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Letters and Papers Concerning the Trans-Persian Railway and Other Railways in Persia [112r] (223/442)
The record is made up of 1 file (221 folios). It was created in Nov 1911-Mar 1917. 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.
18.
incapable of benefitting by dGmocraiic institutions and t3mt if
these are conferred, the powers so obtained will be used by
those holding them to exploit other to the benefit of themselves.
The only type of Government, suited to the Oriental character
with its peculiar springs, is an autocracy, but in Persia the dry
rot has penetrated so deep into all her members that the time
has past, v/ith due regard to such ether conditions as exist, when
this form of Government holds out any hope of salvation, tfere
Bus sis to obtain the predominant position in Persia, we would
then be faced with two likely contingencies. A Railway connecting
Russian Central Asia with the head of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, and Russian
control of two sides of Afghanistan. It nay be urged that all such
speculations are, at present, idle but these contingencies are
real and whether they ever materialise is likely to depend, in
a large measure, on the main factors as they are grouped at the
close of the war, of which a Railway extension to the Persian
frontier would prove, by no means, the least Important.
Afghanistan is a British protected State in the enjoyment,
within its boundaries, of independent self Government. In the late
Amir Abdur Rahman, one of the great personalities of the 19th
Century, we were fortunate in possessing a ruler of exceptional
parts, gifted with great prescience, extraordinary administrative
and military capacity and a Judgment which was as mature as his
mind was active. Despite the frontier pin pricks in which he took
a malicious delight in indulging at our expense, he was fully
cognisant to the fact that the safety of his throne depended on
his maintaining friendly relations with the Indian Government. His
lifetime saw Afghanistan converted from a oongery of potty tribes
and Jealousies into a powerful state well organised and equipped
with a strong aray trained on the Indian principle and w r ell
provided with arms, ammunition, and a powerful artillery, for which
particular branch of the service the Afghan evinces a great
natural bent. He was followed, at his death, by his son, Habibulla
Khan, the present Amir. The latter, although Just as well disposed
About this item
- Content
The file contains correspondence, memoranda, and other papers relating to railway projects in Persia [Iran] and the surrounding region. The papers deal with the proposals for, planning, and progress of, several railway lines, including one from the Mediterranean to India, the Trans-Persian Railway, the Baghdad Railway, and the Nushki and Dalbandin extension from Quetta. The documents discuss the merits and flaws of the proposals, technical issues such as gauge sizes, and the impact of such projects on Britain's relations with Russia, Germany, France, and Turkey.
At the back of the file are a number of official reports on Parliamentary debates within the House of Commons, dating from 10 July 1912 to 25 May 1914, all of which feature railways (folios 128-218). Also at the rear of the file are three maps:
- General Map of Asia with proposed British, German, and Russian rail lines added by hand
- War Office map of the Middle East, showing railways and railway projects
- As above with further rail lines added and details of gauges given.
Correspondents include: Arthur Campbell Yate, army Officer; Henry McNiel; Francis Richard Maunsell, army officer; George Lloyd, politician; Lieutenant-Colonel Charles à Court Repington, army officer and war correspondent; Lord Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, Leader of the House of Lords; Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice (Lord Lansdowne), statesman; Lucien Wolf, journalist and historian; Charles Staniforth, businessman and railway investor; Charles Prestwich Scott, Editor of the Manchester Guardian; Hugh Shakespear Barnes, Director, Imperial Bank of Persia; and Colonel Frank Cooke Webb Ware, former Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Chagai.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (221 folios)
- Arrangement
The file is arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 221; 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
- Mss Eur F112/252
- Title
- Letters and Papers Concerning the Trans-Persian Railway and Other Railways in Persia
- Pages
- 87r:90v, 95r:221v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence