'SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS AND MEASURES OF THE VICEROYALTY OF HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON OF KEDLESTON, VICEROY AND GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA IN THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT. I. JANUARY 1899-APRIL 1904. II. DECEMBER 1904-NOVEMBER 1905. VOLUME IV. PERSIA AND THE PERSIAN GULF.' [‎102v] (209/386)

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left bank of the Helmand, thence up the river to a pom a mde above the
*eat dam at Kohak, and finally in a straight line south-west from that
point on the river to the Koh-i-Malik S ab. The fu ure trouble, which might
have been foreseen, from making the bed of a shifting river like the Helmand
the boundarv, was since realized, and the various changes occurrmg in the
course of the river were made an excuse by botli Persians and Afghans for over-
stepping the limits laid down in the Goldsnnd award. In May 1S99, a dispute
arose between the Afghan officials of Chakansur and the Persian officials in
Seistan regarding the Helmaud water-supply and alleged encroachments by
Persians on land, which the Afghans claimed to have been thrown by the
Helmand on to their side of the border, and complaints were made both at
Tehran and Kabul.
21. The indeterminate condition of parts of the eastern frontier of Persia
both along the Perso-Afghan boundary north of Koh-i-Malik Siali and the Perso-
Baluch boundary south of that point, was then referred to by the British Lega
tion in Tehran in reporting to the Government of India, the representation
'which the Persian Government had made about the alleged incursions ot Afghan
cultivators and the alleged reinforcement of the troops on the Perso-Afghan
frontier and the question was mooted whether the Government ot the bhah
should be invited to effect a general settlemet t of the frontier line. The reply
of Lord Curzon’s Government in January 1901 was that the Governor-General
in Council would prefer not to move at present either in regard to the Helmand
question or in regard to the frontier line from Koh-i-Malik Siali to the coast.
There were five parties either direetly or indirectly concerned in a re-opening of
the Seistan boundary question, namely, the Persian Government, the Afghan
Government, the British Government, the Russian Government, and the local
Chiefs. It seemed improbable that any settlement could be arrived at which
would not arrav against us the possibility of at least two, and probably three, of
these parties. ‘Moreover, if the British Government volunteered to intervene,
sinister intentions were certain to be suspected, and meanwhile it did not appear
that British interests were either suffering or threatened. In the circum
stances, the Governor-General in Council thought it better to leave the local
authorities to adjust the various land claims on the Seistan border between
themselves, and to wait for the day when all parties would appeal to the British
Government as the inevitable umpire.
22. In March 1901, Major Trench successfully lent his goodoTces to assist
the rival claimants to arrive at a temporary modus vivendi, and the Akhundzada
and the Hashmat-ul-Mulk engaged for both sides to refrain from making any
advances, pending the marking of the border in accordance with the Goldsmid
map. Colonel Trench's intervention was soon followed by a request from the
Amir for a copy of General Goldsmid’s arbitration map, which was supplied
to His Highness in July 1901. The Amir, before his death, sent it to Herat,
and the Governor of Herat invited the Governor-General of Khorasan to
depute a Persian Agent to meet an Afghan representative, and settle the
boundary in accordance with the line shown on that map. In February
1902 a deputation from the Akhundzada of Chakansur arrived at Nasratabad,
with letters for the Hashmat-ul-Mulk, the Karguzar of Seistan, Major
Benn and, it was reported, for the Russian Consul, saying that certain Afghan
subjects bad been plundered by Seistanis, and that an Afghan Commis
sioner had arrived with orders to meet the Persian representative and settle
the border. M. Miller had now begun to show considerable interest in the
course of this dispute. In July matters reached an acute stage. The Afghan
Commissioner, tired of waiting for the Persian representative and piqued at
the discourteous treatment he was receiving, occupied a village named Dost
Muhammad which was in disputed ground. M. Molitor, the Belgian Customs
officer, went to the spot w r ith a small force and threatened to disarm the
Afghans on the plea that the importation of arms into Persia was forbidden.
On the protest being disregarded, M. Molitor witkM. Miller and the Yamin-
i-Nizara visited the Seistan Governor and M. Miller ordered the latter to send
all his troops to the border to oppose the Afghans, and demanded a guard for
his personal protection. He also wrote to the Governor that the Afghans were
instigated by Major Benn, who had in no way interfered. I he Persian troops,