"ملخص للأحداث الرئيسية. ١٩٠٨" [ظ‎‎٧] (١٥٦/١٩)

4
in June the troops began their return in small parties to their usual garrisons,
but it was not till August that the 6th Mountain Battery was complete at
Samarkand.
In the middle of June the force at Chikishlyar had fallen to 1,000 from
the 3,000 who had been there about a month earlier, and it would seem to have
remained at the reduced strength for the remainder of the year.
In July a report that requires confirmation put the number of infantry at
Astara at 4 battalions.
During the third quarter of the year no movement of troops of importance
towards the Persian frontier occurred. Not impossibly the Jamshedi incursion
confined the attentions of the Turkistan authorities to the direction of Kushk,
vide p. 12. But at the end of October the garrison of Julfa was said to have been
raised to 2 regiments of Cossacks, a statement which to some extent was con
firmed by Sir E. Grey’s announcement on the 20th October that the Russian
Government, in view of the dangers to which its subjects were exposed at
Tabriz, had reinforced Julfa by 400 men who, however, were to cross the
frontier only in the case of extreme urgency. Possibly at this time the garrison
consisted of 1 6-squadron regiment and 2 other squadrons of Cossacks, 1 company
of infantry and some frontier guards. As will be seen from the table on page 5
of “ Movements of Troops in Trans-Oaucasia to and from the Persian Frontier,”
the force at Julfa was raised by the end of November to about 1,000 cavalry, 250
infantry and 140 artillery with 8 guns, besides some frontier guards.
Anglo-Russian Re*
latious
In May, Baron Hey king on transfer from Newcastle*on-Tyne relieved
M. Polovtsof as Russian Consul-General at Bombay. He left India in Nov
ember to take up the appointment of Consul-General in London; during
his short stay in the country he gave considerable attention to the develop
ment of Russo*Indian trade.
RuBso*Turkish
Relations,
Apparently it was on his initiative that in October the Imperial Government
was asked by the Russian Ambassador to assent to the transfer of the Russian Con
sulate-General from Bombay to Calcutta on the grounds that Russian trade
interests had increased at the latter place and that it was a port of call for the
Volunteer fleet. The Indian Government did not recognize the force of either
argument, but in January 1909 the transfer was unconditionally approved by
His Majesty’s Government who did not think it advisable to utilize the occasion
for a renewal of our request to establish a Consulate at Tashkent.
{Vide also tf Russo-Persian Relations,” page 2.) Early in the year many rum
ours were current of the imminence of a Russo-Turkish war and it was reported
from various sources that the 39th division had been, and 2 others were about to
be, mobilised in the Caucasus. In consequence of the uneasiness which was creat
ed by the prevalence of such reports, an official communique was published in
St. Petersburg in which it was denied that any special military precautions had
been taken on the Turkish or Persian frontiers. In February, however,
M. Isvolski, Minister for Foreign Affairs, acknowledged to Sir Arthur fSicolson
that the situation was causing him and the military authorities the gravest
concern and that Russia was anxious to take no step which could be considered
of a provocative character. The rumours of military preparations in the Cauca
sus were, however, notwithstanding official denials, again revived a few days
Jfter. Some colour was given to them by the visit to St. Petersburg of General
£ 3 ri ^ ■^ ss ^ an ^ ^ le Viceroy of the Caucasus; the reported appointment
ot Generals Bennenkampf and Zurabayef to high commands there; the sudden
cessation of pilgrim traffic to Mecca from the Crimea, the Caucasus, and
irans-Gaspia; the hasty^ replenishment of the more important fortified
centres m the Caucasus with war material land supplies; the repairs to roads,
mo ^.„ of A ere in : a ver y bad condidition, especially the Karabagh,
or Imis-Ardubat-Ajestail, road; the discharge at Batum of some 900 tons
of warlike stores; the preparations to suspend private goods traffic on
the Vladikavkaz Railway ; the transfer of troops from European Russia
to he Caucasus; and considerable increases of the garrisons near the Turkish
frontier, especially at Igdar, Kagisman, Olti and Ordjoch. During March