"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية: العمليات في بلاد فارس ١٩١٤-١٩١٩" [ظ‎‎١‎٦‎٩] (٥٦٦/٣٤٣)

294
OPERATIONS IN PERSIA
East Persia; Appendix IV. The necessary administrative units included
Feb ’~io P i8 1 a Ford van section an(i some motor ambulances; and the
191 ‘ sappers, with some of the troops, were employed in improving
the road.
On the 1st February the Government of India telegraphed to
London recommending that the proposed mission to Russian
Turkestan should be based on two centres, i.e., Meshed and
Kashgar, from which emissaries could be sent out as opportunity
offered. The centre at Meshed would be concerned with the
country west of the Oxus and the Bokhara plain, while Kashgar
would deal with Ferghana and Samarkand, where for the
moment the autonomous movement seemed to be strongest.
This movement, which aimed at eliminating the Russian
element and making Russian Turkestan autonomous, was being
resisted by the Bolsheviks, who desired to retain Turkestan
within the Russian federation. The consequent armed struggle
was being carried out with varying fortune amid the chaos
resulting from the collapse of the Russian central Government,
while, to complicate matters further, enemy agents were said
to be active all through the country, their capacity for danger
being greatly enhanced by the presence of over 30,000 Austro-
Hungarian and German prisoners of war, who were scattered
all over the area in complete freedom and trying to earn a living
as best they could.
As the objective of a British mission seemed very vague and
its chances of success very problematical, the Government of
India telegraphed to London on the 12th February advocating
caution and further consideration before its despatch was
finally decided upon. They also wished first to receive a reply
from the Amir of Afghanistan, whom they had addressed on the
subject. At the beginning of March H.M. Government expressed
their concurrence in this view.
The news received in India by the middle of March
indicated that, after severe fighting, both with Cossack forces
and with the Moslem elements striving for independence, the
Bolsheviks had gained the supremacy in Turkestan and were
maintaining their position by a reign of ruthless terrorism. The
activity of enemy agents seemed to have died down, while the
chaotic conditions appeared to have paralysed all pan-Turkish
or similar political ideas. On the 21st March, after consulting
the British consuls at Meshed and Kashgar, the Government
of India informed the India Office that the Amir of Afghanistan
had not yet replied, but that they proposed to send selected
officers to these two places to acquaint themselves with lo ca