'PRINCIPAL DESPATCHES AND CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO PERSIA CONNECTED WITH THE SUMMARY OF EVENTS AND MEASURES OF VICEROYALTY OF HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON OF KEDDLESTON IN THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT. JANUARY 1899 TO NOVEMBER 1905. VOLUME IV-PART IV. PERSIA.' [‎35v] (75/136)

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favour of his own return to Kerman. He was also in a position to say that “ the
Quetta route (which he had never seen) is hopelessly handicapped by its natural
disadvantages”. These and other conclusions of Captain Sykes were vigorously
disputed by Colonel Temple, our Agent and Consul-General at Meshed. But
they are not without their value, as showing the reverse side of the shield to that
which has perhaps, with a pardonable optimism, been displayed by the various
officers, who have been concerned in the inception or development of the
enterpise from the Indian side. In subsequent letters, Captain Sykes reiterated
his opinions as to the superiority in respect of water, camel-grazing, and sup
plies of the Bunder Abbas route; but so far receded from his original attitude as
to admit that there was a great opening on the Indian route for imports of tea
and indigo, and that on political grounds its opening was important, adding,
“ The larger the parties that visit Seistan and the more frequently they appear,
the greater the political effect will be ”. On February 14th, he explained “ how
necessary it is to provide the funds, by the careful expenditure of which Seistan
may be brought nearer to India ”, and urged that “ it is of paramount import
ance to take advantage of the proximity of our frontiers and not to allow
Bussian trade and influence to be pushed to our very door ”. On April J 8th, while
adhering to his views about the superiority of the Bunder Abbas road over the
Indian route, he nevertheless remarked that “ the Seistanis generally, and the
Baluchis in particular, all look towards the East and South, while their local
commerce is now mainly carried on with Quetta ”, and that “ the revival of the
Seistan-Quetta route, the buildings erected along it and the other proofs of
British activity, have helped to increase our prestige ”. He now advocated
placing a smart Muhammadan native agent Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government. in Seistan “to supervise the post
which I earnestly hope will be made permanent” ; and in a later letter, on May
11th, he urged “ the establishment of an Indian Post Office at Birjand, as well
as in Seistan, with a competent news- writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. for each district which “modest
scheme should be sanctioned and carried out without delay ”. In the last letter
received from him, dated June 1st, Captain Sykes expressed his final opinion as
adverse to the appointment of a British Consul for Kain and Seistan, unless
a Bussian Consul were sent (in which case it would become obligatory). It will
be seen, therefore, from a synopsis of Captain Sykes’s reports, that, while
he remains unfavourable to the prospects of the Quetta-Seistan route, as
compared with the old trans-Persian road, he has come round to the
opinion, which no previous traveller in Seistan has questioned, that it is
essential that British interests, commercial and political, should be sustained
in that quarter by an energetic and liberal maintenance of the line of connec
tion with India, but that, for their support in Seistan itself, it will be sufficient
for the present, unless a more active course be imposed by Bussian initiative, to
rely upon Indian native agents Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government. . These recommendations I have accepted
in the draft despatch to the Secretary of State. I should add that Colonel
Temple, who has throughout disputed many of Captain Sykes’s statements
and dissented from his conclusions—partly owing to a not unfounded suspicion
that Captain Sykes was advising in a spirit of undue independence of Meshed—
has urged,, in view of the recent renewal of plague alarms in Eastern Persia,
that a native agent Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government. , if sent from India, should be a medical officer, charged in
addition with the necessary political work. Although I believe these alarms
to have been factitious, and to have been fomented by Bussia for political
purposes in 1899, as in 1897, I have so far acted upon Colonel Temple’s advice
as to send a Hospital Assistant from Quetta to Seistan as news- writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. and
medical reporter for a period of 6 months. Such is the present state of our
information, and of affairs, in Seistan.
12.. It will be seen from what I have written that Seistan is, by virtue of
its position and its features, an object of much interest both to Bussia and Great
Britain. Situated at the point of junction of the frontiers of Persia, Afghan
istan, and Baluchistan, its future affects the destinies of all three countries.
Lying, as it does, almost midway between Meshed and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , no
advance can be made from Khorasan to the sea except through Seistan. ’ Its
position upon the exposed flank of Afghanistan would render its occupation of