File 1187/1914 Pt 2 ‘Persia – Policy. British Interests in the South. Russian Policy’ [234r] (215/300)
The record is made up of 1 item (149 folios). It was created in 2 Jul 1914-18 Jun 1915. 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
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Pat away with
CONFIDENTIAL.
No. Cf.-ii5, dated Bushire, the 12th (received 22jid) August
F rom MAJOR S. G. Knox, C.I.E., Officiating
Political Resident
A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency.
in the Persian
Gulf,
jo The Foreign Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign and
Political Department, Simla.
l have the honour to forward, for the information of the Government of
NO. C»p-.-46. dated sod Hr, from Hi, India, a copy of the marginally cited des-
Majetcy’s Vice-Consul, AhwaZ, (Camp Ispahan) to
His Majesty’s M nister, Tehran.
Lynch Road.
^ J V * VUV* ’7
patch, received from His Majesty's Vice-
Consul, Ahwaz, on the subject of the
Camp No. 1-46, dated 2nd July 1914.
From—Captain J. RANKING, I. A., His Brittanic Majesty’s Vice-Consul and
Assistant Resident, Ahwaz,
To— His Excellency Sir Walter, Townley, K C.M.G., His Majesty’s Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of His Imperial
Majesty the Shah of Persia, Tehran.
I have the honour to address Your Excellency on the subject of the Lynch
Road. I had intended to submit this report directly on arrival in Ispahan, but
have been prevented by more pressing work.
The subject resolves itself into several heads, which I will deal with sertattm.
1. Road Surface.—] regret to say that the road is worse than I have ever
before seen it. The attached Schedule, No. I, shows the places where repair,
diversion, or attention, is imperatively necessary. I use the word advisedly, for
had I said necessary 1 should have had to mention almost every mile of the hill
section. The road is in an awful state and its difficulty is testified to by the
numerous skeletons and corpses of transport animals of every kind, in all stages
of nauseous decay, which strew the hill section.
2. Caravanserais and FoWs.-Had anybody taken the trouble to climb up to
the "forts” and to inspect the caravanserais, about which so much has been
written in despatches during the last couple of years, the absolute futility of te
former and the inadequacy of the latter would have been exposed at a glance.
Both “ forts ” and caravanserais are but such in name, having no being whatever.
Schedule II shows the "forts” and the degree of their futility in detail suffice it
to say here that one is a heap of ruins, another is merely an u .^ n ‘ sh ® d b n ®f‘j
work’with neither door nor roof, one is so hopelessly commanded at a r g
600 yards from surrounding hills as to be absolutely .untenable, the rnajonty
are so far removed from water as to render the garrison liable A e r ^ u ,
straits for water in a very few hours, there not even bemg any provis on for stonnp
either food or water. The caravanserais are little better. Schedu ' e ^
state in detail, their owners and their leasing value per annum. Malam, caravan
serai is good and in good repair, all the rest are in all stages of disrepair, decay,
and consequent inadequacy.
3. Supplies and /Wrfer-Famine prices rule throughout the Hill secfon.wkh |
consequential inflation of hire rates, and subsequent hampering “ u *
111 gives, in the form of a comparative table, the rise m prices from Arabistan to
the hill section and thence the decrease to the Chahar Mahal end of the road-
the unit remaining constant throughout.
There are various causer giving rise to these high prices, fi r f'lnd^is'let
tem itself. Each serai belongs to a separate Khan or p At the end of
out by them for a large sum of money annually to a a •
the season, on one pretext or another, the owner fines the lessee a ' arge ^ ( hese
pockets the cash. It will be, therefore, seen that in order to cover ^these
heavy drains on his resources and also to make is quo , Another is that
exorbitant rates for supplies. This is the primary cau e. Another >s tha
the 11, when migrating use this road and make free , with the young mops,
to the detriment of the ultimate outturn. Anot er is
C98FD
(■
' IV
\
15 OCT 1914,t,
4 /
India, i FtL.ud Secretary’s
No 38 M, dated
17 SEP 1914
3
About this item
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This part contains papers, mostly correspondence and 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. minute papers, relating to British interests and Russian policy in the South of Persia [Iran]. It includes papers relating to the following:
- the condition of the Lynch road from Ahwaz to Isfahan (the Bakhtiari Road)
- the question of how far diplomatic action by HM Government in order to rehabilitate British interests in South Persia is desirable or practicable in existing circumstances
- the Foreign Office recommendation that revised assurances should be given to the Sheikh of Mohammerah, in order to strengthen the British position in Arabistan
- the Foreign Office view that the moment is not opportune for taking up the various questions of policy in South Persia
- the collection of taxes by Russian consuls in Persia
- the state of affairs in the districts of Urmia and Soujboulak
- the appointment of a Governor-General at Ispahan
- grievances of the Persian Government against the Russian Government
- Russian ‘intrigues’ with the Bakhtiari khans
- the proposed substitution of a Bakhtiari for Nizam-es-Sultaneh as Governor-General of Luristan
The correspondence is largely between the following:
- the Foreign Office (including Sir Edward Grey, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs) and Sir Walter Beaupre Townley, HM Minister to Persia
- the Foreign Office and the Persian Transport Company
- the Foreign Office and Sir George William Buchanan, British Ambassador to Russia at St Petersburg
- HM Minister to Persia (Townley and Charles Murray Marling), and Captain J Ranking, HM Vice-Consulate, Ahwaz
- 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. and the Foreign Office
- Major Stuart George Knox, Officiating Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India
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- 1 item (149 folios)
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- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- IOR/L/PS/10/451/1
- Title
- File 1187/1914 Pt 2 ‘Persia – Policy. British Interests in the South. Russian Policy’
- Pages
- 127r:144v, 147r:195r, 199r:200v, 201v:224v, 226v:232v, 234r:276v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
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