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Coll 28/39(2) ‘Persia. Printed Correspondence, 1937–’ [38v] (76/320)
The record is made up of 1 file (158 folios). It was created in 11 Oct 1937-25 Nov 1942. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
74
think that the Shah did not entirely accept this explanation when he visited Bandar
Shahpur as a great deal of window dressing was done for his visit—cargo being piled
up to give appearance of ample storage room, etc. However as I have already
reported the Shah ordered the prolongation of the existing jetty to a total length
of 300 metres to accommodate two ships alongside. Mr. Fritze of the Hansa Line
also informed me that the jetty is to be widenel to take two railway tracks. I
suppose this will be paid for out of the item 5 million rials for building expenses
at Bandar Shahpur inscribed in this year’s budget. Barges and a tug have been
ordered, as also twelve locomotives and one hundred railways trucks.
5. I would therefore infer that at some future date, Bandar Shahpur is destined
to be the only
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
Port for imports for North and Central Iran. With the
present facilities and indeed for some time to come, the capacity of the port must be
admitted even by the Iranians as inadequate for such a role and therefore Khor-
ramshahr must continue to be used. In any event, the Iranian Government would
seem ill-advised to ban the use of Khorramsliahr because the Karun River affords
cheap transport to Ahwaz where the merchandise for the North can be put on the
railway. The only loss to the railway would be the transport of the goods over the
106 kilometers from Bandar Shahpur to Ahwaz and compensation for this might
be sought by charging the same freight rates as from Bandar Shahpur.
6. In regard to the rumoured closing of the Ahwaz Customs house I have no
information to suggest that this will be done. The Sherkat-i-Sakhteman were
about to build a new Customs House and warehouses on the right bank of the
Karun. This monopoly Company having been dissolved, the Director of Customs
here informed me that he had applied to Tehran for permission to build it himself
and was daily awaiting a reply. This was some time ago and admittedly the
absence of a reply does not augur well. On the other hand, the Customs here is
responsible for Bandar Shahpur as well as for posts on the Iraq frontier. So far
there have been no signs that the Customs facilities at Bandar Shahpur are to be
augmented. At the present time a great deal of the merchandise landed at that
port is cleared through the Customs House at Ahwaz. If the Customs House here
is closed, it would seem obvious that the Customs facilities at Bandar Shahpur
must first be increased. This process must take a considerable time as the marsh
around the port has first to be drained, and Customs house and warehouses must be
built as well as dwelling houses for the staff. A supply of fresh water must also
be provided.
7. To recapitulate, I would repeat that I have no information which would
suggest either that the Ahwaz Customs House will shortly be closed or that active
steps are at present being taken to divert traffic from Khorramshahr to
Bandar Shahpur. I would however re-iterate the reserves already formulated
and amplify them by remarking that modern Iranians seem obsessed with a na
tionalistic bias which leads them to take over enterprises previously conducted by
foreigners and launch new ones like Bandar Shahpur. Owing to their lack of
experience and efficiency Iranian administrations in general are not able to carry
these tasks out efficiently. Their failures do not seem to be recognised and so the
ordinary rules of prudence and commonsense do not seem to apply. This blind
persistence may make for national greatness but it can be extremely irritating.
8. Copy of this despatch is being sent to His Majesty’s Vice-Consul at Khor
ramshahr, No. 567.
Enclosure II to Serial No. (54).
Note on the landing of Cargo at Khorramshahr.
Since the Belgian experts, previously in charge of the Customs, handed over
their duties to Iranian Officials, the Customs have got into an increasingly chaotic
state. The Great Fire of August 1935 did but little to ease the situation, and in
fact, increased the muddle.
2. The main and original causes of Customs congestion are
(a) the complicated office routine, which appears to vary from day to day
or month to month as new and contradictory orders are received from
Tehran. (See paragraph 41 of my Annual Commercial Report for the
Iranian Year ended the 20th March 1937.)
About this item
- Content
Printed correspondence from the Government of India’s Foreign and Political Department (later referred to as the External Affairs Department), collated into yearly collections under the heading ‘Iran Series’. The original correspondence was sent by British representatives in Iran (chiefly the British Legation in Tehran) to the Foreign Office. The correspondence concerns: the announcement of laws, decrees, regulations, and budgets by the Government of Iran, the texts of which were frequently published in the newspaper Le Journal de Tehran ; reports from British consular officials covering a range of subjects, including commercial activities, foreign relations and the commercial activities of foreign individuals and companies in Iran, provincial affairs, and the activities of the Shah; in 1939 and 1940, reports concerning the impact of the Second World War on Iran, with a large number of reports from the Press Attaché to the British Legation in Tehran, reporting the dissemination of propaganda and public opinion in Iran.
At the end of the file is a single item of original correspondence, sent by the Secretary to the Government of India. Dated 24 August 1942, it announces the discontinuation of the printing of the Persia [Iran] series for the duration of the war (f 159).
A large number of items in the file are in French. These include the texts of Iranian Government laws, regulations and announcements that were published in Le Journal de Tehran .
The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (158 folios)
- Arrangement
The file’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order, from the earliest item at the front to the latest at the end.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 160; these numbers are written in pencil 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 and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/3443
- Title
- Coll 28/39(2) ‘Persia. Printed Correspondence, 1937–’
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:7r, 8r:11r, 12v:14v, 16r:16v, 20r, 23r:32r, 34r:41v, 42v:48r, 50v:55r, 56r:61r, 63r:65r, 68r:69r, 71v, 75v:77v, 79r:81v, 82v:85v, 89r, 91r:91v, 92v:93r, 94v:96v, 97v:101r, 102v:108v, 115r:118r, 124r, 125r:130v, 132r:134r, 136r:139r, 141r:141v, 145r:146v, 149r:151r, 152r:153v, 154v:159v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence