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File 948/1909 'Persia: Situation in the South; Condition of the Roads. Attack on Mr Bill. Road Guard Scheme.' [258r] (520/744)
The record is made up of 1 volume (370 folios). It was created in 1909-1911. 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.
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government.]
[January 28.]
Section 3.
[2472] No. 1.
Foreign Office to Board of Trade.
Sir, Foreign Office, January 28, 1910.
WITH reference to previous correspondence relative to the formation of a body of
guards for the protection of the roads in Southern Persia ending with my letter of the
11 th instant, I am directed by Secretary Sir Edward Grey to inform you that the
proposal of the Board of Trade that the surcharge of 10 per cent, on import duties,
which is to provide the sum necessary to defray the expenses of putting the scheme
into execution, should be levied at the port of Bushire only, has been carefully con
sidered in this Department in communication with His Majesty’s Minister at Tehran,
and that it appears to him to be open to serious objections.
In the first place, the sum derived from the imposition of this charge on Bushire
alone would, in the opinion of Sir G. Barclay and of His Majesty’s consul-general at
Bushire, who is now on leave in this country, be insufficient for the purpose for which
it is intended. Sir G. Barclay has even expressed the view that to obtain the necessary
sum at Bushire the charge would have to be doubled.
In these circumstances, if the charge were levied as proposed, trade would at once
he diverted from Bushire to other ports where it was not imposed, with the result that
the trade of Bushire would be, temporarily at any rate, destroyed, and that the port
would soon cease to produce any money to defray the expenses connected with the
guards.
Sir E. Grey is well aware that the extension of the charge to all the ports in the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
would be likely to be strenuously opposed by British firms who have
commercial interests in those regions. He is nevertheless of opinion that a serious
effort should be made to overcome that opposition, and he would suggest that it might
be pointed out to objectors that it is worth their while to make the sacrifice involved in
agreement to the universal application of the charge, since such a course could not fail
to produce a great and immediate improvement in the trade done by British and
British-Indian firms in Southern Persia, whereas its rejection must result before long
in the total extinction of that branch of commerce.
I am, &c.
LOUIS MALLET.
About this item
- Content
The volume comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, and notes relating to the security situation in south Persia, 1909-1911.
The discussion in the volume relates to the deteriorating security situation for travellers and trade in south Persia (which was held to be a British sphere of influence) caused by fighting among the Kashgai, Lur and Arab tribes who had rejected the authority of the Governor-General of Fars. A further cause of insecurity relating to this is referred to in a note (ff 335-336) by the 2nd Assistant Resident, Bushire, J S Crosthwaite, who describes how tribesmen had invested their money in rifles and could only earn their living by robbing the caravans of commercial travellers.
Correspondence discusses how this culminated in an attack upon J H Bill, Acting British Consul, Shiraz, in which two horsemen or ' sowars ' were killed, as he travelled along a caravan route. Correspondence discusses measures to be taken as a result of this attack, including a claim for compensation from the Persian Government, a punitive expedition against the Kashgais tribe and the role of Soulet et-Dowle, Governor General, Fars. Measures discussed include using the guards ( gholam ) of the Indo-European Telegraph Department paid for by a surcharge on customs duty levied by the British at Bushire; implications for relations with the Persian Government and the Russian Government are also discussed.
Included in the volume is a 'Memorandum respecting the Disorders on the Trade Routes of Southern Persia' by H G Trick, Vice-Consul for Fars.
The principal correspondents in the volume include Sir Edward Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Viscount Morley of Blackburn, Secretary of State for India; Percy Zachariah Cox, the 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 the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; and Sir George Head Barclay, Minister at Tehran.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (370 folios)
- Arrangement
The subject 948 (Persia: situation in the south) consists of 1 volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 366; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located at the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the two leading and ending flyleaves
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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File 948/1909 'Persia: Situation in the South; Condition of the Roads. Attack on Mr Bill. Road Guard Scheme.' [258r] (520/744), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/163, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100030540735.0x000079> [accessed 3 February 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/163
- Title
- File 948/1909 'Persia: Situation in the South; Condition of the Roads. Attack on Mr Bill. Road Guard Scheme.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:146v, 147v:224v, 226r:369v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence