'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎185] (220/714)

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POLITICS AND COMMERCE OF KHORASAN
185
followed by the low sand spit known as Little Aslmrada, two miles
in length. Then came more shoals, with a narrow passage between
them, extending to the Turkoman coast.
Since then a third island, which the Russians call Middle
Ashurada, has been formed between the other two, while to strike
t . i a balance the erosive process has been going on at Great
New island . , ,
Ashurada to such an extent that the island is now reported
to be less than a mile long by only one-third of a mile wide. Upon
this space of ground are built the quarters of the commodore,
barracks for soldiers, a church, club-house, and the usual appur
tenances of a military station.
In view of the facts here narrated it is not surprising that the
Russians, who since the complete subjugation of the Turkomans
„ have next to nothing to do at Ashurada, and have reallv
Change of -i p -i i • • i
quarters no detensibie raison detre m the place, should have for
desirable } on g turned covetous eyes upon some more secure and
salubrious post on the inner line of the bay. More than twenty
years ago they are said to have contemplated the seizure of the
Persian landing-place of Gez, on the mainland, by offering to garrison
it; but in this they were forestalled by the Persian Government.
Unable to possess themselves of Gez, which, though a wretched
place in itself, 1 the Shah would be in the last degree reluctant to
yield, and the occupation of which would signify the beginning of
the end, they are rumoured now to be desirous of obtaining a
fortified position on the Kara Su (or Black Water), a small river
rising about thirty miles east of Astrabad, and flowing into the
Caspian about six miles south of the embouchure of the Gurgan.
Such a position would be equivalent to the occupation of Gez, and
would place Astrabad literally at their mercy.
Before I pass to the question of the reasons for which the
Russians cling so closely to their foothold in this unlovely spot, let
me call attention to the fact that in their presence there
history is merely repeating itself. It is a strange and inter
esting coincidence, although it is one which I have never
seen noticed, that over 200 years ago the island of Ashurada was simi-
1 Bunder-i-G-ez, sometimes also called Kinara, is a miserable collection of huts
and sheds on the shore, with a large caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). , a Persian Custom House, a fevr
shops kept by Kussian Armenians, and the residences of a Eussian Consular Agent
and a representative of the Caucasus and Mercury Steamship Company. It is
about three miles from the village of Gez, which is an ordinary Persian forest-
village with over 1,000 inhabitants.
History
repeats
itself
\ i