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File 4345/1912 'Trans-Persian Railway' [117v] (239/330)
The record is made up of 1 volume (163 folios). It was created in 1911-1913. 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.
9
fc v
in general terms, to survey, and carrying with it an option to construct a line traversing
Persian territory; the actual points to be included in the alignment being left to future
examination and decision after approval by the Governments concerned.” Moreover,
it was recognised that His Majesty’s Government reserved complete freedom of action
in regard to construction outside the Russian sphere (that is, in the neutral ancMT'
British spheres), and that such construction should not be undertaken until, in the
view of His Majesty’s Government, it should be deemed politic and feasible.
It would obviously have been impossible for Sir E. Grey, consistently with the
reservations enumerated in the letters addressed to your society in March last, to have
acquiesced in more far-reaching proposals at this stage; it had indeed been expressly
intimated in this correspondence that His Majesty’s Government could not commit
themselves in regard to the execution of the project until the report of the Society
d’Etudes—a body primarily formed for the purpose of study and investigation—had
been submitted, and the object in view was that the conclusions arrived at in the
report should be fully considered in their commercial, political, and strategical aspects
by His Majesty’s Government.
Sir E. Grey considers that it would be hardly possible for His Majesty’s Government
to reserve that freedom of action which has always been stipulated for, pending con
sideration of the report of your society, if they were now to afford you diplomatic
support at Tehran in pressing the specific proposals embodied in your letter of the
5th November.
I am now to refer seriatim to the enclosures in your letter.
Enclosure (A), the draft of a letter which it is proposed to present to the
Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs, sets forth under three headings the objects of the
Society d Etudes in sending delegates to Tehran; these are to secure :—
1. Permission to make the necessary investigations and preparations for the construction, on
Persian territory, of a railway joining up the Russian and Indian frontiers, and for all extensions
calculated to further the essential object of the line—that is to say, for the building of railways
destined for passenger and goods traffic between the Russo-Persian frontier and the Indo-Persian
frontier.
^ favour of the Soci^te d’Etudes, for a concession for the above-mentioned
lines, ouch an option should also be assured to the societe for building branch lines which would
e natural feeders of the main line, or which might, under foreign control, injuriously affect its
traffic. J
3. Finally, certain maritime facilities at the terminal points being necessary for working the
lines, the societe would desire to secure its position in this respect also.
His Majesty s Government are willing, subject to the reservations contained in
^ e ^ ers tbp 2nd and 25th March last, to support your delegates
a ^i 1 . iran secur i u g an option as originally proposed for a main line; they are
wdlmg to do so on the distinct understanding that the option is not to be exercised
outside the Russian sphere, that is, in a region where British commercial and political
interests predominate, until they deem it politic and feasible.
As to the question of branches, His Majesty’s Government cannot support your
& ^ eS stage in negotiating even for an option outside the Russian sphere.
When your report is completed they wall consider carefully, and on their merits, such
recommendations as may be put forward; but Sir E. Grey cannot conceal from you his
view t at a concession, such as is outlined in your letter, would confer upon your
society a virtual monopoly of railway enterprise, and, having regard to the magnitude
of British interests in Southern Persia, His Majesty’s Government cannot commit them
selves, even provisionally, to the proposals now before them.
While ^>ir E. Grey cannot but regard the question as somewhat premature, he
recognises that, if railways are built in regions adjacent to those traversed by the line
you have m view, then means should be found for securing through traffic, destined to
pass^ on to, or coming from, your system, against unfair manipulation on railways
outside your direct control.
His Majesty s Government are also unwilling to agree to the third proposal in
Enclosure (A), regarding terminal facilities on the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
; Sir E. Grey was not,
mdeed, aware that the Trans-Persian Railway—by which it was proposed to connect
Russian and Indian territory—was projected to reach the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, or, indeed,
that ^ any terminus on those waters was contemplated. The matter is one of great
po itical importance; and His Majesty’s Government cannot support your delegates in
a negotiation which, should it now be pursued, would cause them grave concern.
Enclosure (B) contains an enumeration of branch lines—a subject to which it is
unnecessary that I should refer in greater detail.
About this item
- Content
This volume comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, notes, printed reports, a press cutting and a map, relating to the connection of the railway system of Europe to the railway system of India by the construction of railway lines through Persia.
The discussion in the volume relates to the proposal of a Russian consortium and the response of the Government of India to this proposal. A Report (No. 18 of 1911' folios 144 - 160) notes that the Government of India would do well to accept in principle the Russian proposal subject to a number of modifications. A map entitled 'Indexed Map Showing Proposed Railways in Persia' (folio 160) accompanies the report. Suggested modifications included:
- the point of intersection of the trans-Persian railway with the Indian railway system (British preference for Karachi); and concessions for branch lines (Bandar Abbas, Charbar, Mohammerah);
- the requirement that both main and branch lines in Persian territory be deemed international with Russia and Britain holding preponderant shares and Persia included as a participant;
- and the use of a different gauge railway in the British and Russian zones. As a quid pro quo for their support on this matter Britain expected the Russians to cease any consideration of extending the Trans-Caspian Railway to the Persia-Afghan border.
Also discussed are the negotiations about a loan between the Société des Études du Chemin de Fer Transpersan and the Persian Government and a suggestion that the British and French governments should guarantee a substantial loan by securing it against the crown jewels.
The following topics are also discussed: the Foreign Office proposal to refer the whole question of railway development in Persia to the Committee of Imperial Defence; a draft application for the concession; a memorandum by Brigadier General A H Gordon; dispatch of instructions to His Majesty's Ambassador at St Petersberg on the attitude of the Her Majesty's Government; the view of the Sir G Buchanan on the attitude of the Russian Government to the question of alignment.
The principal correspondents in the volume include: His Majesty's Secretary of State for India, the Earl of Crewe; Deputy Secretary to the Government of India, E H S Clark; His Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir Edward Grey; 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. , Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Zachariah Cox; the President of the Railway Board; Agent to the Governor-General and Chief Commissioner in Baluchistan.
This volume includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, year the subject file was opened, subject heading, and list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (163 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume. The subject 4345 (Trans-Persian Railway) consists of 1 volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 163; 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.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/307
- Title
- File 4345/1912 'Trans-Persian Railway'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:42v, 43v:159v, 161r:162v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence