'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.' [‎105v] (215/386)

38. Difficulties in obtaining supplies made Colonel McMabon anxious to get
bis camp to the Persian side of the river, but the Persian Government objected
to the whole escort entering Persian territory, and, in spite of the assurances
given to Sir A. Hardinge at Tehran before the end of February that orders had
been sent to Seistan to permit the export of supplies for the mission, the
local authorities denied having received any such instructions, refused to allow
supplies to cross the frontier, and the Belgian Customs officer even seized
those which Colonel McMahon had procured, and detained the British camels
on which they were being carried. This unfriendly attitude was persisted in for
some weeks, and it was not till after the middle of March that the local officers
acknowledged having received orders which permitted supplies being furnished
for the mission. The difficulties of the situation had been largely brought
about by the Russian Consul, who produced so much anti-British feeling
against the mission and British Consulate that the Consulate was at one time
unable to buy the actual necessaries of life, and British traders were in the
same predicament.
39. On hearing of the nature of the instructions which had been sent to
the Persian Commissioners, Sir A. Hardinge at once set about trying to remedy
matters. The Grand Vizier admitted that Russian intrigue was at the bottom
of the Yamin-i-Nizam’s obstructive attitude, and that the fear of Russia pre
vented the Persian Government from recalling him or ordering him to send
back Hr. Miller. After prolonged negotiations, revised instructions were sent
to the Seistan authorities, requiring them to submit their case regarding the
frontier question and the Helm and water to the arbitrator, who would decide
the matter in accordance with the Goldsmid award ; they were told to permit
the entire British escort to enter Persian territory without interference up to
six miles within the frontier; hut, if the arbitrator should wish to penetrate
further, or to visit Nasratabad, the Commissioners were to ask him not to take
more than 20 or 30 sowars with him. The Yamin-i-Nizam was also instructed
to send back Hr. Miller, and eventually, at the end of March, it was arranged
that the Yamin should remain as Pers : au Commissioner on the explicit under
standing that all communications between him and the Russian Consul M ? ere
to cease. Prior to this, the Yamin-i-Nizam had, under instructions from
Tehran, been in the habit of consulting the Russian Consul in all arbitration
matters. 40 41
40. On the 15th March, the whole camp of the British Mission crossed the
Helmand into Persian territory. The disputed tract was inspected by Colonel
McMahon in company with the Persian and Afghan Commissioners, who met
for the first time at Takht-i-Shah on 26th March, and on 9th April the British
Commissioner informed the Government of India that he would shortly be in a
position to acquaint both parties with his arbitral opinion regarding the boundary
line, and then, unless they objected, would proceed forthwith to demarcate the
necessary portion, and, when this was finished and the map completed, to deliver
his final written award including arbitration in the water disjmte.
41. The Government of India, how T ever, directed Colonel McMahon to
obtain the written statements of the case of the Persian and Afghan representative,
before forming his arbitral opinion, and to see the hot weather condition of
the river before announcing his final w ritten award. At the end of April
Colonel McMabon reported that unexpected difficulty regarding the boundary
line bad been brought to light by the survey of the country between Takht-i-
Sliali and the Siah Koh, which necessitated his personal inspection of the tract,
but the Persian Commissioners refused to accompmy him to Siah Koh, main
taining that their instructions did not include the already settled question of
the Seistan boundary, but only the water dispute, and the Persian Government
took up the same attitude. Much obstruction and delay resulted, and Colonel
McMahon was informed by the Karguzar that it was due to the fact that the
Yamin-i-Nizam, was acting under the guidance of M. Miller, to whom he still
referred all communications from Colonel McMahon for instructions, in spite of
this being a violation of the condition on which His Majesty’s Government
agreed to his appointment as one ol. the Persian representatives.. The Govern
ment of India pointed out that, from the beginning, arbitration had been directed,