IOR/L/PS/10/646

Correspondence and other papers relating to the famine that affected Persia [Iran] during the First World War (specifically the years 1917 and 1918) and attempts made by British officials in Persia to alleviate the effects of famine. The file includes: reports from British officials of famine conditions in Shiraz (from early 1917), Meshed [Mashhad] (January 1918) and Tehran (February 1918); speculation concerning the impact of British and Indian troops in Persia on food shortages; arrangements for the import of 1,000 tonnes of flour to Shiraz from India; the subsidy of bakers in Shiraz; discussion of how the costs of the relief effort should be split between the British and Indian Governments; food relief at Hamadan, including for Russian soldiers; relief at Ispahan [Isfahan] for Armenian refugees. Much of the correspondence makes clear the ‘valuable political effect that would result from extended relief work carried out under British auspices’ (f 82), that the British Government hoped could be obtained by it being seen to be helping a Persian population affected by famine. The file’s principal correspondents include: HM’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Tehran, Charles Murray Marling; the Foreign Office; HM Treasury.

The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (f 4).