'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.' [‎18r] (40/384)

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The impetus was not confined to telegraphs alone. The need for
close attention to other means of coin-
improved communications in Persia. munication had been much augmented by
the rapid advance of Itussia on the North.
Her commanding posiiion on the Persian frontier has already been noticed,
throughout the period of Pord Curzon’s administration her advance continued
steadily. In Georgia her railway system has been extended up to the frontier
at Julfa, the connection with which place was established in 1904. A con
cession for a road from this point to Kazvin was one of the conditions of the
loan of 1902. The road is already complete, and a branch from Kazvin to
Hamadan has also been opened for traffic. Prom her base on the Caspian a
Russian road leads via Kazvin to the capital. At Enzeli work has been under
taken on a large and costly scale to improve the port facilities. Finally, a motor
service has been established on the Russian roads.
The main sphere of British activity in the improvement of communications
has lain in Arabistan. In 1888 Sir Henry Drummond-Wolfc secured from the
Shah the opening of the Karun to navigation as far as Ahwaz, and a
service was established on the river by the Tigris and Euphrates Steam
Navigation Company. Above this point the navigation was reserved to
Persian subjects. But the Company was not to be deterred. A vessel was
presented to the Shall and placed upon the upper reaches, where, by an under
standing with the Persian Government, it plies under the command of a British
Captain, and maintains connection with the steamers on the lower river.
But the limit of navigation, whether at Ahwaz or Shuster, was still distant
The Bakhtiari road. ! \ om the tn,de marts of the Persian
plateau; and without further means of
communication, the concession of 1888 was of little avail. The first step was
the building of a road to Ispahan. The Bakhtiari Chiefs secured the
requisite concession from the Shah ; and the firm of Messrs. Lynch were invited
to construct the road. The mountain streams were bridged; a track was driven
through the hills; and early in 1900 the new route was opened for the passage
of caravans.
But from Shuste 1 * northwards the country was still closed. In 1890 the
The Lur road. Imperial Bank of Persia, with the
approval of the Persian Government, had
taken over from its Persian owner a concession for a road from the Karun
valley northwards to Tehran, with the right to construct a branch
from Burujird to Ispahan. In virtue of this grant, operations were started
in the neighbourhood of the capital, and a road was constructed from Tehran
as far as Kum. Erom time to time the Bank had sought assistance from the
British Government. But this had been refused, and eventually the Bank
abandoned the further development of its concession. In 1902 it was pro
posed to form an independent Company to be styled the Persian Transport
The Persi n Transport Company. Company, for the purpose of taking over
and working the Imperial Bank’s road
concession, the navigation of the Karun hitherto in the hands of Messrs.
Lynch, and the interest of the latter firm in the recently constructed road to
Ispahan. But still it seemed clear that no progress would be made without
substantial Government support. The promoters of the Company declared
that a necessary preliminary must be a guarantee of a subsidy for a term of
years in addition to the subvention already enjoyed by the Tigris and Euphrates
Company. On the advice of Lord Curzon, the Government of India agreed to
make themselves responsible for half of an annual subsidy of £2,000 for ten
years. The Company was finally formed in 1904. But operations had already
begun at an earlier date. Work Tvas again begun at the northern end of the
line ; hut the unrest in Luristan debarred the Company from exploitation in the
south. The Company again appealed for help to meet their new difficulties :
and in 1904, a British representative was posted to Ahwaz. The officer selected
had been trained among the Indian frontier tribes, and his instructions were
to cultivate relations with the Chiefs of Luristan, and to devise some scheme
for guarding the intended road. Mr. Lorimer soon enlisted the sympathies
of certain sections of the tribes, and in the spring of 1904 procured an
escort which conducted him in safety to and from Khoremabad through