Papers of the Interdepartmental Conference on Middle Eastern Affairs [‎126r] (251/290)

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Major Young suggested that we should say to the French that
while we had no intention of forcibly incorporating Southern
Kurdistan with Mesopotamia, the fact that it had formed part of
Mesopotamia under the Turks appeared to justify its inclusion in
that country by the Peace (.Conference. At the same time, we might
make it clear that our intention was to set up an independent State
in Southern Kurdistan, which could opt later on to join either
Mesopotamia or Northern Kurdistan, if the latter eventually
succeeded in establishing its autonomy.
Mr Garbett questioned whether Southern Kurdistan could be
said to have formed part of Iraq under the Turks. Mosul was
looked upon as a “ vilayet ” of Turkey proper, Baghdad and Basrah as
provinces of the Empire. The distinction was emphasised in the law-
relating to land tenure.
The Chairman said that he would bear in mind the various sucr.
gestionsthat had been made in the course of the discussion. It must
be remembered that the French w'ould possibly lay claim to
commercial concessions in any purely independent Kurdistan, though
it was true that their economic sphere had hitherto been restricted
to Cilicia.
Mallesons Force at
Meshed.
Mr. Montagu remarked that General Malleson had now- been
replaced, owing to some local friction between him and the Consul-
General at Meshed.
The Chairman said that he v'as rather concerned about
Malleson’s force. At the last meeting it had been stated that the cost
of this force amounted to over 6,000,000L per annum. This seemed a
very large figure, and appeared tojustify the attitude of the Cabinet.
There were twx> questions he would like to ask. Firstly, could we
not reduce this expenditure wuthout necessarily withdrawing the force
altogether, and, secondly, could not the Government of India be more
explicit as to the exact nature of the expenditure ? Sir William
Duke had expressed the hope at the last meeting that it w-ould be
possible both to reduce the expenditure and to increase the
proportion borne by the Government of India. The India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors.
had telegraphed to the Viceroy two days before the meeting, and
the Government of India had replied on the 19th March in a most
contentious telegram. What did we all want to do ? He did not in
the least agree with the contention of the Government of India
that Malleson’s force served as a bait for the Bolsheviks. In
his opinion the contrary was the case, and its presence at
Meshed served more as a deterrent to a Bolshevik advance.
Meanwhile Sir Percy Cox had told us that the Governor-General of
Khorasan, who was a loyal friend of ours, would fall if General
Malleson’s force w^ere withdrawn. It appeared to him that the
case for retaining someone at Meshed was overwhelming, that
the idea of complete withdrawal was absurd ; and that to say that
the Bolsheviks would be convinced of our pacific intentions as a
result of such a withdrawal was fantastic. The result of complete
withdrawal might be that the whole Anglo-Persian Agreement would
crumble. North-East Persia was a part of the glacis of India.
Let the Government of India frankly agree to pay the moiety
or a reasonable proportion of the expenditure involved.
Mr. Montagu said the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. position was that the retention
of Malleson’s force was a Foreign Office matter. It was only there to
keep up the Anglo-Persian Agreement. The Government of India
had never agreed to share military expenditure in Persia with the
Imperial Government but only political expenditure. While it
might be true to say that the military position in Persia affected
India, there could be no doubt that the 3,000,000/. which it was
suggested should be spent on the retention of Mallesons force could
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