The Indian rail-head, which for so long termina- | Indian military authorities; if they disappeared ted at Jamrud, at the southern entrance they took their arms and ammunition with to the Khyber Pass, has now been extended to them, and constituted a powerful reinforcement. Landi Kotal and the frontier between India The khassadars bring their own rifles with and Afghanistan. The regular troops have them, and therefore if they desert they do not been withdrawn, and their place taken by constitute any reinforcement to those in arms khassadars. The difference between the khassa against us. Many of these khassadars have dars and the old tribal militia is material. already done good work in the punishment of The Militia were armed and equipped by the tribal raids. 1. THE PERSIAN GULF. Counter Measures. From what has gone before it will be seen (after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Agreement, that the keynote of this discussion of Indian and disappeared with the collapse of Russian frontier policy is that the external menace power following the Revolution. Then Turkey, has disappeared, and that it is now a purely either acting for herself, or as the avant courier local question. No part of the frontier is more of Germany, under whose domination she had powerfully influenced by this consideration passed, began to stir. She threatened the than the Persian Gulf. Our first appearance Sheikh of Bahrein by the armed occupation in the Gulf was in connection with the long of the peninsula of Al Katr, and moved troops struggle for supremacy with the Portuguese, to enforce her suzerainty over Koweit, the the French and the Dutch, who had established best port in the Persian Gulf and a possible trading stations there. With the capture and terminus of the Baghdad Railway. Further destruction of the great entrepot which the to consolidate her interests, or to stake out a Portuguese had established at Ormuz, the super claim, Germany sent the heavily-subsidized session of the land by the sea route, and the ships of the Hamburg-America line to the Gulf, appearance of anarchy in the interior the where they comported themselves as the inimportance of the Gulf declined. The Indian struments of Imperial policy rather than as Government remained there primarily to preserve inoffensive merchantmen. She also strove, the peace. This work it quietly and efficiently through the agency of the firm of Wonkhaus, to performed. Piracy was stamped out, the acquire a territorial footing on the island of Trucial Chiefs, who occupy the Pirate Coast, Shargah. These events stirred the Brit sh were gradually brought into close relations Government to an unusual activity in are with the Government, the vessels of the Royal waters of the Gulf. Navy kept watch and ward, and our consuls regulated the external affairs of the Arab rulers on the Arab coast. In return for these services Great Britain claimed no selfish advantages. The waters of the Gulf were kept free to the navigation of the ships of all nations, and though Great Britain could have made any territorial acquisitions she pleased she retained possession of only the tiny station of Bassidu. Left to herself Great Britain desired no other policy, but for a quarter of a century the Gulf was involved in European affairs. France sought to acquire a coaling station at Jissa, near Maskat, and obstructed the efforts of the British Government to stamp out the slave trade and to check the immense traffic in arms which was equipping the tribes on our land frontier with weapons of precision and quantities of ammunition. All causes of difference were gradually removed by agreements following the Anglo-French Entente. Russia sent one of her finest cruisers to "show the flag" in the Gulf, and established consular posts where there were no interests of preserve. She was credited with the intention of occupying a warm water port, and in particular with casting covetous eyes on the most dreadful spot in the Gulf, Bunder Abbas. This menace declined The first effective steps to counter these influences were taken during the vigorous viceroyalty of Lord Curzon, who visited the Gulf during his early travels and incorporated a masterly survey of its features in his monumental work on Persia. He appointed the ablest men he could find to the head of affairs, esta blished several new consulates, and was instrumental in improving the sea communications with the Gulf ports. The British Government also took alarm. They were fortified in their stand against foreign intrigue by the opinion of a writer of unchallenged authority. The American Naval writer, the late Admiral Mahan, placed on record his view that "Concession in the Persian Gulf, whether by formal arrange. ment (with other Powers) or by neglect of the local commercial interests which now underlie political and military control will imperil Great Britain's naval position in the Farther East, her political position in India, her commercial interests in both, and the Imperial tie between herself and Australasia." The Imperia stand point, endorsed by both Parties in the State, was set out by Lord Lansdowne in British Resident at Bushire, who visits the The commercial importance of the Pirate Coast is increasing through the rise of Debai. Formerly Lingah was the entrepot for this trade, but the exactions of the Belgian Customs officials in the employ of Persia drove this traffic from Lingah to Debai. The Trucial Chiefs are-Debai, Abu Thabee, Shargah Ajman, Um-al-Gawain and Ras-el-Kheyma. words of great import-"We (i.e., His