'A NOTE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF SEISTAN TO INDIA.' [‎2r] (3/38)

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A UOTB ON THE XKPOITAJ'CK OK Jf.IUTAH TO INDIA.
j.. : oner r.- view,_a_r .jrA.Uati v.pi.guXar
activity In. ielstun .
Thg Hussian
i^enace to
loctle «
It ia unneoesaary to go Isaok further than the
beginning of the present century when the eyes of
ail India were turned towards Russia* The Russian
advance had absorbed the central Asian Khanatos and
had reached the borders of Afghanistan and Persia*
iihe found .Kngland ready to defend Afghan frontiers
by force of arias* but lost no ti&e in xaaid.ng her
influence supreme in Tehran and ^ahed. Jeistan
was the only large grain*producing area between
Kandahar and Kiraan, and Meshed and the sea* and* as
such* it was of importance as a base for the armies
of those days* It was the last stage for an army
on the way to the Persian Onif from the north* on the
way to Persia from the i.ast or to India from the
west* Russian opinion of the importance of ueistan
can be judged from the following extract from the
•Novoe Urem/a* of the Una January l9U3s
"Seistan* by its geographical position and intrinsic
nature, deserves* rather than Herat* the name of
the "Key to India"# istan* that flank
position on the road to India which it is
impossible to turn. Were it in our hands the
advance to India would be made far easier* in
isngliah hands all our operations are rendered
considerably more difficult. Lord Curzon has
a keen appreciation of the extreme importance
of
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