File 1323/1916 Pt 1 ‘Baluchistan:- Disturbed conditions on the Anglo-Persian border. Future administration of Mekran, Sarhad & the Kalat States’ [‎219v] (436/896)

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from further deluy, once more clmw attention to the dnect leciction upoiitli0
Sarhad (and therefore on the possibility of having to close the railway)
of the present state of anarchy in the more southern parts: the incident
reported in their telegram 1211-S., tends (Serial INo. 86), on present in
formation, emphatically to confirm the clear statements by the Acting ^
Governor General, Baluchistan and Colonel Keyes in the papers* cited '
in paragraph 3 of their letter (Serial No. 87) that though the security of
the Mirjawa-Duzdap Railway depends upon the Persian Government’s
control of the Sarhad, this can never be effective until the Government’s
authority is firmly established also in the districts to the south of the Sarhad.
But beyond expressing their readiness to co-operate with the Persian
authorities in suppressing the Baluch chieftains who have arrogated to
themselves the authority which should be the Go\ eminent s, and indeed
urging in their telegram (Serial No. 88) that pressure should be put upon
the Persian Government to consent at once to such co-operation, the Gov
ernment of India do not indicate what steps should be taken to terminate the
long-standing chaos in South-East Persia, nor towards what further objec
tive the proposed co-operation of British and Persian officers should be
directed.
No doubt the first step to be taken is the suppression of Dost Mohammed
Khan and other petty chieftains, and I am to ask that if Lord Curzon
agrees, His Majesty’s Minister may be instructed to press this upon the
Persian Government: but it appears to the Secretary of State imperative
to be clear in what form it is desired that Persian Governmental authority
should be established in order to perpetuate the good results of this first
step. The Government of India’s telegrams 1211-S. and 1220-S. (Serial
Nos. 86 and 88) make it sufficiently evident that Dost Muhammed obtains
scope for his turbulent activities from the fact not that there is no re
presentative pf the Central Government in South East Persia but that
there are too many, all too distant to exert any direct control over him,
and all sufficiently close to each other and to the scene of disorder to be
played off the one against the other. Suppression of Dost Muhammed
will, it may be feared, fail of any lasting effect unless the local representa
tion of the Central Government's authority is concentrated to the best
advantage.
In 1917, it will be recollected, after the conclusion of Major Keyes’
tour in Persian Mekran, the Government of India discussed in their
despatch! No. 36 of 11th May the whole problem of future policy in regard
to Anglo-Persian relations in this area, and submitted definite recommen
dations as to the measures most likely to promote a permanent solution of
the problem. The time was not considered opportune for pursuing their
proposals; and it was decided (Foreign Office letter| No. 150118-W.—34
of 4th August 1917 and India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. letter P.-3355§ of 22nd August 1917)
that they should be adjourned “ until circumstances render it possible to
exert pressure upon the Persian Government in order to secure their
assent.” Though in many points of detail the Government of India’s
1917 proposals are obviously no longer appropriate, their main recommen
dation, that Persian Baluchistan should be constituted a separated Gov
ernorship, to which a strong incumbent should be appointed to revive the
authority of the Central Government, still appears r prima facie to be the
best means of dealing with a question which in essential is much the same
in 1923 as it was in 1917. At tha t date there seemed to be no question that
the most effective location of the Governor would be at Bampur, the former
headquarters of the Persian Government of Baluchistan, or Farah (Fehruj).
But the construction to Duzdap of the railway (which in 1917 only extended
to Dalbandin) has diverted the attention not only of the Government of
India and His Majesty’s Government, but also of the Persian Government
f t om the rest of Persian Baluchistan to the Sarhad in particular; with the
* Copy enclosed in India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. letter P.-2106 of llih July 1923.