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Letters and Papers Concerning the Trans-Persian Railway and Other Railways in Persia [116r] (231/442)
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.
22
Afghanistan, trm two sides, unless they wore assured of Indian
Military support. Now it is unlikely that such an asoendeney
oould ever be obtained if we either held Seistan or were in a
position to place o Military foroe in that country, in the course
of a few days, but we cannot, do either the one or the other
unless a Military Railway connects Quetta with Seistan. Seiaton
with its nreat resources In (Tain and supplies forms a Military
base, for an attack on India, or its defence, the importance of
which the
writer
The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping.
, would venture to think, should never be lost
ei^ht of.
labile these are the general Military considerations which
are dependent on the Political policy we adopt, yet there are
other military considerations of a noro intimate nature. The
possession of Soistan, by a hostile force, carries with it an easy
entry, up the Hebnand valley, to Kandahar. The fall of Kandahar,
and all that this would mean, would shake Afghanistan to its
foundations, have reperoussive effects in India, and in Neutral
territory it would be unwise to under© stdnate, render a blow at
our Baluchistan canmnloetions, with Indie, a military possibility,
endanger our Quetta line of defence and not only place, at the
hostile forces disposal lar^e material resources, but enable the
selection of the point, or points, at which a blow at India could
most effectively and deftly be aimed. On the other hand, were
Seistan to be held by us in stren£?th, no force could advance, on
central Afghanistan and Kabul, without exposing itself to flank
attack from Seistan, directed through I»ash Juwain. Before such an
advance oould, therefore, be mad© it would be necessary to dispose
of this flank menace, Tmt this would prove no easy task, protected
as such a force would be by the inundations which encircle that
country. Besting* as such a force would be, on a Railway base
secure from attack, its retreat would also be secure, should the
exigencies of the military situation ever require this, either
alon: its railway or up the Holrand valley. Provided this desert
Railway is never allowed - a very Important matter - to connect
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