Persia - Report for the Year ending March 22, 1910, on the Trade and Commerce of the Province of Arabistan (No. 4594 Annual Series Diplomatic and Consular Reports Cd. 4962-206)

Wilson, Lieutenant A.T. (Arnold Talbot); Edited at the Foreign Office and the Board of Trade

Edité par His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO), London, 1910

A propos de cet article

Stitch-bound wraps 15x24cm. 20, (1)pp including data tables, complete with single-fold b/w Sketch Map of Arabistan 16x24cm (Ordnance Survey, 1910). Disbound from a larger volume with sections coming loose, otherwise near fine. The author, Arnold Talbot Wilson (1884-1940), is here identified as a Lieutenant in the Indian Army, and Acting Consul for Arabistan. He had arrived in Persia in 1904 where he led a group of Bengal Lancers in defence of the British Consulate in Ahvaz, and William Knox D'Arcy's oil drillers. In 1907 he transferred to the Indian Political Department serving as a Political Officer in the Persian Gulf. In 1908 he oversaw the discovery of the first oil site in the Middle East at Masjid-i-Suleiman. As Consul-General of Muhammerah (1909?11), he was in charge of the Turko-Persian Frontier Commission. He opens this report by stating that in spite of the "disturbed state of Persia", trade has in fact improved as shippers have managed to avoid the "prolonged disturbances on the Bushire-Shiraz road" by using the Ahwaz-Isfahan road instead, with much of the opium and tobacco crop also being exported via Ahwaz. Imports of materials for the newly formed Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) were over double all other imports combined (@300,000l). He includes a brief survey of security, banks (the Imperial Bank of Persia's new branch in Mahommerah is expected to benefit British commerce), trade restrictions, trade generally and its limited prospects in spite of Arabistan being potentially one of the richest provinces of Persia. In this context, he describes the largely subsistence life of locals: "the Arab of the desert is content with the nomadic life, living by the produce of his flocks and occasional large crops" etc, and the kinds and sources of limited imported goods they purchase. There is also extensive discussion of transport. The area is well served by various steam navigation companies, of which two have been stopping at the Refinery site at Braim (Abadan). The caravan route primarily using mules between Ahwaz and Isfahan takes 17-25 days, hampered by the lack of caravanserais and fodder, with the hope the Bakhtiari Khans will be "induced" to improve matters. The map, @23 miles to 1 inch, centres approximately on Ahwaz, bounded by Abadan Island (SW), Hindijan Customs House on the Persian Gulf coast (SE), Masjid i-Sulaiman to the south of the Bakhtiari Mountains (NE), and the Dizful Customs House (NW). It shows the extent of the very early APOC activities that Wilson had been facilitating, and hints at future developments. Thus "Oil Works" are indicated at Masjid i-Sulaiman and Mamatain, and the "Site for refinery" is marked out on Abadan. APOC had obtained the lease for this site in 1909, and built the refinery during 1910-12. Also shown are various land routes, canal and rivers indicating their navigable extents, some geographical features, and Arabistan's administrative boundary.

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Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Persia - Report for the Year ending March 22, 1910, on the Trade and Commerce of the Province of Arabistan (No. 4594 Annual Series Diplomatic and Consular Reports Cd. 4962-206)
• Éditeur: His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO), London
• Date de parution: 1910
• Reliure: Soft cover
• État de l'article: Very Good