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Publications, Newspaper Cuttings, Photographs and Correspondence about Persia and the Persian Gulf [255r] (510/879)
The record is made up of 1 file (436 folios). It was created in 14 Oct 1891-Sep 1911. It was written in English, French and German. 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.
Steam Navigation on the Caspian.—Mr.
Churchill, our Consul at Resht, in Northern Persia,
devotes a section of his latest trade report to tha
navigation of the Caspian. A company subsidized by
the Russian Government carries the mails. The
steamers run once a week between Astrakhan, Baku,
and Enzelli, and back to Astrakhan. A weekly service
also exists on the east coast from Astrakhan to Uzun
Ada, Chekishlar, Gez, and Meshedi Ser, touching at
two or three intermediate ports between Astrakhan
and Uzun Ada. This is, however, only during the
summer months, when the Volga is open : when that
river is frozen—between the middle of November and
the beginning of April—there is only a fortnightly
service. Besides, there is a service twice a week all
the year round from Baku to Uzun Ada, the terminus
of the Trans-Caspian Railway. Enzelli being
an open roadstead exposed to the north winds,
that blow with much force in autumn and
winter, is often difficult to land at, and it some
times happens that travellers who have caught the
fortnightly steamer at Baku have to return to that
place, having been unable to land at Enzelli, and are
obliged to spend about 10 days at Baku and make a
further attempt on the next journey. There are a
number of small coasting steamers that lie outside
Enzelli harbour—sometimes for days—waiting for
calm weather, when, if they are of very light draught J
they pass the bar and then get into the inner protected
harbour. Most of the trade between Persia and
Russia is carried on by means of these steamers. It
is said that competent Russian engineers who have
studied the bar at Enzelli report that it offers no
engineering difficulties. The bottom being mere
mud and sand, it could easily be removed by
dredging. This would enable the mail steamers
to enter the inner harbour at all seasons.
Meshedi Ser, another Persian port, situated on
the coast of Mazanderan, like Enzelli, is an open
roadstead, and still more exposed and consequently
more difficult to land at, and, moreover, the bar is
more difficult to cross. It has the advantage, how
ever, of being six easy stages for mules to Teheran.
A good deal of trade is done with Russia in this place.
It is mostly in the hands of Armenian traders. There
only remain two Persian ports of commercial import
ance where the mail steamers touch, Astara, on the
Russo-Persian frontier, and Gez, the port of Astrabad.
Astara is the port of export for the whole of North
Western Persia, Azerbaijan province in particular.
There are two towns of that name, the one being
Persian and the other Russian. The frontier is traced
by a river. Persian Astara is by far the more
important of the two, being the terminus of
the caravan route where much traffic goes on,
and numerous warehouses and caravanserais exist
for storing merchandise previous to shipping to
Russia and loading for the interior of Persia. The
road, however, like all roads in Persia, is detestable,
and, passing over high mountains, narrow defiles, and
numerous precipices, renders trade in perishable
articles somewhat precarious. Russian Astara is
merely a military frontier post. The port of Gez (or
Bander-I-Gez) is the best and only good harbour on
the Caspian coast of Persia. It is situated in the Gulf
of Astrabad. The channel to it is deep and well
buoyed by the Russian Government, who have the
military station of Ashurada, on a spit of land com-
manding the harbour. Ships of the largest size navi-
gating the Caspian are able to enter this harbour in
any weather, and at all hours of the day or night.
The harbour is quite sheltered, and can hold any num-
ber of vessels. It is far better than any the Russians
have on the east coast of the Caspian. Much trade
goes on at this place, mostly in cotton from Persia,
principally from Khorassan, and petroleum, sugar,
cotton goods, crockery, &c., imported from Russia
for consumption in the provinces of Astrabad and
Khorassan.
About this item
- Content
The file contains miscellaneous papers, mostly printed publications, newspaper cuttings and photographs, relating to Persia and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
It includes a few items of correspondence, including letters to George Nathaniel Curzon relating to the Trans-Persian Railway, and Russian influence in Persia, and handwritten notes by Curzon on topics including arms traffic in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and the Trans-Persian Railway.
The file also includes copies of printed publications relating to Persia, including: three pamphlets on Lake Urmi [Urmia] in North West Persia, by Robert Theodore Günther (two of which include duplicate copies of a map of the Lake Urmi Basin, Mss Eur F111/356, f 132); a paper entitled ‘Paper to be read before the Indian Section of the Society of Arts, Thursday, May 8th. 1902. The Past and Present Connection of England with the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . By Thomas Jewell Bennett.’; and an article from the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (Volume 5, Number 8, August 1909) entitled ‘Some Persian Folk-lore Stories concerning the Ruins of Persepolis.’ by Captain Charles Monk Gibbon, Royal Irish Fusiliers.
