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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.' [‎61r] (126/136)

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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application of this antiseptic treatment, whether the latter liked it or not, to the
Persian Government. It would be beyond the scope of this despatch, which
deals only with general principles, to examine the various measures for the
reorganization of the Persian finances, army and administration of justice, which
such a programme ought to include and which would undoubtedly present many
practical but not necessarily insuperable difficulties. I merely submit that the
only alternative to the continuation by the two Powers of a policy of constant
rivalry which must sooner or later precipitate an acute crisis in Persia leading
either to war or to a division into spheres of influence is an agreement between
them on the lines of the Miirzstegg understanding, having for its immediate
object the postponement by common action of such a crisis. The basis of the
agreement would be, I need hardly say, not any partition of Persian territory into
opposite spheres of influence, in which Russia could not acquiesce without
abandoning her aspirations as regards the Gulf, but a partition of influence and
control at Tehran for the purpose of arresting the further decomposition of Persia
and thus deferring her otherwise inevitable break up and as its consequence the
final cutting off of Russia, unless she is prepared to fight England for it, from
access to the shores of the Gulf and Indian seas.
I would again express the hope that in indicating my views on this important
subject, I shall not appear to have exceeded the limits of my province by
presuming to volunteer uninvited opinions with respect to larger issues lying
strictly speaking beyond it. My excuse if I have done so must be that British
officers in Persia and Central Asia are often brought into contact with cruder
and franker expressions of Russian views and aspirations than those formula
ted by the cautious and conciliatory statesmen who serve as the mouth
pieces of Russian policy in London and St. Petersburg. At the latter courts
the European, here in Asia the Tartar head and beak of the Russian double
eagle are most plainly visible, and it may not be amiss that as His Majesty’s
Representative in Persia I should, even without instructions to do so, lay before
Your Lordship what I believe to be the only principles on which an under
standing with Russia as regards our common interests in the middle east is
feasible. I would repeat that I do not regard such an understanding as by
any means easy, but I am not certain in view of recent results of the forward
policy of Russia in Manchuria and of the lesson which those results must have
taught that it need be dismissed a priori as inherently impossible.
I have the honour to be, with the highest respect,
My Lord,
Your Lordship’s most obedient, humble Servant,
ARTHUR H. HARDINGE.
The Marquess of Lansdowne, K.G.,
etc., etc, etc.
'i
G. C. Press, Simla.—No, C 403 F. D,—2-8.06.-47—B. S. W.

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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.' [‎61r] (126/136), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/535, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100083163671.0x00007f> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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