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'File 73/7 II (D 22) Status of Koweit [Kuwait] - Baghdad railway, Anglo Turkish negotiations' [‎239r] (485/540)

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

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I am to inform you that all the documents in question were communicated to
His Highness on the 18th instant.
I am to add that Sir E. Grey concurs in the last sentence of the second para
graph of your letter, subject to the important reservation that His Majesty's Gov
ernment shall not be called upon in any case to oppose the excercise of sovereign
rights by the Turkish authorities on the Turkish bank of the Shatt-el-Arab or indeed
in any portion of Turkish territory, so long as the exercise of such rights does not
arbitrarily conflict with the strictly proprietary rights of the Shaikh of Muham-
merah.
I am, etc.,
W. LANGLEY.
(Copy sent informally to the Army Department for transmission to the Division
of bhe Chief of the Staff).
I Received on the 26th August 1912, with Political Secretary's letter No. 32, dated the
9th August 1912.)
[B.] f
ASIATIC TURKEY AND ARABIA. [July 23.]
CONFIDENTIAL. Section 1.
[28093]
{Secret). Foreign Office to 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. .
Sir , Foreign Office, July 23,1912.
I am directed by Secretary Sir E. Grey to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter of the 1st instant on the subject of British participation in the Baghdad-
Basrah railway.
In reply I am to state that a British participation of 50 per cent, has virtually
been refused by the Ottoman Government, and I am to add that it would, in the
opinion of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, cause umbrage to the French
and Russian Governments if His Majesty's Government, after having informed
them that their participation would be welcomed, were now to endeavour to induce
the Ottoman Government to accept an Anglo-German co-operation to the exclusion
of France and Russia.
The Secretary of State accordingly considers that it would be diplomatically
impossible to obtain a British participation of 50 per cent.
I am, etc.,
W. LANGLEY.
(Copv sent informally to the Army Department for transmission to the Divi-
^ +^0 fW.f of the Staff).
l y, * •/
sion of the Chief of the Staff).
(Received on the 26th August 1912, with Political Secretary's letter No. 32, dated the
v ~ 9th August 1912.)
[B,]
ASIATIC TURKEY AND ARABIA . [July 26.]
CONFIDENTIAL. S ection 1.
\ Secret) Board of Trade to Foreign Office.—{Received July 26.)
Board of Trade, July 26, 1912.
Adverting to previous communications with reference to the negotiations
now pending with the Turkish Government, I am directed by the Board of Tnule to

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
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'File 73/7 II (D 22) Status of Koweit [Kuwait] - Baghdad railway, Anglo Turkish negotiations' [‎239r] (485/540), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/611, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023826002.0x000056> [accessed 18 June 2026]

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