Majesty's of the Trucial Chiefs are controlled by the Government) should regard the establishment of a naval base or of a fortified port in the Persian Gulf by any other Power as a very grave menace to British interests, which we should certainly resist with all the means at our disposal." The negative measures following these declarations were followed by a constructive policy when the oil fields in the Bakhtiari country, with a great refinery, were developed by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, in which the British Government has a large financial stake. But with the disappearance of these external forces on Gulf policy, as set out in the introduction to this section, the politics of the Persian Gulf receded in importance, until they are now more than they were before these external influences developed-a local question, mainly a question of police. They are therefore set out more briefly and those who desire a complete narrative are referred to the Indian Year Book for 1923, Pp. 178-183. Maskat. Maskat, which is reached in about fortyeight hours from Karachi, is outside the Persian Gulf proper. It lies three hundred miles south of Cape Musandim, which is the real entrance to the Gulf, but its natural strength and historical prestige combine to make it inseparable from the politics of the Gulf, with which it has always been intimately associated. Formerly Maskat was part of a domain which embraced Zanzibar, and the Islands of Kishm and Larak, with Bunder Abbas on the Persian shore. Zanzibar was separated from it by agreement, and the Persians succeeded in establishing their authority over the possessions on the castern shore. The relations between Britain and Maskat have been intimate for a century and more. It was under British auspices that the separation between Zanzibar and Maskat was effected, the Sheikh accepted a British subsidy in return for the suppression of the slave trade and in 1892 sealed his dependence upon us by concluding a treaty pledging himself not to cede any part of his territory without our con sent. The Pirate Coast. Turning Cape Musandim and entering the Gulf Proper, we pass the Pirate Coast, controlled by the six Trucial Chiefs. The ill-name of this territory has now ceased to have any meaning, but in the early days it had a very real relation to the actual conditions. The pirates were the boldest of their kind, and they did not hesitate to attack on occasion, and not always without success, the Company's ships of war. Large expeditions were fitted out to break their power, with such success that since 1820 no considerable punitive measures have been recessary. The Trucial Chiefs are bound to Great Britain by a series of engagements, beginning with 1806 and ending with the perpetual treaty of 1853 by which they bound themselves to avoid all hostilities at sea, and the subsequent treaty of 1873 by which they undertook to prohibit altogether the traffic in slaves. The relations Bahrein, North of the Pirate Coast lies the little Archipelago which forms the chiefship of the Sheikh of Bahrein. Of this group of islands only those of Bahrein and Manarak are of any size, but their extent. This is the great centre of the their importance is out of all proportion to be worth half a million pounds sterling. The Gulf pearl fishery, which, in a good year, may anchorage is wretched, and at certain states of the tide ships have to lie four miles from the shore, which is not even approachable by boats, and passengers, mails and cargo have to be handed on the donkeys for which Bahrein is famous. But this notwithstanding the trade of the port is valued at over a million and a quarter sterling, and the customs revenue, which amounts to some eighty thousand pounds, makes the Sheikh the richest ruler in the Gulf, In the neighbourhood of Bahrein is the vast burying ground which has hitherto baffled archæologists. The generally accepted theory is that it is a relic of the Phoenicians, who are known to have traded in these waters. Political Agent: Captain R. G. E. W. Alban, Koweit. In the north-west corner of the Gulf lies the port which has made more stir than any place of similar size in the world. The importance of Koweit lies solely in the fact that it is the one possible Gulf terminus of the Baghdad Railway. This is no new discovery, for when the Euphrates Valley Railway was under discussion, General Chesney selected it under the alternative name of the Grane- so called from the resemblance of the formation of the Bay to a pair of horns-as the sea terminus of the line. Nowhere else would Koweit be called a good or a promising port. The Bay is 20 miles deep and 5 miles broad, but so shallow that heavy expense would have to be incurred to render i suitable for modern ocean-going steamers. It is sheltered from all but the westerly winds, and the clean thriving town is people by some 20,000 inhabitants, chiefly dependent on the sea, for the mariners of Koweit are roted for their boldness and hardihood. Political Agent: Major C. C. J. Barrett, C.S.I., C.I.E. Muhammerah. On the opposite side of the entrance to the Shatt-el-Arab lie the territories of Sheikh Khazzal of Muhammeran. The town, favour. ably situated near the mouth of the Karun River, has grown in importanca since the opening of the Karun River route to tra le through the enterprise of Messrs. Lynch Brothers. This route provides the shortest pas Basra. In a sense Easra and Turkish Arabistan can hardly be said to come within the scope of the frontiers of India, yet they are so indissolubly associated with