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'Situation in Persia, Vol. I' [‎17r] (34/353)

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The record is made up of 1 item (174 folios). It was created in 20 Sep 1917-19 Mar 1918. 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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would thus find it possible to operute from the line Hamadan-
Sultanahad-Isfahan^from which routes converge on the capital.
5 . The General Staff are aware that Sir Charles
Marling has been asked to give his opinion as to the
advisability of sending some of the Persian Rifles to
Isfahan and that the Foreign Office have deprecated the
despatch of a stiffening of Indian troops with such a force,
can this be avoided. They wish to point out in the most
emphatic manner that in their opinion the despatch of South
Persian Rifles alone is useless, as such a force would
disappear like dust before the wind in face of the opposition
which it would be sure to encounter from the Bakhtiari and
Persian Cossack elements in Isfahan, and the creation of a
new Persian Rifle Brigade would be impossible.
6 . In view of the danger of delay, and of the fact
that a week has already elapsed- since the Commander-in-Chief
in India wired that immediate orders were required if the
move to Isfahan was to be carried out, (owing to the
necessity of troops arriving in Bandar Abbas in March), the
General Staff urge that they may be empowered to instruct
the Commander-in-Chief in India to take action at once in
the sense of his telegram ITo.18539 of the 8 th March.
7. A telegram No.G.Z.4 dated March 14th from General
Punsterville at Ramadan which has just been received shows
how rapidly the situation in Northern Persia is developing.
A copy of this memorandum has been sent to the
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. .
General Staff,
War Office.
15th March, 1918.

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Content

This item contains material relating to a review of conditions in Persia [Iran], following the revelation of Turkish plans to invade Persia in order to reach Afghanistan, which would in turn have threatened the British Empire in India. It includes:

  • The policies to secure the cooperation of the Persian Government, as well as Isma’il Khan Qashqa’i Sawlat al-Dawlah, Ibrahim Khan Qavam al-Mulk Shirazi, and ‘Abd al-Husayn Mirza Farmanfarma
  • The proposals to secure the recognition of the South Persia Rifles by the Persian Government
  • The receipt and dissemination of intelligence about Persia relayed to Britain and India
  • The maintenance of communications with the Caucasus through the Kermanshah-Enzeli [Anzali] Road
  • The capture of Prince Sulayman Mirza Iskandari of the Firqah-yi Democrat [Democratic Party]
  • The prevention of Ottoman and German intelligence operatives from crossing into western Persia
  • The resignation of the Commander of the Persian Cossack Brigade, Colonel Georgii Josifovich Klerzhe
  • A message from Mirza Kuchak Khan's Jangali Movement that the passage of British officers led by General Lionel Dunsterville through Persia to Tiflis [Tblisi] would be 'contrary to the independence of Persia, [and] they will consider themselves justified in taking any measures to frustrate it'
  • The protection of the Kermanshah-Hamadan and Shiraz-Isfahan roads and the British Legation in Tehran
  • The circulation of anti-British Jangali telegrams condemning the arrest of Sulayman Mirza Iskandari
  • The threat of a combined force of Jangalis and Bolsheviks reportedly marching on Kasvin [Qazvin]
  • The provision of support to General Dunsterville through seizing the Qasr-i Shirin-Kermanshah Road
  • The discussion of 'sweep operations' between Mirza Kuchak Khan and the Anzali Bolshevik Committee
  • The consultations between Commander-in-Chief, India and the head of the South Persia Rifles, Sir Percy Molesworth Sykes
  • The plans for controlling the road extending from the Ottoman frontier to Northeast Persia
  • The zone of operations allocated to the Commander-in-Chief of British forces in Mesopotamia, General William Raine Marshall, and his relations with the British Minister at Tehran, Charles Marling
  • The position and action to be taken by General Dunsterville after General Marshall's operations
  • And the proposal of Sykes (relayed by Commander-in-Chief, India General Charles Carmichael Monro) for Indian troops to advance to Isfahan, where they were to form an additional brigade of the South Persia Rifles.

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1 item (174 folios)
Written in
English in Latin script
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'Situation in Persia, Vol. I' [‎17r] (34/353), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/5/803, ff 1-174, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100118971945.0x000023> [accessed 29 August 2026]

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