File 357/1919 Pt 2 ‘RAILWAYS IN PERSIA’ [‎127r] (258/1150)

This item is part of

File 357/1919 Pt 2 ‘RAILWAYS IN PERSIA’

1150 images

Ref: IOR/L/PS/10/794

The record is made up of 1 volume (573 folios). It was created in 5 Dec 1921-28 Jan 1931. 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.

Apply page layout

This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majest/s Government, i
PERSIA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
(T $392/379/34]
No. 1.
May 7, 1928.
r) p* ^Section 4.
^ o O ©
Sir E. Clive to Sir Austen Chamberlain.—{Received Mail 7.)
(No. 187.)
Sir, t . > Tehran, April 21, 1928.
I HAVE the honour to inform you, with reference to my despatch No. 161 of the
5th April last, that a Bill which was submitted to the Majlis on the 17th April for the
railway survey was passed by that body on the 19th April. I have so far been unable
to obtain the text of the law itself, but no important change was brought to the
substance of the Government’s original proposal, a copy of which will be found in the
attached extract from the “ Alessager de Teheran.”
2. It will be seen that the Government are empowered to contract with the
Syndicate Ulen-Holzmann-Berger-Siemens Bauunion for the survey of the future north
to south railway at a cost of 368 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. a kilometre. It seems that the syndicate, so
called, will undertake to accomplish their task in eighteen months. It is an"understood
thing that Ulen will survey from the south and the German group from the north
under the general direction of the railway administration. Further details will become
known when the terms of the contract made between the Government and the syndicate
are published.
3. When the survey is accomplished the Government intend to call for
constructional tenders. It may decide to build parts of the line, or the whole line,
itself. If the work is to be entrusted to foreign contractors, the syndicate engaged in
the survey will have a prior claim to employment. But before tenders are invited, the
Government may call upon the Germano-American syndicate to construct on its behalf
150 kilom. of railway 7 line at each end in order to allow for an estimate of the cost of
construction over the whole line.
4. The debate on the Railway Survey Bill was carried through on “ extreme
urgency lines, so that little play was given to opponents. One Deputy inveighed
against the haste shown by the Government in forcing the measure on the Majlis and
enquired why the survey had not been put out to open tender. He read out a letter
from the German firm of Lenz, which claimed that it was prepared to effect the survey
on more reasonable terms than the rival combine, and insisted that the firm’s offer
should be examined. The Prime Minister, however, wound up the debate in a
vigorous speech, in which he stigmatised the Lenz Company as one which had lost its
reputation. He also somewhat gratuitously extolled the competence of the German
group s engineers at the expense of the American engineers in the Government
service.
(Confidential.)
o. My United States colleague is not happy about the whole affair. He says he
oes not trust Air. Thomas Brown and the German group, who, he is convinced, are
not above corrupt, practices. By this I understood him to mean bribes to Persian
misters. He maintained that Ulen were a firm of the highest standing, who would
never m any case stoop to such methods.
T A' despatch and of its enclosure are being sent to the Government of
n la and His Majesty’s High Commissioner for Irak, Bagdad.
I have, &c.
R. H. CLIVE.
Enclosure in No. 1.
Extract from the u Messager de Teheran ” of April 18, 1928.
e l discussion, avec la procedure de Eextreme urgence, d’un projet de loi
relp^ 11161116 ?^ enc ^ an l a 1’octroi a forfait a un syndicat germano-americain du
e.nent des plans de la ligne ferree de Bandergaz a Ahwaz.
ans son expose de motifs, le President du Conseil declare :
A la suite de 1’experience acquise au cours d’une annee pendant laquelle le
uvemement a conduit lui-meme les travaux preparatoires, il a ete decide,
[464 g—4]

About this item

Content

This volume contains papers relating to the construction of the Trans-Persian Railway. It contains material relating to:

