732 



PERSIA. 



would take the form of a civil war between the 

 north and the south of Persia. If Russia took 

 the part of the northern claimant, Great Brit- 

 ain might be impelled to take sides with the 

 other, and Persia be divided into two king- 

 doms dominated by the two great rival powers. 



The governorship of Kermanshah was con- 

 ferred upon Massud Mirza in addition to his 

 other offices, making him the ruler of more 

 than half Persia. 



Six great schemes for railroads in Persia 

 have been proposed. The British scheme of 

 an international railway from Scutari to India 

 does not seem as near accomplishment as it did 

 a few years ago. This route would lead through 

 Bagdad, Ispahan, Yezd, and Bunder Abbas, 

 and thence along the coast of Kurrachee. The 

 English have proposed also to merely connect 

 India with Persia, and Russia and Turkey have 

 each planned to extend their railway systems 

 into Persia. The Persians have projected a 

 railroad net-work of their own, with inter- 

 national connections under their own control. 

 In all of these projects the strategic and polit- 

 ical aspect is of not less importance than the 

 commercial, and the two can not be discon- 

 nected in railroad enterprise in the East. Four 

 of the projected routes were to enter Persia 

 from the west, and two from the east. The 

 British operations in Afghanistan led to the 

 discussion of a new route from India, which 

 would have some advantages over the one 

 along the coast of the Persian Gulf from Kur- 

 rachee. From the same port, at the mouth of 

 the Indus, it would pass through the Can- 

 dahar- Herat depression and reach Ispahan by 

 the route north of the plateau of Iran via 

 Meshed. The Afghanistan section of this rail- 

 road was begun during the British invasion of 

 Afghanistan, and the line was completed to 

 Sibi, half-way to Candahar. The Turks have 

 a line built from Scutari to Ismeed, and under 

 construction to Angora; while they are pre- 

 paring to extend it to Sin ope and Samsoon on 

 the Black Sea. The British or anti-Russian 

 scheme of an intercontinental railroad would 

 have this line extended to Bagdad, and con- 

 nected with a road from India. The extension 

 of the Austrian railroads to Salonica, and the 

 connection of Vienna and Pesth with Con- 

 stantinople by rail, would join this trans-Asian 

 line to all the capitals of Europe by means of 

 a ferry across the Bosporus. The strategic 

 necessities connected with the defense of India, 

 which constitute the main argument in favor 

 of the Euphrates Valley scheme with the 

 British, are now fully met by the Suez Canal. 

 The Russians are more active and sagacious 

 than either the British or the Turks in their 

 efforts to obtain railroad connection with Per- 

 sia, which is the key to both commercial and 

 political supremacy. The road from St. Peters- 

 burg into the Caucasus, which has been built 

 sometime as far as Vladikavkas, is advancing 

 to Erivan, and a concession was obtained from 

 the Persian Government to extend it to the 



prosperous town of Tabreez ; but the latter con- 

 cession which would bring the Russians close 

 to the Caspian port of Reshd, or Enzellee, and 

 the prime provinces of Ghilan and Mazanderan, 

 and within striking distance of the Persian 

 capital, Teheran, and would place Herat within 

 reach was canceled at the instance of the 

 Disraeli Government. A scheme for a Persian 

 rail way from Tabreez, through Reshd, Teheran, 

 and Ispahan, to Bushire on the Persian Gulf, 

 was proposed by Baron Reuter, but encoun- 

 tered the opposition of both the English and 

 the Russian Governments. 



The Russians and the British are already 

 rivals in Persia. The latter are attracted by 

 the valuable trade of the country, and by the 

 consideration that the overland routes to India 

 lead through Persia. The English political 

 thinkers who have not lulled themselves into a 

 restful security, which even the blunt acknowl- 

 edgment that Russia will meet British opposi- 

 tion in Europe with diversions on the side of 

 India does not disturb, are now more than ever 

 eager for the establishment of British control 

 in Persia. Since the attempt to guard the 

 road to India by way of Herat and Canda- 

 har, the only practical military route, ended 

 in a fiasco, the voluntary submission or forci- 

 ble subjection of Persia to a British protect- 

 orate seems the only safeguard against such 

 diversions and their consequences. If the 

 Russians obtain the ascendency in Persia, they 

 can establish themselves in Herat and march 

 at any time into India; whereas, if the British 

 obtain the military control of Persia, they 

 would possess a line of impregnable natural 

 fortresses which command the Russian routes 

 all the way from the Caspian. 



The English have a preponderant interest in 

 the commerce of Persia, and would soon ac- 

 quire the political control which follows upon 

 mercantile supremacy if they were not opposed 

 by the more astute, vigilant, and aggressive 

 political policy of Russia. "When Russian and 

 British influences are brought into contact and 

 antagonism in Oriental courts and nations, the 

 former seem destined always to prevail. The 

 Russian policy, if less truthful and square, is 

 oftentimes more humane, generous, and sub- 

 stantially just, and is guided by a perfect 

 knowledge of the mind and character of the 

 Oriental peoples, which centuries of contact 

 can not give to the English. Persia is divided 

 between English and Russian counsels, but the 

 geographical position of Russia, as well as her 

 active spirit of encroachment, and the intellect- 

 ual affinity between Russians and Orientals, 

 give to her a decided advantage in the contest. 

 The Russian railroads already extend into the 

 Persian dominions. Russia has acquired Ashu- 

 rada, the most commanding Persian port on the 

 Caspian, and has obtained the complete mari- 

 time supremacy on that sea. The military dom- 

 ination and commercial primacy which Russia 

 now possesses in the northern provinces, which 

 are the richest part of Persia, the abode of the 



