'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.' [‎12r] (28/386)

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The second question propounded was—“What action would it be expedient
for Great Britain to take in the event of disorders occurring in Persia, a,nd
occasioning a Russian occupation in the North—or in anticipation of such
disorder—it being understood that occupation of Persian territory would not be
directed against Russia, but would be undertaken in the interests of peace
and order, and as an assertion of the position of Great Britain as jointly
interested with Russia in the maintenance of the Persian kingdom ? ” It was
proposed that in this event we should at once occupy Bunder Abbas and
the three islands of Ormuz, Kishm, and Henjam; that we should protect
British interests at Bushire; and that we should occupy, or be prepared to
occupy, Seistan with an adequate force of troops from India.
The third question was “ in what particular portions of Persia and by what
methods can the extension of British influence be most successfully prosecuted
and to the best advantage for general purposes and for the contingencies above
discussed ?’’ It was held that, consistently wuth the decisions on tlie two preced
ing points, preparations should steadily be made for the occupation of Seistan
by extending the railway beyond Nusbki and pushing our trade; that we should
re assert our claims at Bassidore and on the Musandim Promontory, especially in
the Elphinstone Inlet, and support the authority of the Chief of Shargah
over the coast from Dibba to Khor Kalba. All possible care should be taken
to prevent any other Power from gaining a footing at Bunder Abbas or on any
of the neighbouring islands. For the rest, w e should continue to encourage
trade on the Karun, to maintain our position at Bushire, and to support
Persia as long as possible by peaceful means. On behalf of the Admiralty,
Prince Louis of Battenburg explained that the establishment of a Russian
coal depot at Charbar might be a convenience for their cruisers and transports
going to the Far East in time of peace, hut had no serious significance in case
of w ar, so long as it was not fortified and provided with communications by
land with a Russian base. It w^as further agreed that the most effective
check to Russian progress towards South Persia lay in the completion of the
railway from Constantinople to Baghdad, as it w^ould bring the Turks in
force on the flank of a Russian advance. It w 7 as recommended, therefore, that
we should encourage the project to the best of our power, provided we could
acquire our proper share of control of the railw ay and its outlet on the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
The opinion of Lord Curzon’s Government was invited on the proposals
thus formulated, and was expressed at length in a despatch, dated the
4th February 1904. The contingency most prominently held in view was
the second of those discussed by the
Lord Curzon’s views. Departmental Committee, and the view
was urged that, though the measures suggested might be adequate in the
event of the Russian movement being confined to such a single point as
Tabriz on the w T est or Meshed on the east, yet in the event of a larger
movement covering the whole of Northern Persia, it would be advisable
that the British reply should include a wdder sphere than that proposed,
and that Bushire and Mohammerah should both be occupied, and possibly even
an advance be made on Ispahan. In recommending this course, Lord Curzon’s
Government laid stress on the consideration that the object of Russia was
not so much the direct annexation of any portion of Persian territory as the
»Tadual acquisition of control over the central Government, with a view to the
reduction of Persia to the position of the Central Asian Khanates; that it
was unlikely, therefore, that a British occupation in the South would bring
our troops face to face with those of Russia; and that w^e should look to British
movements, not as intended to be permanent, but as a means of bringing
pressure to bear upon Russia to withdraw^ from the North, and thus avoid a
precipitation of the dissolution of Persia, and the placing of a permanent
barrier in the w r ay of her southern advance. Dissent w f as further expressed
from the view that the presence of the Baghdad Railway on the flank
of a Russian advance was likely to be of any material benefit, and from the
opinion that German assistance should be sought in the defence of interests
which were exclusively our own.