the politics of the Gulf that they must be considered in relation thereto Basra is the inevitable sea terminus of the Baghdad Railway. It stands on the Shatt-elArab, sixty miles from its mouth, favourably situated to receive the whole water-borne trade of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The local traffic is valuable for the richness of the date groves on either side of the Shat tel-Arab is indescribable, there is a considerable entrepot traffic, whilst Basra is the port of entry for Baghdad and for the trade with Persia, which follows the caravan route via Kermanshah and Hamadan. Sir Percy Cox has accordingly been authorised by His Majesty's Government to make an announcement at Baghdad, the terms of which I propose to read out to Your Lordships. This announcement was drawn up in consultation with King Feisal and his Government, and has their cordial assent. It is being published at Baghdad to-day. The announcement is as follows: "It will be remembered that in the autumn of last year, after a lengthy exchange of views, it was decided between the Governments of His Britannic Majesty and His Majesty King Feisal that a Treaty of Alliance should be entered into between His Britannic Majesty and His Majesty the King of Iraq. This Treaty, and the term of which was to be twenty years which was signed on the 10th October, 1922, (subject to periodical revision at the desire of either party) provided for the establishment of an independent Constitutional Government and assistance from Great Britain of the nature in Iraq. enjoying a certain measure of advice and extent indicated in the text of the Treaty itself and of subsidiary Agreements which were to be made thereunder. "Accordingly a protocol has now been signed by the parties in the following terms: "Since then the Iraq Government has made great strides along the path of independent, and stable existence and has been able successfully to assume administrative responsibility. and both parties being equally anxious that The political destinies of Basra are at the commitments and responsibilities of His present wrapped up with the destinies of the Majesty's Government in respect of Iraq should new Arab State which we have set up in Meso-be terminated as soon as possible, it is considerpotamia under King Feisal. When the war ed that the period of the Treaty in its present was over we found ourselves committed to form can conveniently be shortened. In order immense, undefined and burdensome responsi- to obviate the inconvenience of introducing bilities in that land. The sound concepts which amendments into the body of a Treaty already dictated the original expedition were dislocated signed, it has been decided to bring about the in the foolish advance to Baghdad; then the necessary modifications by means of a protocol great military enterprises necessitated by the which, like the Treaty itself, will be subject fall of Kut-al-Amara carried our frontier north to ratification by the Constituent Assembly. to Mosul and the mountains of Kurdistan, east to the Persian boundary, and west to the confines of Trans-Jordania. Amongst ardent Imperialists, there was undoubtedly the hope that this immense area would be in one way or another an integral part of the British Empire. The cold fit followed when the cost was measured, and the Arabs rose in a revolt which showed that any such domination could only be maintained by force of arms and that the cost would be prodígious. Under these circumstances King Feisal was imported from the Hedjaz and installed on the throne under theaegis of Great Britain. Still we were committed to the support of the new kingdom, and that most dangerous condition arose-responsibility without any real power unless King Feisal was to be a mere puppet, immense expenditure and indefinite military commitments. In these circumstances there was an insistent demand for withdrawal from the land. British policy moved slowly towards that end, but a definite step was taken in 1923. The Secretary of State for the Colonies announced this policy in a statement which is reproduced textually, for the purpose of reference. Addressing the House of Lords on May 3rd he said Your Lordships will remember that the Cabinet have been discussing this matter for some time, and decisions have now been taken. ting Parties that, notwithstanding the provisions "It is understood between the High Contracof Article 18, the present Treaty is all terminate of Nations and in any case not later than four upon Iraq becoming a member of the League years from the ratification of peace with Turkey. Nothing in this protocol shall prevent a fresh agreement from being concluded with a view the High Contracting Parties; and negotiations to regulate the subsequent relations between for that object shall be entered into between them before the expiration of the above period." It will be noticed that under this protocol the Treaty in its present form is to terminate on the entry of Iraq into the League of Nations or in four years, whichever may be earlier. The position of Iraq as regards the League is that when the Treaty has been ratified His Britannic Majesty will be bound under Article 6 to use his good offices to secure the admission of Iraq to membership of the League of Nations as soon as possible. His Majesty's Government will be in a position to take this step on the fulfil ment of the two following essential conditions, namely, the delimitation of the frontiers of Iraq, and the establishment on a stable government in accordance with the Organic Law |