IOR/L/PS/12/3474

Papers relating to proposals for irrigation schemes in Persia [Iran], and specifically for the Karun river [Rūd-e Kārūn] in the southwest of the country. The contents of the volume can be divided into two parts, as follows:

Correspondence dated 1933-34 (ff 141-240) concerning a request made by the British engineering firm Dorman, Long and Company to the India Office for permission to view a report on irrigation projects in South Persia, completed by Major William Ross Morton of the Royal Engineers between 1902 and 1904. Subsequent correspondence between the India Office and The Government of India relates to efforts to locate copies of two reports written by Morton, copies of which are included with the correspondence (ff 154-211). The first report, entitled ‘Report on the River Karun Irrigation Scheme’ (1907) includes sections on: irrigation, navigation, and financial aspects of the project; several appendices outlining rainfall at Bushire from 1878 to 1906 inclusive, statistical data for gauge and discharge levels of the river Karun; thirteen plans and longitudinal sections of the Karun river. The second report, entitled ‘Report on Mr Van Roggen’s proposed Ahwaz Irrigation Scheme’ (1905), is a review of (with copies of correspondence relating to) a proposed irrigation scheme completed by the Dutch engineer Graadt von Roggen for the Persian Government. This report includes eleven plans and longitudinal sections (ff 212-240).

Papers dated 1941-45, concerning the British Government’s renewed interest in the Karun irrigation scheme, in the wake of the Anglo-Soviet occupation of Iran during the Second World War. The papers include several letters and memoranda authored by Sir Lionel Berkeley Holt Haworth, former Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (1927-1929), outlining proposals for an irrigation scheme in Persia, as requested from him by the Secretary of State for India.

The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.