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‘Confidential. Persia’ [516r] (81/112)
The record is made up of 1 file (56 folios). It was created in c 1904. 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.
Britain would create a very unfavourable
impression, but since that date the Russians
had been using increasing pressure at
Tehran to secure his removal, and the
Mushir-ed*Dowleh himself informed Mr.
Grant Duff that it was the intention of the
Persian Government to deprive him of the
Governorship of Seistan as soon as Colonel
McMahon’s mission left the country.
His Britannic Majesty’s Consul at
Seistan and Colonel McMahon repeatedly
urged that British influence should be
exerted to prevent his dismissal, which
directly following the departure of the
mission would be an unquestioned Russian
victory and regarded as a symptom of
immediate reaction. The Government of
India concurred in this view and Mr.
E. M. Grant Duff, His Majesty’s Chargd
d’Affaires at Tehran, was directed by Lord
Lansdowne to bring the matter to the
notice of the Mushir-ed-Dowleh. This he
did as reported by him in the following
telegram :—
E. M. Grant Duff, Esq., Tehran, to Foeeign,
Simla.
19th November 1903.
(Telegram No. 152.)
“ Hashmat-ul-Mulk, Please refer to your tele
gram No. 106, dated the 1 Rth November. I saw
the Mushir-ed-Dowleh to*day, aud informed him
that His Majesty’s Government had recently gone
to great expense to arrange the Persian difficulties
with the Afghans in Seistan, and were entitled to
special consideration in that district, in view of a
position which is shared by no other power; that
His Majesty’s Government could not acquiesce in
the dismissal of Hashmat j and that, until an as
surance was given that the status quo would be
maintained, His Majesty’s Government would find
it difficult to withdraw the Commission. I added
that, in the opinion of His Majesty’s Government,
so violent a disturbance of the status quo, as the
removal of the hereditary Governor of Seistan,
would require a justification which does not exist
at present.
“ The Mushir-ed-Dowleh said that he could not
give a verbal message to the above effect to the
Shah, and that if His Majesty’s Government insist
on their views coming to the knowledge of His
Majesty, a formal note must be addressed to him.
As a friend, and speaking unofficially, he earnestly
hoped that His Majesty’s Government would
reconsider the matter. The Shah was already sus
picious of the movements of the British in Seistan,
and would be confirmed in his suspicions. His
Excellency presumed that His Majesty’s Govern
ment wished for order in Seistan, and he regretted
they should wish to hamper His Majesty in the
selection of Governors in his own kingdom. If
Hashmat was retained, the Shah would be sus
picious of his loyalty, and would deprive him of
power by supporting subordinate officials in
Seistan.”
On receipt of this telegram the Viceroy
and Sir A. Hardinge concurred in thinking
that the representations of His Majesty’s
Government should certainly be put in
writing and communicated to the Mushir-
ed-Dowleh. Instructions accordingly were
About this item
- Content
This part consists of a printed summary of British policy regarding Persia, from 1834 to 1904, featuring extracts from Foreign Office correspondence. Also included are extracts from speeches given in the House of Commons by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs respectively, as published in The Times .
The summary is divided into sections. The contents page includes an introductory statement and a table of contents, which lists the sections as follows:
(1) The integrity of Persia
(2) Railways, tramways, roads, telegraphs in Southern Persia
(3) The customs of Southern Persia
(4) Seistan
(5) British interests in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
(6) The Sheikh of Mohammerah
(7) The new Persian tariff
(8) The acquisition by Russia of a Naval Station on the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
There is a handwritten note on the front of the document which states ‘This is not final copy’.
Notable correspondents include the following: the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; the British Minister at Tehran (Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, succeeded by Arthur Henry Hardinge); HM Chargé d'Affaires to Tehran (Robert Charles Kennedy; Cecil Arthur Spring Rice); HM Ambassador to Russia, St Petersburg (Sir Charles Stewart Scott); the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs (Count Karl Robert Nesselrode); the Shah of Persia, Nassir-ud-Din (Nasser Al-Din Shah Qajar); the Mushir-ed-Dowleh of Persia (Prime Minister to the Shah); the Russian Ambassador to London (Count Alexander Konstantinovich Benckendorff).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (56 folios)
- Arrangement
The document is paginated and in page number order, and is arranged into sections on particular subjects.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F111/359/2
- Title
- ‘Confidential. Persia’
- Pages
- 476r:484v, 487v, 489r, 490v, 492r, 493r:494v, 495v:496r, 497r, 498r, 499r:501v, 502v:503r, 504v:505v, 507r:509v, 511r:514v, 515v:518r, 519v:520r, 522r:524r, 525r:527r, 528r:531v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence