IOR/L/PS/12/3479

Correspondence concerning tribal unrest on the frontier between Persia [Iran] and British India, more specifically the region of Persia referred to as Persian Baluchistan [Sistan and Baluchistan Province] and Baluchistan Province in modern-day Pakistan, and efforts to control cross-border movements. Subjects covered include:

• A protest from the Persian Government in early 1934, in response to reports of armed British guards and secret agents crossing into Persian territory at Mashkid. The incident reflected the wider concerns of the Persian Government, of British interference on the Persian side of the border, in fomenting unrest amongst Baluchi tribesmen
• An unauthorised visit to Gwadur [Gwadar] by the Persian Passport and Visa Officer at Quetta in May 1934, reportedly to investigate the reasons why Persian Baluchis were quitting Persia. Subsequent correspondence relates to representations made to the Persian Government by the British Government about the visit, including reference to correspondence with the Sultan of Muscat, then sovereign of Gwadur
• Arrangements for and reports on a conference at Duzdap [Zahedan] in February 1935, held between the Government of India and Persian Government officials, to discuss Persian grievances about the tribal unrest on the border between the two countries. Printed copies of résumés of the conference sessions are included in the file (ff 302-309, ff 322-324).
• Continued negotiations between the Governments of India and Persia over control of the frontier, including the drafting of a bilateral agreement
• From 1937, British concerns over an influx of Persian refugees into Mekran [Makran] and Karachi.
• In 1938, attempts to extradite a Persian ‘rebel’ named Juma khan Ismailzai, along with his followers, from British Baluchistan.

The file’s principal correspondents are: HM’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Tehran; the Foreign Office; the Deputy Secretary to the Government of India in the External Affairs Department, William Rupert Hay; representatives of the Persian Government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Mirza Mohamed Ali Khan Feroughi and Muzaffar A’lam.

The file contains several items of correspondence exchanged between the British and Persian Governments that are written in French.

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.