IOR/R/15/1/615

The volume contains letters, telegrams, maps, and newspaper cuttings relating to Anglo-Turkish negotiations over the Baghdad Railway, status of Kuwait, and other Persian Gulf matters. The correspondence is between Lionel Haworth, British Consul for Arabistan, Percy Cox, Political Resident at Bushire (later Stuart Knox as acting Political Resident), the Government of India, Henry Babington Smith, President of the National Bank of Turkey, Louis Mallet, British Ambassador to Turkey, the British Consulate at Adana, Hugh O'Beirne, Counsellor to the British Embassy in Russia, Richard von Kühlmann, Councillor of the German Embassy in London, Edward Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the India Office, the Board of Trade, William Grey, Political Agent at Kuwait, the British Consulate at Basra, Arnold Wilson, Civil Commissioner in Iraq, and Ibn Sa‘ud, ruler of Najd and its dependencies. Some of the correspondence comes as enclosures.

The documents relate to the latter stages of negotiations and partly consist of drafts and counter-drafts of the eventual agreement, which was never ratified because of the outbreak of the First World War. They also reflect Britain's involvement in the agreement between the Ottoman Turks and the Baghdad Railway Company. Also covered is a discussion about what to do in case of Sheikh Mubarak of Kuwait's sudden death and territorial claims made by Ibn Sa‘ud on what may be Kuwaiti land.