"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٣‎٦‎٨] (١٧٨٢/٥١١)

368
I
Control of
the Customs
of Southern
Persia.
assembling at Tehran of the Russian survey mission which in 1900 overran
the whole of Southern Persia, headed by an official who in the Russia"
press was described as " Director of Persian Railways." In carrying out
the instructions of Her Majesty's Government the British representative at
Tehran forwarded to the Persian Minister for Foreign A ffairs a copy of the
autograph letter of the late Nasir-ud-Dm Shah to which his reminder
referred; a translation of that document will be found elsewhere in this
Gazetteer. The authenticity of the promise was readily admitted by both
the Sadr-i -A 'zam and the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs. It was
not possible, in consequence of the weak health at the time of the reigning
Shah, that the British representative at Tehran should bring the question
personally to His Persian Majesty's notice ; but various steps were taken to
ensure that he should be made aware of the existence of the document, and
they were such that in the end no doubt remained that Muzaffar-ud-Din
Shah had both seen it and admitted its binding force. The Russian
Minister at Tehran also, in conversation with the British Charge d'Affaires,
stated that he was aware of the Shah's promise regarding railways in the
south. If the Russians were at that time inclined to attempt a practical
encroachment on the railway rights of Great Britain in Southern Persia,
the production of Nasir-ud-Din's written promise and its recognition by
his son and successor may have operated as a deterrent, and may have
been the cause of their ultimately taking no action.
The second British diplomatic measure related to the control of the
customs of Southern Persia, upon which there was a danger that Russia
might establish some lien. Discussion of the subject began in 1899 on the
basis of a pledge given by Persia to Britain in 1897 that the Southern
Customs would never be placed under foreign supervision or control. It
was prolonged until 1904 when the Persian Government with apparent
reluctance at length.admitted that in pledging part of their customs
revenue as security for Russian loans in 1900 and 1902 they had not
consciously contravened the guarantee of 1897 in any particular, The
British Government in taking note of this admission, which they did not
regard as satisfactory, officially informed the Shah's Ministers that the
assurance of 1897 must still be considered as valid, and that in the event
of any attempt on the part of Persia to ignore the rights of Britain
thereunder, the necessary steps would be taken by the British Government
to ensure that they were respected. The firm attitude which the British
Government maintained throughout the long controversy on this question
had undoubtedly a salutary ^ect; and it is not impossible that, if that
attitude had been less inflexible, some alienation of the Southern Customs
including those of ine Gulf, might actually have occurred in favour of