'SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS AND MEASURES OF THE VICEROYALTY OF HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON OF KEDLESTON, VICEROY AND GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA IN THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT. I. JANUARY 1899-APRIL 1904. II. DECEMBER 1904-NOVEMBER 1905. VOLUME IV. PERSIA AND THE PERSIAN GULF.' [‎7r] (18/386)

[Confidential.]
Chapter I.
BRITISH POLICY IN PERSIA.
f ‘The recognition of the independence of Persia has
“ always been a cardinal point in British policy. We adhere
“ as strongly as ever to that policy which we have repeatedly
“ affirmed. But our special concern is with the southern
“ p ar t of Persia and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and, if occasion arise,
“ we should put forth the whole of our strength in order to
“ prevent encroachments by other Powers in those regions”.
-—Pronouncement by Lord Lans-
doione to the Shah of Persia,
21st August 1902.
In the history of the Foreign Department of the Government of India
during Lord Cnrzon , s administration, no feature is moie striking than the
increase in the mass and the scope of the work connected with India’s
relations with Foreign Powers. The far-reaching and momentous causes,
resulting in the present situation in which “ the Foreign Department in India
is becoming the Asiatic branch of the Foreign Office in England”, were thus
explained by His Excellency at the close of his speech during the Budget
debate of 1903 :—
“ There is one final subject that is rarely mentioned in these debates, and that finds little
place in the many utterances which the head of the Government is called upon to make in the
course of the year and yet in a sense it is the most important of all. I allude to foreign
affairs • and it must be remembered that in the case of India the phrase includes her relations
with the whole of her neighbours, and that this carries with it the politics of the greater part
of the Asiatic Continent. 1 doubt if even the thoughtful public has at all realised the silent
but momentous change that is going on, and that will one day have an effect upon India that
is at present but dimly discerned. In the old days, and it may almost be said up to the last
fifteen years the foreign relations of India were practically connned to her dealings with
Afghanistan, and to the designs or movements of the great Power beyond ; and the foreign
policy of India had little to do with any other foreign nation, ft is true that we had
territories or outposts of influence that brought us into contact with Persia and Turkey, and
that we had occasional dealings with the Arabian tribes. Now all that is changed, and events
are passing which are gradually drawing this country, once so isolated and remote, into the
vortex of the world's politics, and that will materially affect its future. The change has been
due to two reasons. Firstly, as our own dominion has expanded, and our influence upon our
frontier consolidated, we have been brought into more direct and frequent relations with the
countries lying immediately beyond. For instance, the annexation of Upper Burma brought
us into contact with an important corner of the Chinese Empire, and created a batch of frontier
and other political problems of its own. But the second reason is much more important
Europe has woken up, and is beginning to take a revived interest in Asia. Russia, with her vast
territories, her great ambitions, and her unarrested advance, has been the pioneer n this
movement, and with her, or after her, have come her competitors rivals, and allies. Thus, as
all these foreigners arrive upon the scene and push forward into the vacant spots we are slowly
having a European situation recreated in Asia, with the same figures upon the s^e. The
great European Powers are also becoming the great Asiatic Powers. A ^ d /
Britain, Russia, France, Germany, and Turkey; and then, in place of all the sm ^ r E pT n _
kingdoms and principalities, we have the empires and states of the East—Japan China,
Tibet Siam Afghanistan Persia,-only a few of them strong and robust, the majority con-
Sbing the s^eds of inevTuble decay. There lie in these event, and in thie renewed contact or