‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [‎118r] (240/617)

(
[ 17 ]
disposed to agree, if a suitable gentleman could frmnd -c u,
Ks. 50 a month could be saved in the Bushire Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. expenditure. 'ThTeTpecSTving!
* No. 579 in Secret E., November 1893, Nos. 568-581. ^ no t ac crue and a final decision* was post-
t Secret E., March 1894, Nos. 251-253. poned in view of Lieutenant Sykes’s visit to
t Secret E., June 1897, Nos. 150-153. Kerman. A Vice-Consulate was, however
- n i * < ,-n ali . openedf at Yezd in September 1893. The case
for a Consular Agent at Bundar Abbas was agamt taken up in 1897, and the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency.
was told- At present the Government of Ind.a do not consider that, from a eommereial point
of view such an agent is much needed. In any case the proposal must be held over until
the normal conditions of trade have been restored by the withdrawal of the Russian sanitary
cordon. ’ The Foreign Office list for 1898 shows the following consular appointments in Persia
m addition to those at Tehran, Bushire and Meshed, (the appointments at the last two places
are held by officers of our Political Department) : —
Tabriz—Consul-General—(pay £650+ £270 office allowance).
Resht and Asterabad—Consul—(pay £600+ £150 „ „ ).
Kerman—Consul— (office allowance £250, Captain Sykes).
Ispahan—Consul—(pay £560+ £117 office allowance).
Mohammerah—Vice-Consul—(pay £350+ £140 office allowance).
Yezd—Vice-Consul—(unpaid. The Vice-Consul is the Manager of the local branch of
the Bank of Persia).
11. At No. 215 in Secret E., November 1896, Nos. 214-223, is an important despatch from
Sir Mortimer Durand to Lord Salisbury, regarding the then existing condition of affairs in
Persia, which includes the following :—
“ At present our merchants naturally consider that an Englishman’s life is not safe
at Shuster The only way, so far as I can see, to establish security
for the future and to let our trade develop from this natural centre, is to appoint
a Resident Vice-Consul under the protection of a trustworthy armed force.
That force, I think, might take the form of an escort of Indian troops, but it
would, in my opinion, be much better on all accounts to raise at the expense of
the Persian Government a body of Bakhtiaris and Arabs under British officers.
It will be remembered that the Russians have an armed force under Russian
officers at Tehran itself. They could not logically object to our having a
similar force in the south, and the Persian Government, if resolutely pressed,
would, I believe, agree
“ Moreover the consequences would not be wholly unpleasant to them. The Persian
Government would not like paying for the corps, and they would not hke the
trouble of overcoming possible Russian opposition; but, on the other hand, they
could make some reduction in their existing force, and they know that abodyot
trustworthy troops under British officers would give the Central Government a firm
hold in the province where it was quartered A hrce ecpnvzhnt to a single
regiment would, I believe, amply suffice for Shuster and the neighbourhood .....
“ Such a force would be a nucleus for the extension of our influence among the Bakhtiaris
and Arabs and, if we ever desired to extend the system, the foundation
would have been laid/ A similar corps could at any time be raised m Ispahan,
where the Zil-es-Sultan would, I feel sure, be delighted to see it.
it also means some
expense
means some expense Tom-selves; andR^ay X” ifal pTbeUevedTot
of' Consulates in Ispahan, Shiraz
have nroposed might accelerate her
and Bushire; and any suon ^I 1 , “U. of this Legation, I think we
movements. Nevertheless, from P ...I would not, however,
should gain more by it than we C fl 7 al] ° haza ' r ds'upon'raising such a force as I have
advocate that we should msi, raiged ^ j believe nothing else would so
suggested. I should like _ the south of Persia; but if the Persians
effectually strengthen , t $ a cons iderable Indian escort at Shuster
agreed in preference to the estabiisnme ^^^ o n ^ own accou]lt for the
or if they made prompt and eSec v ° ri , t] . 00[)S £rom elsewhere, then we
despatch to Shuster of + r0 "= > we ; eaUy want in the first place is to
might suspend the proposal...property, and possibly we may find
secure the safety of a under British officers. If so,
that this can be secured without m'sing: a
perhaps we need not press or ) h „ ^ Salisbury - 3 views upon this
propS ^ ^

‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [‎118r] (240/617)

Transcription

About this item

Copyright: How to use this content

‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [‎118r] (240/617)

Transcription

About this item

Use and share this item

Copyright: How to use this content