IOR/L/PS/10/691

The volume contains papers relating to expenditure on the South Persia Rifles and its dissolution in 1921.

The principal correspondents are: the India Office; the Foreign Office; the Viceroy (Government of India), Foreign Department (later Foreign and Political Department), and Finance Department; Herman Norman, HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Persia [Iran], Tehran [also spelled Teheran in this file] (post held by Sir Percy Cox up to May 1920); the Secretary of State for India; Treasury Chambers; and the War Office.

The papers notably cover and include the following:

• The discussion and apportionment of costs between the Government of India and HM (Imperial) Government in 1920 and 1921
• The position of the Government of India regarding the South Persian Rifles, notably its: view that half the cost of the unit cannot legitimately be charged to its revenue; desire in October 1919 to be entirely relieved of the financial liability for the unit (see ff 416, 409); complaint that the heavy burden of expenditure (taxation) in Persia is unpopular in India especially in the Legislative Council and Assembly and the newspapers; protest at making further payments beyond 31 December 1920; and desire to steer the Persian Government gradually towards taking over financial support of the unit reorganised on a more economically affordable basis
• British concerns regarding the Persian Government’s ability to afford the cost of maintaining the unit should the British withdraw financial support
• Consideration of the potential scale of Bolshevik (Soviet Russian) influence in north-west Persia, and the particular consequences of withdrawal of the British troops from that area concurrent to a dismantling of the South Persian Rifles, and the need to continue British financial support of the Cossack Division [Cossack Brigade] in north Persia
• Tensions between the India Office and the Foreign Office regarding expenditure on the maintenance of the South Persia Rifles, initially up to 31 December 1920 and subsequently up to 31 March 1921, and the India Office and Government of India’s refusal to contribute funds for the unit beyond 31 March 1921 (see ff 332-333)
• Norman’s repeated claims, with the general concurrence of the Foreign Office, that disbanding the unit without six months’ notice would be logistically fraught and have serious adverse political consequences, including: the conversion of ‘a body of more or less disciplined soldiery into a horde of unpaid and uncontrolled bandits’ (f 280); undermining the security of Shiraz and Kerman; and threats to British banking and commercial interests (see notably ff 366, 353, 303-304, 279-281, 161)
• A memorandum dated 17 February 1921 by Sydney Armitage Armitage-Smith, Financial Adviser to the Persian Government, regarding the Imperial Bank of Persia’s view on its future position in the country and with regard to the floating debt of the Persian Government (ff 310-312)
• Discussion of the possibility of unspent money received by the Persian Government from the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) being used to support the South Persian Rifles
• The offer of the APOC to finance the Persian Government (on account of future royalties payable by them to the Persian Government), on condition of a British Financial Adviser having general control of Persian finances and the maintenance of the South Persian Rifles (ff 292-301)
• The apparent policy intentions of the new Persian Government (following a coup d’état 21 February 1921) notably with regard to military arrangements, including Norman’s scheme of organisation for a reduced South Persia Rifles following an indication from the British Consul in Shiraz that the new Government wishes to take over the unit (ff 270-272, 258-266)
• India Office minute paper dated March 1921, entitled ‘S P R. Incidence of expenditure’, detailing the history of the unit from its formation in 1916, and concluding that the department has always supported the Government of India in refusing to contribute to its maintenance after 31 March 1921, ‘a decision which was definitely taken, and communicated to the Foreign Office, on 1st Oct 1920, i.e. with six months’ notice’ (ff 247-253)
• The Treasury’s agreement to contribute £225,000 for the South Persia Rifles with a view to its ultimate disbandment or incorporation into the Persian Army (f 229), and the non-participation of the Government of India in the expense
• Arrangements proposed by the Persian Government for absorption of the unit into the Gendarmerie (ff 208-209), June 1921
• Financial arrangements for the winding up of the South Persian Rifles, notably in connection with the transfer of stores and equipment to the Persian Government, payment of officers and other personnel, and monetary losses to be born regarding stores left behind
• Norman’s continued opposition, July 1921, to disbandment of the unit, and fears about the loss of British influence, alleging: anti-British activities of Bolshevik representation in northern Persia; possible security threats to oil fields (f 161) and telegraph lines (f 155); and the new Government’s untrustworthiness and Anglophobia (ff 155-157). Norman also expresses support for the APOC loan proposal to the Persian Government for the next three months partly to prevent similar loans being tendered by US corporations such as Standard Oil
• The winding-up and adjustment of the accounts of the unit, 1922-23, including inter-departmental contention over specific sums of money.

The papers comprise a mixture of printed, typescript and manuscript documents and mostly consist of: India Office minute papers with manuscript notes; India Office draft letters and draft telegrams; India Office Secret and Political Department registry covering papers including the subject and notes by department officials; covering letters of the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Under-Secretary of State for India, with related enclosures; original and copy letters; and copies of telegrams.

At the front of the volume is a Political and Secret Department divider which gives the subject number and part number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in that part by year.