It includes in addition: two issues of a French pamphlet entitled Bulletin de l’Union des Associations des Anciens Élèves des Écoles Supérieures de Commerce (Reconnues par l’État) [ Bulletin of the Union of Associations of Former Students of the Higher Schools of Commerce (Recognized by the State) ], dated 20 January and 5 February 1904, which include articles by M E Peschier on the Baghdad Railway; and a German bookseller’s catalogue entitled Indica et Iranica Teilweise aus der Bibliothek von Viggo Fausböll Professor der indischen Sprachen an der Universität Kopenhagen I. Literaturen und Sprachen Indiens und Persiens [ Indica et Iranica Partially from the Library of Viggo Fausboll Professor of Indian Languages at the University of Copenhagen. Literatures and Languages of India and Persia ].
Folios to 250 to 370 of the file mostly consist of cuttings relating to Persia and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. from various newspapers and other publications, including: The Times , The Morning Post , The Spectator , The Civil & Military Gazette , The Times of India , and The Standard . The cuttings concern topics including: British interests in Persia; the Russian influence in Persia, including the Persian Government signing a concession to a Russian company for the construction of a cart-road between Kazvin, Resht and Enzeli, and Anglo-Russian rivalry in trade with Persia; the cholera epidemic in Persia; and the events of the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1905-11.
Folios 386 to 433 of the file consist of black and white photographs, including:
- Three photographs in an envelope entitled ‘Photos of Koweit [Kuwait]’, of Mabarak-bin-Subah [Shaikh Mubārak bin Ṣabāḥ Āl Ṣabāḥ], Shaikh of Kuwait, and his youngest son Naser (f 387), the foreshore of Koweit (f 388), and the residence of the Shaikh of Koweit (f 389)
- Two photographs in an envelope labelled ‘Photos by Parkin (assistant at Brit[ish] Resid[ency] Bushire / of Koweit Muscat. Bushire. Sent to me by Col[onel] Meade. April 1899.’ of Seyed Faisal bin Turki [Sayyid Fayṣal bin Turkī Āl Bū Sa‘īd], Sultan of Muscat (f 392), and Seyed Mohamed bin Turki, half-brother of the Sultan of Muscat (f 391)
- A set of photographs of the following: the South entrance of the Governor’s house, Bushire (f 395); the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. and British Consulate, Muskat [Muscat] (f 396); the watch tower on Samana (f 397); Major and Mrs Leigh in Camp in Samana (f 398); Major and Mrs Leigh and Lieutenant Creagh [possibly George Washington Brazier-Creagh] at Mastar [Māster, Persia] (f 399); entrance of Muskat Harbour (f 400); town of Muskat from the harbour (f 401); Fort Jelali, Muskat (f 402); Fort Mahrani [Fort Al-Mirani], Muscat (f 403); and the British Vice Consulate at Mohamerah [Khorramshahr] (f 404)
- Printed images of the following: the British Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , Manamah, Bahrain (f 407); Shaikh Khaz’ al of Muhammareh [Shaikh Khaz‘al bin Jābir bin Mirdāw al-Ka‘bī] (f 408); the view at Haz’-adh-Dhabi, Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. (f 409); salt rocks on Qishm Island near Namakdan (f 410); the Hindiyan River near Zaidan (f 411); a parade of British and Persian troops at Rishehr, 1905 (f 412); two views of Muhammerah Town (f 413); a creek near Basrah [Basra] from the Shatt-al-’Arab (f 414); a crowd at Ras-al-Khaimah (f 415); the Foreshore, Kuwait (f 416); the Hanaini well, Bahrain Island (f 417); ancient tumuli, Bahrain Island (f 418); Kumzar (f 419); Lingeh (f 420); the Tis Valley in Persian Makran (f 421); the West end of Masqat Town [Muscat Town] with the Sultan’s Palace and Fort Mirani (f 422); and the Eastern end of Masqat Town, with the British Consulate on the left, and the Sultan’s palace on the right (f 423).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (436 folios)
- Arrangement
The folios from folio 4 to folio 251 are arranged in rough chronological order. The newspaper cuttings are mostly between folios 249 and 359, and the photographs are at the rear of the file (folios 386 to 433).
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 436; 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.
- Written in
- English, French and German in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F111/356
- Title
- Publications, Newspaper Cuttings, Photographs and Correspondence about Persia and the Persian Gulf
- Pages
- 251r:251v, 253r:253v:264v, 269r:269v, 271r:271v, 275r:276v, 298r:298v, 316r:316v, 322r:322v, 330r:330v, 343r:345v, 348r:349v, 353r:354v, 356r:360v
- Author
- Unknown
- Usage terms
- Public Domain