IOR/L/PS/12/3399

Papers relating to the transfer of ownership of the railway line running between Mirjawa [Mīrjāveh] and Duzdap [Zahedan] in eastern Persia [Iran], from the Government of India to the Persian Government.

The volume begins with reports of interruptions to monthly rations trains, prompting the Government of India to close down the line. The remainder of the correspondence covers negotiations for the transfer and reopening of the railway:

• The impact of the railway’s closure on trade, water supply to the region, smuggling, road traffic.
• The British Government’s initial desire to use the transfer of the railway as a quid pro quo for an extension to the south Persia air route used by Imperial Airways.
• Statements showing income and losses made by the railway between 1923 and 1931 (ff 205-208).
• A report by John Gilbert Laithwaite of the India Office, undated but likely written in early 1933, containing a comprehensive summary to date of agreements and operations of the railway, between the Government of India and the Persian Government (ff 132-148).
• A copy of an agreement for the sale of railway plant and rolling stock, with a list of equipment, quantity and prices (quoted in Indian rupees) (ff 94-104).
• Draft copies of an agreement (in French) for the transfer of the railway.

The volume’s principal correspondents are: the British Legation at Tehran (Robert Henry Clive; Reginald Harvey Hoare); the British Vice-Consul at Sistan and Kain [Ka’īn] (Major Clive Kirkpatrick Daly); the India Office (Laithwaite); the Foreign Office (Charles William Baxter; George William Rendel).