Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎446r] (894/1814)

{ Uifeirr
URY GAZETTE,
tnd Tripoli ; nnd
3 would be few
rom that town up
ountry is nothing
older than those
easible, which con-
mers from Karachi
a Gulf to be run-
a railway up the
;om Bussorah and
to Scutari and so
Constantinople, and
Austrian railways
Calais and London,
ctions to which the
open, and running
e and well-watered
m excellent line of
imercial purposes,
d not be really so
ssenger traffic could
er part of the year,
my variations in this
"dtb., Karojce by
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7 , 1899 .
ssia's j
5 that.
eag
3bur yj an r
the qi
ne U[B SI
rnia ' ( o?noi
Teat k B0p [I3
ver ~Joj
tter
From.
To. Hours
M ik 3
F ' 1 res i P
Kandahar
... Herat
20
290
18
Herat
... Kushk
r<
O
„ 80
4
Kushk
... Merv
IO
150
8
Merv
... Krasnovodsk,
34
522
20
Krasnovodsk
... Baku
18
IC
Baku
... Petrowsk ...
12
230
12
Petrowsk
... Vladikavkas...
9
166
9
Vladikaokvs
... Warsaw
116
1,636
55
Warsaw
... London
4 K
1,140
132
Grand Total
330
5,387
349
The writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping.
is indebted for
the information
concerning
the fares and
distances
upon the
Russian railways to the
courtesy
of the
Irani
UB
l R
1
Editor of Bradshaw’s Continental guides, who
has very kindly supplied him with certain
facts not contained in his excellent guide
book. It has been assumed that the rouble
will exchange for about Re. i-8 o, and that
Rs. 15 will exchange for one pound sterling.
The journey from Krasnovodsk to Baku is
made by steamer across the Caspian, and
though at present the journey is continued
from Baku to Tiflis and then from Tiflis by f) t 0
tonga across the Caucasus to Vladikavk j s, j at
yet in the accompanying table this route has are
not been shown, because very shortly a new
‘ VVI1 <a *" u ner
VPr is l f) i
in.
THE CIVIL d MILITARY GAZETTE, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1899.
FROM DELHI TO LONDON
(OVERLAND).
(From a Corre?ponder.t.)
For many reasons various people have been
endeavouring to propound some alternative
route from India to England to that which
is already provided from Bombay or Calcutta.
The high rates of the Peninsular and Oriental
Company, the lengthy detour l y the Red
Sea, the necessary diffe’ence of rate of pro
gress between a steamer and a train have
all conspired to turn ihe attention of theo
rists and commercial speculators to sot e
line of communication which shall be more
expeditious and more direct. Some of the
schemes that have been elaborated evince more
ingenuity than commonsense, and nearly all
seem strangely to overlook the obvious ad
vantages of' the route dealt with in this
article. What is generally known as Mr.
Black’s scheme, which, about two years ago
was the subject of many article-, press notices,
and lectures in England, is open to many
grave objections from all who are familiar
with the East, and especially with Baluchistan,
Persia, and Arabia. Mr. Black proposed that
a railway should be made from Karachi, in
connection with the existing Indus line of
the North-Western, to run due west along
the Mekran coast of Southern Baluchistan,
proceeding through Persia along the shores
of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. to Basra. From that
town the line was to run a short distance
along the valley of the Euphrates and then
proceed due west across the inhospitable
deserts of Arabia till it reached Port Said.
From that point the rest cf the journey was
to be, as now, chiefly by sea. The first
obvious objection is that this route would be
shunned by all pa c seng r traffic fluring at
least eight months of the year (i. e. } from
March 15 till October 15 ) on account of the
very great heat and inconvenience of a
journey by train over such a sandy district.
As regards goods traffic, there are few por
tions of the earth’s surface which could sho v
fewer towns or marts for commerce than
this Hue which is to run through such an
inhospitable tract of country. Then as to
the cost of construction, supposing that the
line could be made at ^,' 5,000 per mile,
which is probably below the actual cost,
there Would have to be an expenditure 'of
many millions without reckoning the interes
which would have to be paid to the capita
lists and shareholders during its construction.
The difficulties, too, in securing water for
the locomotive and for the passengers would
be very great. Finally, such a railway could
not expect to t ay any dividends with a
route that embraced so fe v towns and so
much sand. Another plan of some ingenious
Frenchman is to connect Calais with Port
Said, tt/n Morocco, Algiers, Tun’s. T ipoli and
Egypt. The scheme of this French engineer
strikes one as even more impracticable than
that of Mr, Black, for in addition to the
northern coasts of Africa being nearly as
hot, and at times much hotter, than the
southern coasts of Baluchistan and Persia,
his enterprise is further encumbered by the
necessity or expediency of constructing a
submarine tunnel from Morocco to Gibraltar
to connect the North African Railway wfith
the railways of Spain and France. True it
is that a small portion of this r me from
Gibraltar to Port Said is already covered by
French railways in Algeria and Tunis ; but
there would still be more than 1,500 miles
to construct in Morocco and Tripoli ; and
here again the large towns would be few
as far as Tripoli ; while from that town up
to the Nile valley the country is nothing
but a desert,
There is a third scheme, older than those
mentioned and far more feasible, which con
sists in a swift Hue of steamers from Karachi
to the head of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. to be run
ning in connection with a railway up the
valley of the Euphrates from Bussorah and
hen through Asia Minor to Scutari and so
across the Bosphorus to Constantinople, and
;ben by the Turkish and Austrian railways
on to Cologne, Brussels, Calais and London.
This plan avoids the objections to which the
other two schemes are open, and running
as it would through fertile and well-watered
aountry it would soon be an excellent line of
communication for commercial purposes.
Moreover, the heat would not be really so
intense, and therefore passenger traffic could
continue during the greater part of the year.
There are, in facr, very many variations in this
scheme of connecting India with Europe by
crossing through the Turkish Empire. All
agree in making Bussorah the point of de
parture ; but whilst some desire the line to
run from there to Alexandretta (Iskanderoon)
and from there to make a branch line to
Koniah an 3 so form a connection with the
German railw ay in Anatolia Peninsula that forms most of modern-day Turkey. , others desire to
make the present Anatolian railway the main
line of communication by extending it to
Bagdad and Bussorah. All these schemes,
however, involve considerable expenditure and
very leugthy delay in the construction of the
lines.
There is yet a fourth possible line which
demands attention, 7 . iz ., an extension from
Quetta of the Sind-Peshin Railway through
Northern Baluchistan between Kelat and the
southern boundary of Afghanistan. This
merits consideration from the fact that the
Government of India has already extended its
postal system up to the very boundary of
Persia, and that only last winter an expedi
tion started for Nushki and the country lying
farther west to report on the feasibility of
opening up communications in that direc
tion, and especially to see whether any alter
native telegraphic line to the cables in the Per
sian Gulf could be run through Nushki and
the mountain of the Black Priest (the point
where Baluchistan touches Persia at the nor
thern corner) to Teheran. The report was
adverse on account of the sandy aiffi water
less condition of the country west of Nushki
which is itself ninety miles west of Quetta,
and the absence of any mineral wealth, ex
cept a few poor veins of copper ore. But
several influential people at Simla and else
where are extremely anxious to extend in a
westerly rather than a northerly direction from
Quetta, so as to pass through Baluchistan
and Persia rather than enter Afghauistan.
Political and strategic reasons are considered
by many sufficient to render a line through
Persia and Asia Minor preferable to any con
nection with the Rusaian railway system by
extension of the line from Chaman north
ward into Afghanistan. But apart from all
political and strategic objections, the Overland
route from India to England, by means of the
alre dy existing railways in Asiatic and
European Russia is from a financial point of j
vkw much the most practicable.
Delhi may be taken as a suitable starting
point for comparison on account of the cen
tral position and commercial activity of that
city. Bombay and Ka-achi are too favour
able to the present sea route, whilst Lahore
or 0 elta would be too advantageously placed
for the Overland railway for the purpose of
forming anv fair comparison between the re
lative advantages of the two systems iiself
as the proper point of departure for the Over
land mail. With the exception of a break of
less than five hundred miles from Chaman
to Ku c hk, this proposed line from Delhi to
London has the enormous advantage of a
train service actually running, of fares al
ready settled, of distances accurately known
over the whole route. There D no dealing
here with the fanciful or merely hypothetical, !
but the whole plan can be easily gaug d and i
understood by any practical man. Nothing 1
is wanted to complete the direct communica
tion between Delhi and London except the
laying down of somewhat less than five hun
dred miles of railway through a district offer
ing far less obstacles than those already so
successfully surmounted in the Bolan Pass.
