'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.' [‎22r] (48/386)

The reception on the Persian frontier was a marked contrast to the honourable
welcome accorded by the Afghan Governor. Colonel McMahon found that
the Persian officials had received no notice of his appointment, and it
was not till after a fortnight’s delay that he received an intimation which
informed him that orders had at length arrived from Tehran, and that the
Karguzar and the Yamin-i-Nizam had been appointed Persian Commissioners.
Meanwhile the Russians had not been idle. Foiled in their attempt to
secure the employment of a Russian arbitrator, they had successively proposed
the association of a Russian delegate with the British Commissioner ai d the
engagement of a Russian expert to advise the Persian representative. Their
attempts had been successfully opposed. But it was soon evident that the
Per si an Commissioners were entirely under the influence of the Russian Vice-
Consul, whose brother, Dr. Miller, was actually in the Persian camp on the
pretext that the Yamin-i-Nizam was in need of medical attendance. Every
possible obstruction was placed in the way of the Mission. Supplies were
withheld ; the mission convoys were detained; and access to the Persian side
of the frontier was refused. Finally, however, on the Iflth March, the Mission
crossed the border., and for the first time, came into direct communication with
the Persian Commissioners. Meanwhile, the survey of the whole disputed area
had been pushed on unremittingly, and by the month of June the material for
a decision as to the boundary had been collected. 1 nt the Persian Government
had more than once insisted that the arbitration extended solely to disputes
regarding water, and that boundary questions were beyond the scope of the Com
mission’s functions. Instead, therefore, of at once delivering his award, Colonel
McMahon decided to secure preliminary acceptance of the terms of his
award at Tehran. The course adopted was also calculated to minimise
the mischievous effects of Russian misrepresentations. Five months elapsed
before the Shah accorded his assent to the suggested line of boundary,
a^d it was not until November that the
The Boundary Award. British Commissioner was able formally
to deliver his award to the Persian and Afghan Commissioners. The boundary
was declared to run in a straight line from the Koh-i-Malik Siah to the well-
known dam at Kohak and thence along the beds of the Ilelmand River
and of the Nad Ali and Siksar channels to near the village of Deh Yar
Muhammad. From this point it was to pursue a northerly course to a place
known as Shalgumi and thence run in a straight line westwards to the peak
of Siah Koh. The line allowed the claim of neither side in full. Between
Koh-i-Malik Siah and the Band-i-Kohak the Afghan Commissioner had claimed
the country up to Ramrud, a point considerably west of the straight line of
the award. The Persians on their side had asserted pretensions to a large
area extending east to close upon the margin of the Helmand.. The country
was a barren desert, and under existing conditions of irrigation the rival
claims were of little actual interest. Save at two points only the boundary
north of Band-i-Kohak followed what appeared to be the line intended by
Sir Frederick Goldsmid. At one point a Persian village and cultivation
had long existed by Afghan consent on the east of the boundary declared
in 1872. This area was maintained as Persian territory under Colonel
McMahon’s award; while by way of compensation the Afghans were permit
ted to retain within their border a small tract occupied in the course oi recent
disputes. The Persians were required to withdraw from an inconsiderable area
on which they had newly encroached. But, with this single exception, the limits
of existing occupation remained unaltered. Mention must be made of
Afghan claims to Takht-i-Shah. In the correspondence which preceded the
Amir’s assent to arbitration, it had been suggested to His Highness by the
Government of India that grounds existed for believing that the Persian
occupation of this tract was contrary to the award of 1872. The claims to
this area bad been asserted by the Afghan representative with considerable
insistence. But it was shown that not only had the lands been in Persian
possession since a date prior to Sir Frederick Goldsmid s award, but they
had also been included in Persian territory by the terms of his decision. The
award pronounced, the Amir’s approval h d still to be obtained ; and no further
progress could he made until this had been secured. The delay at Kabul was no
less" than that at Tehran; and when in March 1901 His Highness notified his
acceptance of Colonel McMahon’s decision, the assent was coupled with a