File 747/1913 Pt 2 'Persia- Loans. Swedish gendarmerie'

Content

The volume comprises copies of correspondence, minutes, telegrams, and other papers relating to the financial advances made by His Majesty’s Government and the Government of India to the Persian Government. The only loan discussed was of the amount of £50,000 to be payable to the Persian Government through the Imperial Bank of Persia.

The correspondence was mainly about whether it is in the British Government’s interest to support the Fars gendarmerie or not. This was in response to a number of incidents that took place in the Kazerun region, and the direct involvement of the Fars gendarmerie led by Swedish officers in the affairs. Criticism was raised against the Swedish officers for misleading the gendarmerie, and a suggestion of their withdrawal from service was made. The Swedish Government then contemplated withdrawal of its officers from service in Persia.

The correspondence deals with arrangements for the payment of the loan, conditions attached to it, the agreement of terms between the British, the Persian and the Swedish Governments, and the date of commencement of repayments.

In July 1914, a loan of £50,000, was made by the British Government to the Governor-General of Fars (half of which was to be payable by the Government of India), in order to assist Persia in order to avoid a breakdown of the gendarmerie organization. It was made clear that the British Government fully realized that to allow the gendarmerie scheme in Fars to collapse would be detrimental to British interests.

The volume’s principal correspondents are: Sir Walter Beaupre Townley, British Minister at Tehran; Sir Edward Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Major William Frederick Travers O’Connor, Acting Consul at Shiraz; and Sir Esme William Howard, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Sweden.

The volume’s core correspondence covers the period February 1914 to October 1914. The earlier start date given for the volume is a result of correspondence included in a confidential enclosure on Persian Government loans (ff 94-97); itself dated April- May 1913, which is an historical précis of loans given to Persia by the British Government and Government of India in the year 1913.

Extent and format

1 volume (238 folios)

Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

The subject 747 (Loans to Persia) consists of 3 volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/353-355. The volumes are divided into three parts, with each part comprising one volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 240; 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 and French in Latin script

Type

Archival file

Access & Reference

Original held at

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.

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

IOR/L/PS/10/354

Former external reference(s)

P 747/1913 Pt 2

History of this record

Date(s)

14 Apr 1913-5 Oct 1914 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

LoansFinancial aidPolice

Places

Kazerun

People & organisations

British Consul, ShirazSecretary of State for Foreign AffairsHM Ambassador to IranGovernment of Persia, Qajar dynasty

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File 747/1913 Pt 2 'Persia- Loans. Swedish gendarmerie', British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/354, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x0000f9> [accessed 5 July 2024]

Link to this record

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