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'Memorandum on the Indo-European Telegraph Department and Narrative of Events to the end of 1898' [7r] (13/20)
The record is made up of 1 file (10 folios). It was created in 24 Jul 1899. It was written in English. 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.
APPENDICES.
Appendix I.
Convention between Great Britain and Turkey for the establishment of
Telegraphic communication between India and the Ottoman Territory.
Signed in the English and French languages at Constantinople, 3rd
September 1864.*
Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, and His Majesty the Emperor of the Ottoman, being desirous to
establish between their respective States telegraphic communications, by
means of which India, connected by a submarine cable with the Ottoman
territory at the mouth of the Shat-el-Arab, will be in telegraphic commu
nication with Turkey, and consequently with all the other States of Europe,
have agreed to conclude a Telegraphic Convention, and with that object
have named as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say: Her Majesty the
Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Bight
Honourable Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, a Member of Her Majesty’s Most
Honourable Privy Council, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable
Order of the Bath, and Her Majesty’s Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary to the Sublime Porte.
And His Majesty the Emperor of the Ottomans, His Highness Mahomed
Emin Ali
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
, Minister for Foreign Affairs, decorated with the Imperial
Orders of the Osmanie of the Medjidie, and of Merit of the first class in
brilliants, Grand Cross of several Foreign Orders. Who after having com
municated to each other their full powers, found in good and due form, have
agreed upon the following Articles :—
Article I.—The Ottoman Government will continue, at its own cost, to
the mouth of the Shat-el-Arab, the main telegraphic line of Asia now existing
between Scutari of Constantinople and Bagdad, and will connect the said
main lines in the direction of Khanakain, with the Persian land lines which
communicate with the submarine cable at Bushire.
The maintenance and repairs of the said Ottoman lines will be at the
charge of the Ottoman Administration.
II. On the other hand, the Government of India will lay down, at its own
expense, a submarine telegraphic cable, which, starting from some point of
the British Indian Empire and touching at Bushire, will terminate at the
mouth of the Shat-el-Arab, where it will join the Ottoman land line.
The maintenance and repairs of this cable shall be at the expense of the
Indian Administration.
III. His Majesty the Sultan authorises the establishment on Ottoman
territory at the mouth of the Shat-el-Arab, of a British Telegraph Office,
with a staff, which shall not exceed in number 50 persons, placed under the
exclusive orders of a British Station Master, and which, as well as the
apparatus and all the instruments requisite for working the submarine line,
shall be at the expense of the British Government.
IV. The aforesaid British Office shall be located in the same building
occupied by the Ottoman station at the mouth of the Shat-el-Arab, with a
view to facilitate the combined operations of the common service.
The apparatus of the Ottoman service and that of the British service at
that joint station shall be placed in separate compartments, but in close
proximity to each other, and shall not be connected.
The exchange of messages shall take place immediately on their receipt,
the officers handing them to each other through a window, and the service
7556.
* Ratifications exchanged at Constantinople, 31st October 1864.
D
About this item
- Content
The memorandum concerns telegraphic communication between Britain and India, with a particular focus on the telegraph lines routed via the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. region, and therefore the Indo-European Telegraph Company. It was authored by Benjamin Traill Ffinch, Director-in-Chief of the Indo-European Telegraph Department; a department of the Government of India.
It outlines how the telegraph lines through the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. developed over time, and the concessions granted by various governments to permit their establishment. It also notes how charges have varied over time, and how various international telegraph conferences have affected them. It also explains the rise of competition — over traffic to India — between the Indo-European Telegraph and the Eastern Telegraph companies, and how this led to the signing of the Joint Purse Agreement between them. It also explains that the interests of the Indo-European Telegraph Company and the Indo-European Telegraph Department have diverged. It therefore claims that the prevailing circumstances make it very difficult for the Government of India to push down prices.
An appendices section is included with the following content:
- 'No. 1 Convention between Great Britain and Turkey for the establishment of Telegraphic communication between India and the Ottoman Territory'. 3 September 1864, ff 7-8;
- 'No. 2 Memorandum on Tariffs between Europe and India', f 8v;
- 'No. 3 Tariffs to India and beyond from 1863 to present time', f 9;
- 'No. 4 Statement showing Traffic Receipts of Departments from October 1864 to 31st March 1898', ff 9v-10.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (10 folios)
- Arrangement
The main body of the memorandum is located on folios 1 to 6, and the appendix follows on folios 7 to 10.
- 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 file also contains an original pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/18/D148
- Title
- 'Memorandum on the Indo-European Telegraph Department and Narrative of Events to the end of 1898'
- Pages
- 1r:10v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence