'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎173] (208/714)

MESHED
173
The staff of the British Consulate, when fully organised (it is
still in a state of embryo), will consist of the Consul-General, his
staff and assistant, and a Vice-Consul. A private guard is pro
appoint- vided by two sergeants and three privates of the Indian
Corps of Guides, whose picturesque uniform and smart
appearance create a favourable impression, while a native guard of
one sergeant and six men is furnished by the Persian Government.
Attached to the British Consulate is also a body of twenty-two
Turkoman sowars, mainly Sariks of Penjdeh, who from the earlier
stages of the Afghan boundary dispute allied themselves to the
British side, and who are now employed upon a private postal
service between Meshed and Herat, where their post enters into
correspondence with that ot the Amir of Afghanistan. Should
the latter be in the northern parts of his domains, it sometimes
occurs that a message from the Viceroy of India is most easily
and expeditiously transmitted to him by this circuitous route.
When a proper house with becoming surroundings has been built,
the British Consul-General, who is also Agent to the Governor-
General of India, thus attended and assisted, will be able to
maintain an appearance worthy of the twofold Power which he
represents, and positively essential in a country and amid a people
where etiquette and display are credited with a virtue amounting
almost to salvation.
So much for the outward political position at present occupied
by the two Powers in Meshed. An immense amount of consular
Consular business devolves upon the shoulders of either represen-
busmess tative, for both the Russian and British Governments
have several hundred subjects residing in or passing through
Meshed for trading purposes. In the case of the British Govern
ment these will be in the main Hindus and a few Kashmiris
trading, via Bunder Abbas, from Bombay, or occasional descen
dants of Afghan and Persian families who became British subjects
in the earlier years of this century. The Afghans who come to
Meshed are willing enough to claim the shelter of British citizen
ship, a recognition that is in sharp contrast with the haughty
exclusiveness maintained in his own dominions by the Amir. The
Russian subjects in Khorasan are Armenians, Caucasian Mussul
mans, Turkomans, inhabitants of Transcaspia, Sarts, and Bok-
hariots. In the registration of these subjects and in the prompt
attention to their business the Russians possess an indubitable