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‘Memorandum respecting the frontier between Mohammerah and Turkey.’ [‎7r] (13/82)

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The record is made up of 1 file (41 folios, 5 maps). It was created in 3 Apr 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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9
memorandum on Mohammerah by Major Rawlin-
son; a general survey of the whole frontier
Canning No. 70, dispute by Sir Stratford Canning ; two despatches
April 27,1844. from Colonel Shell, British Minister at Tehran,
British Shel110 elucidating the question from the Persian aspect;
Commissioners certain Hussian memoirs ; and, finally, a despatch
recording the considered views and decision of
Colonel Sheil, Her Majesty's Government, after a very full
September 27 examination of all the arguments, and after con-
1843. sultation with the Russian Government.
Colonel Sheil, p r ^cis, which here largely consists of
May 14,1844. extracts from the first two documents, does not
Memorandum follow implicitly all the arguments advanced by
Count"nes^drode. Sir Stratford Canning regarding the ownership of
September 1844. Mohammerah, partly because there was a certain
McMnoramhiin,^ divergency between the conclusions first reached
Enclosure ill Excellency and those urged by Colonel
Sir Stratford
Canning's No. 240, Sheil; partly because his Excellency ultimately
November 2, 1844. 9( j m itted {pace Sir Henry Layard) that more
Lord Aberdeen to a e
Sir Stratford regard should be had to the factor ot presenp-
Canning, No. 5,^ tion, which militated against Turkey; and partly
January 7, 18io. .
because, on a review of the complete correspond
ence and at this distance of time, arguments
and data appear in a slightly altered focus.
If, however, as appears possible, the Mohammerah
question is again reopened, and especially if it is
brought before The Hague Tribunal, a more
detailed reference to the correspondence, which
is now being printed, will be required.
One of the points most warmly debated at the
Conference of Erzeroum was the question of right
to Mohammerah. That town had been attacked
and razed to the ground by the Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. of Pagdad
in 1837, for the reason that it was becoming a
thriving commercial port, and bid fair to endanger
the trade of the neighbouring town of Bussorah.
This episode greatly embittered the relations of
Persia and Turkey : the former Power claimed an
indemnity of one million sterling on account of
property destroyed and the indignity suffered ; the
latter Power not only rebutted the claim for
indemnity, but put forward a counter-demand for
the ownership of Mohammerah and the surround
ing country, and to the allegiance of the resident
tribe.
Owing to this and other causes, a rupture
between the two Mussulman Powers appeared
imminent: it was in such circumstances that
Great Britain and Russia, more nearly interested
than any other European Powers in the mainte
nance of peace in the East, olfered to mediate,
[2i40 c—10] D

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Content

The memorandum concerns the border between Mohammerah [Khorramshahr] and Turkey, and was prepared by Alwyn Parker of the Foreign Office. There are a number of labels at the top of the first page: ‘Persia’, ‘Confidential’ and ‘Section 10’. The memorandum sections are as follows:

  • Part I. A preface (folios 1-5), introducing the points at issue, with two maps, the first being a sketch map of the Mohammerah district, with the proposed Turkish, Persian and mediating commissioner’s lines indicated (folio 2), and a map compiled from plane table surveys by Lieutenant Arnold Talbot Wilson in 1909, with the frontier as defined by the mediating commissioners in 1850 (folio 4);
  • Part II. An historical summary (folios 6-19) of British Government correspondence relating to the border dispute, with the chief focus being on correspondence exchanged during the period 1843-52, around the time of the Treaty of Erzeroum (c.1848). This part contains two copies of a map, a facsimile of a diagram of the disputed area, the original of which was enclosed by Colonel Williams in his despatch of 4 February 1850, indicating Turkish and Persian claims and the mediating commissioner’s proposal (folios 15, 19);
  • Part III. Conclusion (folios 20-28), with a further map (folio 23), an exact copy of that found on folio 4.

The appendices that follow are:

  • A: British assurances given to the Shaikh of Mohammerah, 1899 and 1902-10;
  • B. Protocol of December 1911 (in French) for the proposal settlement of the Turco-Persian frontier question;
  • C. An extract from Sir Austen Henry Layard’s Early Adventures in Persia, Susiana, and Babylonia , published in 1887. The extract is from volume 2, pp 431-439;
  • D. Rough notes made by General William Monteith when in Persia, on the frontier of Turkey and Persia, as communicated to the Foreign Office in 1843;
  • E. Observations by Sir Henry Rawlinson on a Persian memorandum relative to the situation of the cities of Mohammerah and Fellahiah [Fallāḥīyah], 1844;
  • F. Text of the Treaty of Erzeroum, 31 May 1847, in English and French translation;
  • G. Copy of a despatch from Sir Stratford Canning, the British Ambassador to Istanbul, to Lord Palmerston, Foreign Secretary, dated 30 May 1850;
  • H. Copy of a despatch from Lord Palmerston to Lord Broomfield, dated 12 July 1850.
Extent and format
1 file (41 folios, 5 maps)
Arrangement

The memorandum is arranged into three parts, labelled I, II and III, which are followed by eight lettered appendices, A-H. Historic correspondence referred to in the memorandum is referenced in the inside page margin.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the first folio and terminates at the last folio; 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.

Pagination: The booklet contains an original typed pagination sequence.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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‘Memorandum respecting the frontier between Mohammerah and Turkey.’ [‎7r] (13/82), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B380, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100024051501.0x00000e> [accessed 24 November 2024]

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