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'File 73/7 I (D 19) Status of Kuwait & Baghdad Railway, and Anglo-Turkish negotiations 1911' [‎229r] (491/631)

The record is made up of 2 volumes (334 folios). It was created in 28 Jan 1911-19 Jan 1912. It was written in English and French. 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. .

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ra d.W lb, Slat Mircli (, ra |..j ]»,
«»«■
to ihe Hon ble Sir A, Henry atoatattow ttptt? r* o t o
G ovpi ' ti mpnf oF TriJ ■ j-i v; . TI0N ' C.s 1., Secretary to the
ovemment of India m the Foreign Department, Simla.
IndiJ a coofof the illfo ™ atio " "f the GoTerntnent of
addressed to^Ha P^oh No. -~. l t dated 31st March 1911, which 1 hare
aauressea to His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople.
No. 271 -15, dated Baghdad, the 31st March 1911. (Very confidential.)
From J. G L orimer, Esq., C .I .E., 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 Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. and His
-ontanmc Majesty 7 s Consul General, Baghdad,
T'^—His E xcellency the R ight H onourable S ir G eiurd L owther , K.C .M .G.,
-o., Mis Britannic Majesty's Ambassador, Constantinopie.
o„ Th! p ^ ^onour to forward for information a copy of a suggestive note
- ™,-n t a 1 ?: hl0h sir willia m WiJIoooks has lately written, and
■ 'j 11 ai f Appendix to a general report on irrigation projects in
. iesopotamia that ue is about to lay before the Turkish Governmeut.
Appendix S.
T he P ort of B asrah.
. , -s i>T ' oai ^ ers drawing over 5*5 metres of water cannot enter the Shatt-ul-'Arab
and ascenci to Basrah owing to the Basrah bar. Now if a channel were dredged
.. uross ne ar on the alignment taken by the steamers, which is nature's natural
outlet tor the waters of the rivers, it should not be a costly matter to keep it
j? 1 ' ^ .i, 8 ® 8 staten ient on the fact, noted in parasrraphs 16 and 18 of the
Report, that the only deposit in the water is that brought down by the Karun
rn ] e p' f 1 ] 24 ; 25 ths of the sediment carried by the Tigris, Euphrates and Karkha
!i oelimd m the marshes. iSTo special study has been made of the subject
Ox c tedging across the bar, but Irom conversations with Captains of the British
. ndia Company and examinations of the charts and information in their
possession I estimate that the quantity of soft mud to be removed in order to
obtain a channel 130 metres wide and 10 metres deep would be 15,000,000 cubic
metres on a length of J2 kilometres. In order to obtain a channel ISO metres
wide and 8 metres deep we should have to dredge 7,000,000 cubic metres of soft
mud on a length oi 24 kilometres. These quantities seem very small for so
important a work, and would justify the Government in undertaking a serious
examination of the question,
I cannot leave the question of the port of Basrah without mentioning the
fact that a channel 32 kilometres long and 1'5 metres deep, along the ancient
course oi the joint waters of the Euphrates and Tigris, would put the Euphrates
in communication with the western head of the Khor Abdullah, and if a port were
needed on this Khor, sweet water would be available far in excess of anything
Port Said possesses. Similarly, by digging a cjiannel 10 kilometres long through
the desert south of the Khor Abduilah-Bubian bifurcation, Euphrates water
could be sent down the Bubian channel where it travelled thousands of years
ago.
W. WILLCOCKS,
g. C, B. p. Simla. -no c. 14 f. D.--28 -4 -11.-44--H.C.S .l.

About this item

Content

The volume contains correspondence, memorandums, and newspaper cuttings relating to a proposed Baghdad to Basra railway, an extension of the German Berlin to Baghdad Railway. Much of the correspondence has been forwarded to the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. by the Foreign Department of the Government of India and is between Edward Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Francis Bertie, British Ambassador to France, Louis Mallet, Assistant Under-secretary of State for Near and Middle Eastern Affairs, Charles Marling, British Ambassador to Persia, Arthur Nicolson, Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Henry Babington Smith, President of the National Bank of Turkey, Gerard Lowther, British Ambassador to Constantinople, Rifaat Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Edgar Speyer, railway financier, George Buchanan, British Ambassador to Russia, Edward Goschen, British Ambassador to Berlin, Henry Cumberbatch, British Consul General in Turkey, George Barclay, British Minister to Persia, the Board of Trade, and William Graham Greene, Permanent Secretary to the Board of Admiralty. There is also correspondence between 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, Rear-Admiral Edmond Slade, Stuart Knox, 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 Bahrain, and 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.

The volume covers the discussions prior to formal negotiations between Britain and the Ottoman Turks brought about by the Baghdad Railway and its proposed extension to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . The issues and subjects involved are:

  • the proposed route of the railway;
  • control and ownership of the section between Baghdad and Basra;
  • location of the terminus, and who will control it, including Slade's report (ff. 64-74) on the suitability of Basra;
  • a proposed increase to customs duty in the region;
  • irrigation of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers;
  • the contract to transport rail materials by the rivers;
  • the status of Kuwait, particularly regarding Turkish and British suzerainty and influence.

Throughout the volume there are newspaper cuttings from English periodicals that relate to the Baghdad Railway and negotiations around it.

Folio 47 is a rough sketch map of the peninsula Ras Tanurah. Folio 230 is a fold-out map of the proposed route of the railway and irrigation of the rivers.

Extent and format
2 volumes (334 folios)
Arrangement

The volume is arranged chronologically. At the beginning (folios 2-5) is a subject index. It is in no particular order and organised under a few broad headings. The numbers refer to folio numbers of the secondary, earlier sequence.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The file consists of two volumes (parts one and two) and the foliation runs through both. The main foliation sequence commences at the title page of part one and terminates at the fifth folio from the back of part two; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and can be predominantly found 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. A second foliation sequence runs between ff. 8-291A; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence. There are the following irregularities: 7 and 7A; 13 and 13A; 15 and 15A; 16, 16A and 16B; 17 and 17A; 18, 18A and 18B; 20, 20A and 20B; 21, 21A and 21B; 52, 52A, 52B, 52C; 53, 53A, 53B and 53C; 54, 54A, 54B and 54C; 55, 55A and 55B; 56, 56A and 56B; 57 and 57A; 290 and 290A.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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'File 73/7 I (D 19) Status of Kuwait & Baghdad Railway, and Anglo-Turkish negotiations 1911' [‎229r] (491/631), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/610, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023839676.0x000055> [accessed 5 February 2025]

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