, leave us Seistan and Bunder Abbas, and I do not see why she should
not do so, if she had all the rest of the sea-board and of Khorassan, for once*
she had made her military railways through Persia to the coast and to our
Indian frontier and had connected them wiih the existing system she would
have acquired the means of taking these places from us later on without very
great difficulty, unless of course we became, not merely as we should do hi
a geographical sense, but in respect of our military system, a regular con
tinental power.
She might not indeed need to occupy the whole or even the greater part cf
Persia. If she marched into Tabriz, Tehran and Meshed, put down the revolu
tionary movement by stem measures in those cities and reorganised the Per
sian army as Sir Evelyn Wood did that of Egypt, she might well afford to'
evacuate the country on condition that we withdrew simultaneously from
Seistan and Bunder Abbas. Persia would, however, from that moment be to 3
all intents and purposes a Russian Egypt, even if no regular Russian garrison
remained within its borders, and English influence would be as completely dead
and buried, not merely at Tehran hut throughout the length and breadth of the
land, as Erench influence has been in the Nile Yalley since the day when
Colonel Marchand hauled the tricolor down at Eashoda. It may, in fact, be
doubted whether we should not he more discredited in the eyes of the Persians
and Afghans, and throughout the Mahomedan world, if w r e abandoned Persia,
all except a few outlying points, to he dealt with by a Russian army as it
pleased, without making an Effort to assert our rights and interests in a coun
try in which we have hitherto claimed a position of at least equality, than if we
were to strike in defence of them a momentarily unsuccessful blow.
In any case the effacement of British influence in Persia, whether brought
about by our acquiescence in a temporary or permanent occupation by Russia
of the greater part of the country, including the present and ancient capitals,
would he so damaging to our prestige throughout Asia that it is worth while
considering, before we finally decide to endure it, whether we could not, besides
holding Seistan. and Bunder Abbas, occupy, in alliance with the Arabs, Bakhtia-
ris and other south Persian tribes, the corner of Souidi-Yv T est Persia, described in
Major Douglas’ memorandum, and even put a few thousand xnennnto Isfahan,
our occupation of which, as the old historical metropolis of Persia, would
balance a Russian occupation of Tehran and deprive the Russians of any excuse
for advancing further south on the pretext of preserving the Shah’s authority
in the southern portion of his kingdom. It would probably not be necessary
for us to take any military measures in the interior of Pars or of Kerman, for
the presence of a Russian force at Tehran and of a British force supported by
the Bakhtiaris at Isfahan, or within striking distance of it, would, in all likeli
hood, put an end to a revolutionary movement whose leaders would have to
12

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Content

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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English in Latin script
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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.' [‎53v] (111/136), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/535, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100083163671.0x000070> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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