'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.' [‎16v] (37/386)

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Persian Government had objected to the residence of a British Consular officer
at Bampur, and a post at Bam had, therefore, been substituted. Lastly, a re
presentative was sent to guard the interests of British trade at Koh-i-Malik-Siah.
At Meshed the Consular establishment was further supplemented by the
appointment of a Military Attache for the purpose of organising the system
of intelligence regarding movements of Russian troops in Central Asia.
Pinally, it was proposed that, as a complement to the measures taken in other
parts of Persia, an Indian officer should be deputed to uork in the British
Legation at Tehran itself. The plan was one which had been advocated by the
Governments of Lord Northbrook and Lord Lytton. The proposals then made
proved abortive. Later, in 1899, an Indian officer had been appointed to
be Military Attache, and had combined with the functions of that office the
Proposal to appoint an Indian officer duties of Oiiental Secretary. But in
at Tehran. 1901 this arrangement had ceased, and
though an Indian officer still held the post of Military Attache at Tehran, his
duties were in no way political. Recent rearrangements had resulted in a
large preponderance of Indian officers in Persia; the Indian Government was
now required to meet the charge for half the total British expenditure in the
country ; the Indian frontier was now conterminous with that of Persia for
several hundreds of miles; and Indian interests had largely increased in every
part of the Shah’s dominions. Lord Curzon urged that the time had come to
reconsider the existing arrangements at Tehran, and he proposed that an
officer should be deputed from India to Tehran, where he would hold
the status of a Secretary of Legation, and, working under the orders of the
Minister, would specially advise in all matters of Indian interest.
'ine selection oi competent omcers to nil the new posts was not always ai
easy matter. The stations in Persia to which officers of the Indian Politica
Department had previously been posted had been few in number. No specia
arrangements existed for the training of junior officers for work in Persia, anc
but few had the requisite language qualifications, the diplomatic experience
or the knowledge of commercial requirements. Yarious schemes wen
suggested with a view to placing matters on a better footing. A plar
Steps to improve the personnel. v hich \i as seriously considered and whict
was laid before the Secretary of State
proposed that a special Consular Service should be instituted for Persia
Mesopotamia, the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and Oman. It was held, however, that a
service as small as this would necessarily be, would not offer sufficient induce
ments to competent officers; and it was finally decided that appointment*
m Persia should m future be divided into two classes, pi#., those manned
from India, and those filled by the London Foreign Office. The distribution
finally adopted was based on territorial considerations. The posts filled by
?° rel £ n °® ce were ’ generally speaking, those of North-Western
and ot Central Persia, and these were to be manned from the Levant A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Consular
fcervice, the rules for admission to which were revised in December 1903 and
provided for the regular training of student interpreters for service in Persia.
hr St V t T7?v kr A t r h< i Indjan . Political Department were mainly in the
neighbomdiood of the Afghan frontier, in the south of Persia, and on the shores
oftheGuif. Endeavours were made m various ways to secure a sunnlv of
qualified candidates for the Indian posts. The regulations for examination in
Persian and Aiabic were revised with a view to ensuring that the prescribed
tests should be of a more practical nature than those previously in three and
to encouraging officers to learn the language of Persia as it is <moken in
country, and not as it is used in India. 8 Special allowances were section d for
officers qualified in European or Oriental languages which were likely to be of
service, and special attention was paid to linguistic proficiency in selectin'-
candidates tor political employ. The exnciWm vtmJ i J g
young officers of the Indian Army to visit Persia for fixed periods ° One Officer
success, and was ahandonedTn favour of a w plan t w f attended with hut small
tional appointments were sanct oned first Tn ^ expedient. Addi-
.. b. & t* f -».*r7fcasiisiaa , s!5s»sa5