"دليل بلاد فارس، المجلد I ويشمل محافظات أستراباد، شاهرود-بوستان، خراسان، وسيستان" [ظ‎‎٣‎٠‎٤] (٧٢٢/٦١٥)

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northern provinces 5 while in centrnl Eind even m southern Persia the nnme
of Russia commands general respect and awe. The Russian Emperor is
the great Emperor. The traveller is asked, a Are you a European, or a
Russian ? ” The name of Russia outweighs that of all the rest of Europe.
The preponderance of Russian influence becomes more and more marked
as one draws nearer to its centre, the capital. The Russian minister is not
more respected in Tihran than the English; but he has much more work
to do. His official duties bring him more frequently into contact with
officers of the Persian government, and it is only in the nature of things
that his influence should be felt more. _ And, whatever his influence has
been in the past, we may be sure that it must greatly increase now that
the Akhal Tekke country has been annexed, and that the whole northern
frontier of Persia, from the Caucasus to Sarakhs, is overlapped by Russian
territory. Nobody who has seen the Persian army can entertain the
thought of effectual resistance—indeed, of even a material check—offered
to a Russian force, which should invade the country at any point along a
frontier line of a thousand miles. Granted a cause of war, it would
simply rest with Russia whether she should annex Azerbaijan, or choose
rather some strip of territory on the other side of the Caspian, which
should give her a more fertile country to support her progress eastward.
The Persians know this, and fear the Russians accordingly. One cannot
pretend to guess how far the men in the highest station may have been
gained over to Russian interests; but the ordinary Persian regards Russia
with fear and dislike. At the same time, one sees very little indication of
a desire to enlist the friendship of England as a safeguard. English influ
ence throughout Persia is as nearly as possible nothing. The Indo-Persian
Telegraph was trusted to extend our political influence ; and it has unques
tionably been useful in familiarising Persians with Englishmen, and in
clearing away old prejudices against Europeans generally. But foreigners
benefit by this almost as much as ourselves; and it would be absurd to
suppose that the residence of a few telegraph officers in Shiraz and Isfahan
can be of any political advantage.
It will hardly be denied that the influence of England ought to have
some weight in Persian councils. It cannot be a matter of indifference
to us whether the country does, or does not, fall under the supremacy of
Russia. We, too, have interests in Persia ;—we have a legitimate right to
make our voice heard, and to command respect for our opinion in matters
touching our interest. If the extension of Russian influence over Central
Asian khanates and Turkuman steppes is, confessedly, a fact of import \
more or less serious for us, the growth of Russian influence in Persia
surely deserves some attention. For India will never be invaded from
Bukhara, nor even from Marv : the approaches to India do not lie in
these directions. But the route through Khurasan has been trodden by
more than one conqueror. Again, the subjugation of Turkuman or Khivan v
is pure gain to humanity: Russia has a civilising mission in those regions,
with which it would perhaps have been wrong to interfere, even were they
not wholly beyond the sphere of our interference. To think of our taking
up the cause of the Tekke Turkomans would be absurd. But the Persians
are not a community of robbers and man-stealers : they are a peaceable
people, living quietly under their own form of government—an imperfect
one no doubt, yet better for them, on the whole, than any European
interference. It seems a pity to allow them to grow up in the belief that