!['File 73/7 II (D 22) Status of Koweit [Kuwait] - Baghdad railway, Anglo Turkish negotiations' [‎109r] (223/540)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x000248/IOR_R_15_1_611_0223.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'File 73/7 II (D 22) Status of Koweit [Kuwait] - Baghdad railway, Anglo Turkish negotiations' [‎109r] (223/540)")
'File 73/7 II (D 22) Status of Koweit [Kuwait] - Baghdad railway, Anglo Turkish negotiations' [109r] (223/540)
The record is made up of 1 volume (268 folios). It was created in 24 Oct 1911-26 Dec 1912. It was written in English, French and Arabic. 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.
I Vl ( \yAAA^\ lsv\Ay^
I
Sir G. Barclay does not consider the present moment opportune for an
application to be made, but Sir W. Towiley, who has arrived in Tehran, will
fully consider the matter and report when jie is in a position to do so what is
in his view the best course to take.
I am, &c.,
Louis Mallet.
(Copy sent informally to the Army Department for transmission to the
Division of the Chief of the Staff.)
(Received on the 20th May 1912 with Political Secretary's letter No. 18, dated the 3rd May
1912.)
Enclosure in foreign Office covering letter, dated the 26ih April 1912,
3674
Board of Trade to Eoreign Office. (Commercial Department.)
(17619.)
Gwydyr House,
Immediate and Confidential. Whitehall, S. W.,
25th April 1912.
Sir,
I am directed by the Board of Trade to acknowledge receipt of your
letter of the 17th April (No. 13396), forwarding copy of a letter from the
Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company, Limited, relative to the
formation of a Syndicate for the transport by river of material for the Baghdad
Railway Company, and to offer the following observations thereon for Sir
E. Grey's consideration.
The Board gather that the operations of the new Syndicate are to be
confined to the transport of railway material, or that if permission to carry
general cargo be obtained it will be confined to downward cargo at rates not
lower t^an those charged by the steamship companies operating on the
Mesopotamian rivers. They also understand thafc there is no intention of
incorporating in the new service that of the Euphrates and Tigris Company,
which will continue as a separate undertaking; and that the new fleet will
be removed from Turkish internal waters so soon as the construction of the
railway is completed, unless some arrangement for its employment is then
made with the Turkish Government. These points, however, are not all
equally clear and the Board suggest that the Company should be asked to
state definitely whether the foregoing actually represents the facts.
In all the circumstances, and especially in view of the fact tha-t under
Article 9 of their concession, the Baghdad ilailway Company are entitled to
carry building and other materials, necessary for railway construction
in
V> KAl *- J. KJ a. ^ ^ J %/ » __ _ •
their own boats should they deem that course desirable, the Board are dis
posed to think that if the foregoing summary is correct, His Majesty's Gov
ernment need raise no objection to the general nature of the scheme, which
would appear to secure for the United Kingdom a substantial share in this
particular carrying trade, and in the construction of the necessary vessels. It
does, however, appear to them desirable that an effort should be made to obtain
from the Euphrates and Tigris Company an undertaking that they will not
transfer the whole or any part of their interest in the new Company, or in the
proposed Anglo-German-Turkish Company, without giving adequate (say six
months') notice to His Majesty's Government, and that an intimation should
be conveyed to the Company that His Majesty's Government reserve their
right to take such action as they may consider necessary should any scheme be
put forward for the utilisation of the new fleet in Mesopotamian internal waters
after the railway from the North has reached Baghdad.
The Euphrates and Tigris Company do not state under what flag the new
vessels are to run, and I am to suggest'that, should Sir E. Grey see no objec
tion, an enquiry might be addressed to them on this point.
I have, &c.,
H. Llewellyn-Smith,
About this item
- Content
The volume contains letters, telegrams, and memorandums pertaining to Anglo-Turkish negotiations brought on by the Baghdad Railway and particularly the extension to Basra. Correspondents include: Percy Cox, 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. at Bushire, William Shakespear, Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Kuwait, Edward Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Louis Mallet, Assistant Under-secretary of State for Near and Middle Eastern Affairs, Charles Marling, British Ambassador to Persia, Gerard Lowther, British Ambassador to Constantinople, George Buchanan, British Ambassador to Russia, Admiral Edmond Slade, the Board of Trade, the Government of India, 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 several private companies, including Trans-Atlantic Trust Company, Anglo-Persian Oil Company, Imperial Ottoman Bank, and Imperial Persian Bank.
The form of the negotiations was a series of memorandums containing proposals and counter-proposals. The issues and subjects discussed are:
- ownership and control of the line;
- custom duty increases in the region;
- navigation of the Shatt al-Arab, including the establishment of a commission to oversee this;
- transport of railway materials by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers;
- delimitation of the Turkish-Persian border;
- status and territorial limit of Kuwait;
- other Gulf matters, including the statuses of Bahrain and Qatar, the suppression of arms traffic, piracy, and slavery, and the protection of pearl fisheries.
Folios 261-262 are a map showing the proposed territorial limits of Kuwait.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (268 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is arranged chronologically. At the beginning (ff. 3-4) is a subject index, in no particular order but grouped under several broad headings. The numbers refer to folio numbers from the secondary, earlier sequence.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The volume is foliated from the front cover to the inside back cover, using circled pencil numbers positioned in the top-right corner of each recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. . There are two earlier foliation systems running through parts of the volume. The first uses uncircled pencil numbers in the top-right corner of recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. pages, and the top-left corner of verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. pages. This foliation system numbers pages if they have content on them, which is the case for all rectos and some versos. This foliation system appears intermittently through most of the volume. The other foliation system uses circled blue pencil numbers in the top-right corner of recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. pages, and appears from folios 5 to 42. Numerous printed materials contained in the volume have their own internal pagination systems. The following foliation irregularities occur: 1a, 34a, 51B, 219B, 250B.
- Written in
- English, French and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
Use and share this item
- Share this item
'File 73/7 II (D 22) Status of Koweit [Kuwait] - Baghdad railway, Anglo Turkish negotiations' [109r] (223/540), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/611, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/mirador/81055/vdc_100023826001.0x000018> [accessed 4 July 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023826001.0x000018
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023826001.0x000018">'File 73/7 II (D 22) Status of Koweit [Kuwait] - Baghdad railway, Anglo Turkish negotiations' [‎109r] (223/540)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023826001.0x000018"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x000248/IOR_R_15_1_611_0223.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x000248/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/1/611
- Title
- 'File 73/7 II (D 22) Status of Koweit [Kuwait] - Baghdad railway, Anglo Turkish negotiations'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 1ar:1av, 2r:5v, 16r:22v, 24r:34v, 34ar:34av, 35r:42v, 44r:49v, 51r:51v, 51br:51bv, 52r:54v, 56r:63v, 66r:67v, 72r:112r, 113r:134v, 136r:168v, 170r:182v, 184r:204r, 205v:213v, 215v, 219br:219bv, 222r:225v, 227r:236v, 238r:250v, 250br:250bv, 251r:261v, 262v:264v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence