'Volume I. MEMORANDA REGARDING PERSIA AND NORTH-WEST TRANS-FRONTIER. 1905.' [‎122r] (248/310)

Memorandum of information received during
the month of September 190oy regarding
affairs on and beyond the North-West
Frontier of India,
[Not*.—T his memorandum is based upon reports, the accuracy oi
which it is not always possible to guarantee.]
TRANS-CASPIA, RUSSIAN TURKESTAN,
AND THE PAMIRS.
A serious riot occurred at Askabad to
wards the end of July. A Pole who was impri
soned for using seditious language died in
prison; and at his funeral, disturbances took
place in which Russians, Armenians, and
Persians took part against the authorities. A
large crowd attacked the prison with the
object of releasing other political prisoners,
and fired revolvers at the warders who replied
with their rifles. They were eventually dis
persed by troops, and in the evening the
Governor sent for the leading men and tried
to conciliate them, pointing out the modera
tion of the authorities in not having
ordered the troops to fire upon them or to
arrest them, when they were making an open
attack on the prison. This moderation, how
ever, is generally looked upon as a sign of
weakness.
At Sarakhs, at the end of July, a Russian
officer, while reprimanding some soldiers, was
fired upon by one of them and had a narrow
escape. The garrison of the place is said to
have refused to do any duty.
The state of Trans-Caspia and Turkestan
is generally very unsatisfactory, murders and
robberies being rife, and it is rumoured that
martial law has been proclaimed. Revolu
tionaries are working hard to induce the
soldiers and railway employes to rise against
the authorities, who are trying to divert the
attention of the troops by moving them
about (see last Journal). Stores are being
collected with feverish haste at all military
stations, and the troops are being constantly
warned of an impending Afghan invasion.
All this probably has its origin in the fear
of a military rising.
Numerous cases of desertion have occurred
amongst Armenian soldiers, and as they invari
ably take away their arms and ammunition, it
is suspected that a definite revolutionary
organisation is arranging such matters.
Seizures of arms and ammunition are being
made by the police all over the country, which