War and Peace in Qajar Persia: Implications Past and ... - Oguzlar.az

220 Roxane Farmanfarmaianincluding John Cadman, having similarly engaged in dual roles that madethem uniquely positioned to negotiate and haggle over interpretation andterms of the concession. This not only gave them an edge in relation to theirPersian interlocutors, but often tainted them in the latter’s eyes, as the Persianswere often at pains to discover to what extent they represented British governmentdesigns, as opposed to Company requirements.The second development in Britain’s approach to the oil discovery was toconsolidate control over the company (or companies) and turn it into an extraterritorialBritish resource for revenue and security. To this effect, the originalD’Arcy company began to metamorphose into a series of companies, thecontrol and financial ownership of which remained closely held in London.Already in July 1907, due to financial exigency, D’Arcy had transferred allhis shares in the First Exploitation Co. to Burmah Oil, a Scottish companywhich paid him £203,067 in cash, and £900,000 in Burmah Oil Co. shares. ThePersian government was not invited to become a party to this transaction,nor to receive any equivalent shares in Burmah Oil, though it was clear thatalready, D’Arcy was being offered a good return on his investment despite therebeing no oil discovery as yet. Burmah Oil, in turn, spun off all D’Arcy’s rightsbeyond the 1,000 square miles he had staked out in Khuzestan to anothercompany, Concessions Syndicate, owned by Lord Strathcona. 21In 1909, a year after the gusher in Masjed Suleiman was hit, several newdevelopments took place on the corporate front. On 13 April 1909 the BakhtiariOil Co. was set up ostensibly as a gesture of goodwill for the benefit ofthe tribal Khans: £300,000 in shares were issued, an annual commitment of£3,000 in cash was made and 3 per cent of the profits were promised tothe Bakhtiaris. Again, no invitation was extended to the Persian governmentto participate. Worse, the annual £33,000 cash payment and the 3 per centof profits was to be deducted from the Persian government’s 16 per cent of revenues,without giving it notice or gaining its authority for doing so. At thePersian government’s expense, therefore, the company established a relationshipwith the Bakhtiari, that in return earned it their protection, and which allowedthe 18th Bengal Army to be withdrawn. In addition, it served, at least tosome degree, to complicate the ambivalent relationship of allegiance fromthe Bakhtiari towards the central government. 22The day following the establishment of the Bakhtiari Oil Co., on 14April 1909, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company was formed as a conglomerateof Burmah Oil, Lord Strathcona’s Concession Syndicate and extra sharesthat Strathcona had acquired during a previous share flotation. The dealinvolved dividing hundreds of thousands of new APOC shares among all threeoriginal British-based parties, and paying out £380,000 in cash. The only sharesnot owned by APOC were the Shah’s (and others’) £50,000-worth of shares,which played no part in the deal. APOC then offered £1.2 million-worth ofpreference and 5 per cent debenture shares to the public in Glasgow andLondon (but not in Tehran), which were bought up in half-an-hour by localinvestors. As an inducement to buy, the prospectus noted, “the outlet of the