For the benefit of the Anglo-Indian who in
the near future, when this Overland route shall
be an accomplished fact, will leave Delhi
by one of the weekly trains which will then
play between India and fEngland, the times,
distances, and fares which will probably be
in force for this long journey may be put in
tabular form. It' must be remembered that
in all 'probability very considerable deduc
tions would be made for those who took a
through ticket from Delhi to London ; but
in this table merely the present fares are
quoted, as at present charged on the British
Russian and German railvvays. It is assumed
From.
To. Hours
Miks
T'>res i P
Kandahar
... Herat
20
290
18 ‘ 1
Herat
... Kushk
D
80
4
Kushk
... Merv
IO
150
8
Merv
Krasnovodsk,
34
522
29
Krasnovodsk
... Baku
18
15
Baku
... Petrowsk
12
230
Petrowsk
... Vladikavkas...
9
166
9
Vladikaokvs
... Warsaw
116
1,636
55
Warsaw
... London
I, 140
132
Grand Total
330
j 00
! c ?
m
349
The writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping.
is indebted for
the information
concerning
the fares and
distances
upon the
Russian railways to the
courtesy
of the
Editor of Bradshaw’s Continental guides, who
has very kindly supplied him with certain
facts not contained in his excellent guide
book. It has been assumed that the rouble
will exchange for about Re. 1-8 0 , and that
Rs. 15 will exchange for one pound sterling.
The journey from Krasnovodsk to Balm is
made by steamer across the Caspian, and
though at present the journey is continued
from Baku to Tiflis and then from Tiflis by
tonga across the Caucasus to Vladikavk j s,
yet in the accompanying table this route has
not been shown, because very shortly a new
and better means of communication will be
afforded to travellers from Trans-Caucasia by
means of a railway now in course of con
struction from Baku to Petrowsk along the
shores of the Caspian. There is no doubt
that very great acceleration could be obtained
on both the Indian and Russian railways,
and that in particular the journey from
Vladikavkas via Faustova to Wasaw could
be greatly shortened. It is certain that the
330 hours quoted in the table could be re
duced to thirteen if not twelve days. Letters,
therefore, instead of being six weeks in
course of transit to and fro from India to
England could receive an answer within the
month. The total fare for a first class ticket
from Delhi would be only about Rs. 300 , as
considerable reductions would naturally be
made for all through passengers to London,
and reckoning Rs. 6 per diem for expenses
on the journey we still reach a total ©utlay
considerably less than even a second-class
single fare upon one of the P. and O. steamers.
The great advantages to all commercial
people in India in the superior facility of
obtaining their goods, where these consisted
of packages of small bulk and light weight
are patent ; and one feels assured that in
spite of gloomy prognostications of political
dangers, that the for. e of circumstances must
within a few years bring about the linking
up of the British and Russian railways.
Such a condition of things has existed for
many years for both Germany and Austria
and there should be no doubt that our mili
tary resources are equal to bear the strain
of direct railway connectiou with Russia’s
Trans-Caspian lines. It is very possible that
the agreement lately made by Lord Salisbury
with Russia concerning China may be the
forerunner of some mider and more perma
nent understanding between the two great
Asiatic Powers, and that the proposed Over
land route might help to establish better
relations between the two Governments,
that ihe first-class fare would
cover sixty
pounds of normal luggage and ensure lying
down accommodation throughout the journey.
No passenger could endure the strain of
nearly a fortnight’s continual travelling by
train iu a sitting posture.
The following are the approximate times
riistances and fares of a proposed Overland
route from Delhi to London :—
From.
Delhi
Samasata
Ruk
Chaman
To.
Samasata]
Ruk ...
Chaman
Kandahar
Hours. Miles.
28
10
21 i
5
402
226
310
70
Fares in.
Rs.
24
25
6