IOR/L/PS/10/1106/2

The item comprises correspondence relating to 'modernising' reforms in public life in Persia [Iran] in line with more 'Western' notions of civilisation. The correspondence consists largely of telegrams and letters sent by the British Minister in Tehran, Sir Robert Henry Clive, or the Chargé d'Affaires, Raymond Cecil Parr, to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in London, Sir Austen Chamberlain. Copies of these were then forwarded to the India Office.

The correspondence consists of reports and updates on the developing political situation in Persia. Several matters are covered, including:

• Modernisation of Persian dress, including new laws enforcing the wearing of the 'Pahlavi' cap and clothes made in Persia of Persian-made cloth
• Reaction to these new laws among British Indian subjects resident in Meshed [Mashhad]
• An attempt by the Governor of the Persian Ports Dashti and Dashtistan [Dashtestan] to enforce the new dress laws among Persian employees at the Political Residency in Bushire [Bushehr]
• Changes to the freedom given to women in Persia, in terms of dress and public life more generally
• Unrest among Kurdish inhabitants of West Azerbaijan province
• Russian affairs in the country and the state of Russo-Persian relations.

Other correspondence, included as enclosures, comes from: Bernard Gilliat-Smith, British Consul, Tabriz; and Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Vincent Biscoe, British Consul-General, Meshed.