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Letters and Papers Concerning the Trans-Persian Railway and Other Railways in Persia [118r] (235/442)
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
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24.
all Jalk and Barhad trad©, and, in addition to this, no snail
moiety of the Kiman province, provided a small branch connection
between the main line and Schta^an, on the Jalk frontier, 60-70
miles in length, be added. Such a Railway would, further, provide
the Shiah ccnunity of India with pilgrimage facilities, to Meshed,
it would welcome and would supply, what Persia and the Persians
stand in such need of, direct overland oormunloation with India -
and here, it my incidentally be noted that while the Persian
nourishes an inherent dislike to any sea voyage, no natter how
brief, yet he will face, with equanimity the hardships of a long
overland Journey, Furthermore, it would open up a country in which
various minerals and other products, of considerable economic
value, are known to exist: would remove from our present trade
one of its most objectionable features, v,i.z. the necessity which,
so frequently, arises of sending empty camels to India for rroods
which, on sale, have to bear the cost of the double Journey: and
would make available, for import into India, various raw products
whose bulk and value is such that they offer, under present
conditions, no inducement for movement, The rates which rule in
Seistan for are ;generally extremely low and although, tinder
existing Persian lav/, the export of food stuffs is not permitted,
yet this is a natter which the future nay see modified. That
ijrain will flow in freely from the valley of the Helnand, despite
similar restrictions, is certain. Lastly, such a railway will
develop, by attracting new blood and money to Chagai, the cultivation
of that District. Chagai is far from being a barren country: in
fact it possesses considerable areas of excellent land, with water
lying close to the surface, and it is only the supineness of its
inhabitants and its vicinity to the cheap wheat of Garmsel that
has, up to the present, stood in the way. The date groves of
Kharan, Mashkel, Jalk, and Dlz^ak are a traffic asset of considerable
potential value and there is no reason why these , roves should not
be largely extended and developed, as should also follow in the
case of those rich stretches of alluvial land, in Southern Mashkel
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