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Coll 28/39(2) ‘Persia. Printed Correspondence, 1937–’ [64r] (127/320)
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.
11
( 11 )
^ Letter from His Majesty’s Minister, Tehran, to the Foreign Office,
London, No. 17 (20/5/38), dated the 19th January 1938.
I have the honour to transmit to you herewith a translation of a Law
which passed the Majlis on the 7th November last, setting forth a complete
reorganization of the administrative system of Iran, and a copy of an article
taken from the ‘ Journal de Tehdran ’ of the 10th January, giving a version
of a supplementary bill revising in an important manner the larger adminis
trative units specified in Article II of the former law, and also modifying
certain conditions of entry into the service of the Ministry of the Interior.
The map mentioned in Article I of the first law has not yet been published.
2. The second of these measures has passed its second reading, but ha s
not yet been reported as having received the royal assent. Its fourth article*
as quoted by the newspaper, is not very intelligible, since the prime object
of the bill is to recast Articles I and II of the previous enactment.
3. The translation of the Law of the 7th November is from the text in
the Official Journal of the Ministry of Justice, which did not appear until
some five weeks after its passage in the Majlis, and differed in certain respects
from versions which had appeared previously. This circumstance, and the
fact that it was known that large alterations were to be made, when the ink
of the original act was scarcely dry, have caused me to refrain from rendering
sooner a full report on this important legislation. Even now it would be
unsafe to assume that the whole project is other than in an experimental
stage, and that further wide changes w r ill not be made. As an instance of
the confused manner in which things have proceeded, I should mention
that, only tw r o days before the second bill was introduced into the Majlis, a
list of appointments to four of the six ‘ Ustans ’, defined in the original act,
was published. The posts filled were the North-western, Southern, North
eastern and Mekran Ustans, and the recipients were the present Governors-
General of Eastern Azerbaijan, Ears, and Khorassan, and the General Officer
Commanding the 8th Division respectively. These appointments are pre
sumably now in suspense. At the same time, more than one Consulate has
reported that the local Governor or Governor-General had begun to style
himself ‘ Farmandar ’ or ‘ Ustandar ’ before the first law had been finally
placed on the statute book.
4. The broad effect of these measures wull be to break up the large pro'
vinces, such as Khorassan and Ears, into departments corresponding more
closely to units hitherto administered as small governorates, and to group
together regions of lesser extent, differing not very much from the present
smaller independent provinces, such as Khamech, Kazvin, Sultanabad
(’Araq), under larger denominations.
5. A list of ‘ Shahristans ’ and ‘ Bakhshes ’ was published as an appendage
to the Law of the 7th November, but it has not been thought worth wdiile to
transmit this until the present phase of confusion has passed, and also be
cause the Shahristans are indicated in the second of the enclosures with this
despatch. It may be said, however, that the Shahristan in general represents
a more compact, more homogeneous, and less extensive district than that
hitherto ruled by the average governor who corresponded direct with the
Ministry.
6. The heir of the former independent provincial governor is evidently
the Farmandar, and the intention of Articles VI—XVIII of the Law of the
7th November seems to be to make him the backbone of the new administra
tion. The actual handling of affairs is his, as well as the important duty of
co-ordinating the work of local government departments (Article XI) ; and
he has for this purpose a Shahristan Administrative Council (Article
XVIII). His normal channel of communication with his Ministry is through
the Ustandar (Articles XII, XIV, XVI—XVIII, and first paragraph of
XIX) ; but on occasion (Article XIX, paragraph 2) he and the Ministry of
the Interior will correspond direct, a point which may give rise to con
fusion.
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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Coll 28/39(2) ‘Persia. Printed Correspondence, 1937–’ [64r] (127/320), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3443, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100044336375.0x000080> [accessed 13 June 2026]
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- 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