'Volume I. MEMORANDA REGARDING PERSIA AND NORTH-WEST TRANS-FRONTIER. 1905.' [‎107v] (219/310)

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en route. Many o£ the Russian telegraphists
employed on the line were found to be dis
satisfied with their lot, and some have already
deserted their posts. Mr. Howson will be let t at
Biriand as a temporary measure pending the
arrival of the permanent British signallers who
are to be employed at Birjand and Turbat-i-
Haidari (see last Journal), and who are expected
to leave Quetta early in September next.
Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, the new
Governor of Kain, recently approached the
British Consul, Seistan, with a view to obtain
ing a loan of 50,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. from the Imperial
Bank of Persia, in order to repay money which
he had borrowed to enable him to secure the
Governorship. The Bank was not prepare
to make the loan, unless it was guaranteed
by the British Government—probably on
account of the precarious position of
the new Governor, whom the Hashmat-ul-
Mulk is intriguing to replace. A Government
guarantee has been refused.
Sir A. Hardinge has reported to IIis
Majesty’s Secretary of State for Foreign Adairs
that, in spite of repeated telegrams sent, at
his request, to the Grand Vizier about the
sale of the Seistan Crown lands (see last
Journal), the Mushir-ed-Dowleh has failed to
obtain a reply. Sir A. Ilardinge suspects that
the merchants who are alleged to have pur
chased the lands are really dummies acting on
behalf of the Grand Vizier, and that the latter
is trying to acquire a lien on the Crown lands
as security for the loan really made by himself,
but in the name of the merchants, for the ex
penses of the Shah’s journey to Europe.
AFGHANISTAN.
Herat .—A quarrel is said to have taken
place between the Kabuli and Herati sepoys Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank.
of some Afghan regiments stationed at Herat.
The officers of each party, instead of suppress
ing the quarrel, fanned it by supporting their
respective men, and some 40 men were killed
and wounded on both sides. The Governor and
the Commandant of the troops, on hearing of
the occurrence, hastened to the spot with korans
in their hands and stopped the fight. They
have arrested some officers and men from each
side, and have reported the matter to Kabul.
A Turkoman, suspected of being a Russian
spy, has been arrested on the Kushk-Chahil
Dukhtaran frontier by Afghan khassadars and
confined in Herat. The man says that he had
come after some sheep of his which had been
stolen.
It is reported that the Governor of Herat
has issued an order that no one is to cross the
border into Persia, except merchants who are
known to be engaged in trade, and that women