Asiatic Quarterly Review (Full Title: The Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly Review, and Oriental and Colonial Record): Volume XIII, No. 26 [‎448r] (20/238)

233
The Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
desert which extends on the tableland from the confines of
Afghanistan all the way to the neighbourhood of the capital
of Persia, Tehran. North of this zone lie the mountains and
fertile Persian province of Khorasan with the great Persian
cities, Meshed, Nishapur. The trade of Russia is already
supreme in this region, to which she has secured ready
access by means of her Transcaspian Railway. South of
the desert is situated a companion fertile country, comprising
the mountains which buttress up the tableland on the side
of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and the Mesopotamian lowlands. This
country must continue to be threaded by our commercial
arteries, of which the objective are the Persian cities of
Kerman and Yezd, of Shiraz, Isfahan and Kum. Our old-
established hold upon all these markets must be quickly
tightened by improved communications. All attempts on
the part of Russia to wrest our predominance in these
regions by means of political pressure at the capital must
be strenuously resisted. And any “ understanding with
her in relation to Persia should be based on a frank
recognition of these spheres.
The case of Central Persia and of Asiatic Turkey may be
dealt with on similar natural principles. The belt of moun
tains buttressing the tableland of Persia bends round at the
head of the alluvial plains of Mesopotamia, performing the
same function for the highlands of Armenia, and, further
west, for those of Asia Minor. The ridges sink into the
waters of the Mediterranean at the head of Syria, adjoining
Cyprus. The lowlands which they confine at their southern
extremities should be preserved at all hazards from a foreign
occupation, intimately connected as they are with the Persian
Gulf. They are threaded from end to end by two magni
ficent navigable rivers, Kuphrates and "I igris. They already
form a lucrative field for our trade, which is practically
supreme. We must be on our guard against assisting the
Germans in constructing a railway across this, our sphere,
by consenting to any increase of the tax upon our imports,
in order to find the funds for a kilometric guarantee. As