‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [‎249r] (505/617)

[ 9 ]
« I ZlZ Slfte“Lh E :S S 6 ', — ^ee years,
2,039 were British, and their tonnaw ren^tnf /L clea «d from the Gulf ports
If the returns of Persian ports alone hp ^ ^ ?, er ° ent of the total tonnage.
£11,172,000, of which loca! trade - ITjno^ 6 YV are Tota l «e
£9,002,600, the British proportion • and Eternal trade =
cent. To these totals in efthefcase there Ih Ju F ^ ^A 9 *’ 200 ’ or 83 per
added those of Basrah, whTch amounted in Vhe ° Ur OP + ln!on ’- ° ertailll y be
£2,157,300. Unfortunately the mrner in which “T tn f lnial P eriod to
not admit of our distinguishing thfem? f “ r “• t ^ ese h ? ve been Prepared, do
portion, however, that slZw °f ^7^' ^he pro-
may be inferred from the British F i • ^ -A-ti a io Indian commerce
from that port in the three years referred to ° Tt s lip P in J’ J llat en tered or cleared
«„t boii & a, number J ^ S
,, t 2< 1' f >,irin m the last thirty years the maintenance of the sub-marine cables of
from tW ni r0P ? n J eleS , r ^ Co “P an yfrom Pao to Jask, and oMhe knd Hues
om that place to Karachi, has also devolved upon the Indian Government and
r t? nC 'h t0 rTk- 5386 a S T alread y preponderant influence over both the waters
and the shores of this sea. Latterly there has been a deliberate but necessary con
solidation of our influence in certain quarters where trouble threatened or where
rivalry was feared. At the north-west extremity of the Gulf, we have, under
instructions from Her Majesty ’s Government, entered into engagements with the
s ill independent Sheikh of Lowed, by which he has bound himself and his
successors not to receive the representative of any other Power and not to
alienate any portion of his territory to the Government or subjects of any other
Power a proceeding which was dictated by the increasing encroachment of
Turkish authority and by the incipient intrigues of other Powers. Similar
machinations are known to be in progress at Bahrein, and will require to he
counteracted by a more strict enforcement of the conditions to which the Sheikh
is by treaty bound. Outside the entrance to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , but included
within the sphere of its political influence, the Arab State of Maskat has for
years been controlled by British influence; its trade is similarly in Anglo-
Indian hands; and its ruler has not merely for years been subsidised by the
Government of India, hut in 1891 entered into an Agreement with us, under
the orders of Her Majesty’s Government, not to alienate any j>ortion of his
dominions to any other Power.
27. Such, briefly summarised, is the position that has been won by Great
Britain, not without the expenditure of many millions of money and the sacrifice
of many valuable lives, in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . In its vindication we have
more than once been called upon to enter into military occupation of ports or
islands in the Gulf. The island of Kharak was occupied by Indian forces from
1838 to 1842, and again in 1856-57. Bushire was held during the latter years,
me evidences ui wmou.
28 Sir M. Durand has in general terms described the commanding posi
tion which the proximity of the Trans-Caspian Railway and of her Central Asian
namsons the construction of the Ashkahad-ICuchan-Meshed cart-ioad, and the
annual expenditure of large sums of money, have enabled Russia to take up m
the polities and commerce of the province of Khorasan. M e proceed to
develop the argument by showing how the Khorasan position has been and is
being utilised as the base of a further and more southerly advance.
2 q it was in 1889 that the campaign of what may he termed the Russi
fication of Khorasan was opened with the appointment of _ a Russian Consu -
General at Meshed. In 1891 a native trader, named Hap Agha, appeared as
•2 37

‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [‎249r] (505/617)

Transcription

About this item

Copyright: How to use this content

‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [‎249r] (505/617)

Transcription

About this item

Use and share this item

Copyright: How to use this content