"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٤‎٠‎٧] (١٧٨٢/١٥٦٢)

140?
Special British Indian interests in Turkish 'Iraq, 1839-61.
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The scheme of establishing rapid communication between Europe and
India by means of British steamers on the Euphrates having been aban
doned, its place was taken by a project for a railway to be constructed
under British auspices from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf.
This* project was first propounded in March 1856 by Mr. W. P. Andrew,
formerly an official in the Indian Post Office, who had made a special
study of railway questions in India and the Middle East; and his pro
posals were supported by the Court of Directors of the Hon'ble East
India Company. A company was formed, with Mr. Andrew as Chairman,
for the execution of his scheme ; a concession was, by the diplomatic
good offices of Her Majesty^s Government, obtained on their behalf
from the Porte j General F. R. Chesney^ the leader of the Euphrates and
Tigris expedition of 1834-36, was appointed the Company^s Com
missioner at Constantinople ; Sir John Macneill, an eminent railway
expert of the day, became their Engineer-in-Chief; His Majesty's
Ship, " Stromboli" was placed at the disposal of General Chesney
and Sir J. Macneill; the harbours of Aleppo and Suwaidiyah were
examined; and a survey was made of the route from Suwaidiyah to
Aleppo, besides a reconnaissance of that from Aleppo to Maskanah on
the Euphrates. The scheme was favourably regarded by Lord Stratford
de Redcliffe, His Britannic Majesty^s Ambassador at Constantinople,
and by Lord Clarendon, then Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
On the 22nd June 1857 "a deputation in favour of the British
Government granting pecuniary support to the Euphrates Valley Rail
way " had an interview with Lord Palmerston, the Prime Minister ; it
was headed by Lord Shaftesbury and Mr. Andrew; and it included
many distiaguished members of both Houses of Parliament as well as
specialists such as General Chesney and his former assistant Mr. W.
Ainsworth, General Sir Fen wick Williams, the defender of Qars, Sir
Justin Sheil, formerly His Britannic Majesty's Minister at Tehran,
* Mr. Andrew's project was preceded by another and more ambitious one which
owed its existence to Sir Macdorald Stephenson and came into being, originally, about
184C. It contemplated, in its earlier form, continuous railway communication between
the West and India Wa Constantinople, Asia Minor, Aleppo, the Euphrates Valley,
Bisrah, Bandar 'Abbfts and Karachi ; in its later form the line was intended to run,
beyond Zharput, by Tabriz, Tehran, Mashhad, Herat and Qandahar into Sind. No
guarantee was sought on behalf of this scheme, which continued in esistence until
1879 at least; buc it does not seem to have advanced much beyond the academic stage.
Proposed
British Eu
phrates
Valley Rail
way from
the Medi
terranean
to the Per
sian Gulf,
1856-57.
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