The Persian Railway Syndicate’s attempt to enlist the aid of Rabbi Joseph Saul Kornfeld, the United States Envoy to Persia [Iran], and the British Foreign Office’s subsequent unfavourable attitude towards the Syndicate
The Persian Railway Syndicate’s proposal to invite American companies for the construction of railways in Persia
The concessions for the Mohammerah [Khorramshahr]-Khanakin [Khanaqin] and Khanakin-Tehran railways
The proposed railway from Khanakin to Tehran and the estimated cost for the three principal divisions of the railway
The restrictions of the British Government on the Persian Railway Syndicate’s grant of a loan to the Persian Government
The possibility of a ‘fusion of interests’ between the Persian Railway Syndicate and the Stronach Dutton System of Road Rails Limited
The possible extension of the American Chester Group’s railway concession from Turkey into Persia
The plans of the Prime Minister of Persia [Rezā Khān Sardār Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Sepah] for a railway line extending from Ahwaz [Ahvaz] to Khorramabad, Dizful [Dezful], and Sultanabad [Arak] to Tehran
The endeavour of an American group to obtain a concession for a line from Mohammerah to Khorramabad and Tehran
The expenditures of the Persian Railway Syndicate for the Khanakin-Tehran and the Mohamerah-Khoramabad surveys
The possibility of forming a Railway Syndicate with the Anglo-Persian Oil Company and Standard Oil Company
The Persian Government’s decision to carry out a survey of the Mohammerah-Tehran-Bandar-i Gez [Bandar-i Gaz] railway line with the assistance of a German engineer
The Consortium industriel pour l’Orient’s proposal to build a railway connecting Meshed [Mashhad] to the Tripoli-Homs Line
The preference of the British Army Council and the Air Council for an East-West rather than a North-South railway in Persia for strategic reasons
The exploitation of coal and iron deposits in Mazanderan [Mazandaran] for the construction of railways in Persia, and the concerns of Russia about a Trans-Persian Railway connecting the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. to the Caspian Sea
The Act of the Persian Majlis [Parliament] for the construction of the Persian Trunk Railway
The Persian Majlis’s Passage of the Bill for Railway Survey and Construction
The Persian Majlis’s passage of the Railway Construction Bill, from Mohammerah and Bandar-i Gez to Tehran
The Persian Majlis’s passage of a law for constructing a railway between Khor Musa-Mohammerah-Bandar-i Gez;
The Persian Majlis’s authorisation of the Minister of Public Work to employ foreign experts for the construction of the Railway;
The inauguration of the Bandar-i Gaz-Tehran-Ahwaz Railway in the presence of the Shah of Persia [Rezā Shāh Pahlavi]
The British concerns and preference for a British rather than an American firm to build the Southern Section of the Railway
The passage of the Railway Survey Law by the Persian Majlis and the contract between the Persian Government and the American company Ulen, and two German companies, Philipp Holzmann and Julius Berger-Siemens Union [sic., Siemens Bauunion] to carry out a complete survey of the Railway
The contract between the Persian Government, represented by Minister of Public Works [General Ḥabib Allāh Khān Shaybānī], and the Persian Railway Syndicate, represented by MD Carrel and MNS Mavrogordato
The contracts between the Persian Government and the Persian Railway Syndicate for the constructions of ports at Bandar-i Qays and Khor Musa (Bandar-i Shahpur) and a dam over the Karun River at Ahwaz
The plans for building the line from Bandar Shapur north of Ahwaz, and revival of the line from Hamadan to Tehran
The construction of the railway lines from Bandar Shah and Khor Musa, the diversion of German resources to the construction of electrical and cement works, and the postponement of building a port at Khor Musa
The reservations of the British Minister in Persia [Robert Henry Clive] about the construction of the Railway as opposed to motor roads in Persia, and the subsidisation of the enterprise through the tea and sugar monopolies
The increase in the cost of the Southern Section of the Railway and predicted opposition of the Persian Government
The visit by the Shah of Persia to the Southern Section of the Railway, his unfavourable impression of the state of the railway, and the American Minister in Persia’s advice to Ulen and Company to stop working on the railway in case of difficulties with the Persian Government
The cancellation of the contract between the Persian Government and the Persian Railway Syndicate over delayed payments, and the agreement between the German and Ulen groups within the Syndicate to work on the Northern and Southern sections of the Trans-Persian Railway respectively
The Anglo-Persian Oil Company’s concerns about the Railway providing greater access and mobility to the Russians
The dispute between the Persian Government and the German-American syndicate for the construction of the Railway
The negotiations between the Persian Government and the German companies Julius Berger Konsortium, Philipp Holzmann, and Siemens Bauunion for the construction of the Northern Section of the Trans-Persian Railway
The possible takeover by the Batignolles Construction Company of the building of the Southern Section of the Trans-Persian Railway from the American and British companies Ulen and Company and Stewart and McDonnell
The Persian Government’s appointment of Suzuki Hajime from the Japanese Railway Department’s Engineering Bureau
The breakdown of negotiations between the Batignolles Construction Company and the Government of Persia, and the latter’s decision to proceed with the construction of the remaining sections of the railway
The proposals of the Batignolles Construction Company to the Government of Persia in the absence of a contract
The extension of the Southern Section of the Railway from Khor Musa to Dizful, Hamadan and Kazvin [Qazvin], and the Northern Section from Tehran to Sari and the southern coast of the Caspian Sea.

The volume also includes the following sketch maps:

A sketch map of the Trans-Persian Railway, from Khor Musa to Sari and the coast of the Caspian Sea, showing the ‘Line Completed’, ‘Line Surveyed’, and ‘Division between the Northern and Southern Sections’ (f 14)
A sketch map of the Northern Section of the Railway, showing the routes to Pahlavi, Semnan, and Balfurush [Barfurush], with a second map of the Southern Section, showing alternative routes and termini, running either from Mohammerah or Khor Musa to Dizful and Hamadan (f 156)
A sketch map showing the existing and projected railways in Persia (f 204).

Extent and format

1 volume (573 folios)

Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

The subject 357 (Persia: Railways) consists of two volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/793-794. The volumes are divided into two parts, with each part comprising one volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 573; 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

Share this item

Cite this item in your research

File 357/1919 Pt 2 ‘RAILWAYS IN PERSIA’ [‎127r] (258/1150), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/794, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100110106180.0x00003b> [accessed 9 June 2026]

Link to this item

https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100110106180.0x00003b

Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100110106180.0x00003b">File 357/1919 Pt 2 ‘RAILWAYS IN PERSIA’ [&lrm;127r] (258/1150)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100110106180.0x00003b">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x0002b0/IOR_L_PS_10_794_0258.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>

IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x0002b0/manifest Open in Universal viewer Open in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse

Download this image

Copyright: How to use this content

Reference: IOR/L/PS/10/794
Title: File 357/1919 Pt 2 ‘RAILWAYS IN PERSIA’
Pages: 127r:127v
Author: Le Messager de Tehran
Usage terms: Public Domain

File 357/1919 Pt 2 ‘RAILWAYS IN PERSIA’ [‎127r] (258/1150)

Transcription

About this item

Use and share this item

Copyright: How to use this content