Page 44 - Gulf Precis (VII)_Neat

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shorter could with very little expenditure be turned into a good carriage
road. °
112. From Khurramabad, where the five roads join, the road passos through
BUrujird and Unmadnn to Teheran, and this part presents no difficulties
whatever. The total distance from Dizful is 400 miles of as easy road against
7CO miles by the present road from Bushire, which in many places is very
• From JJloliur, Teheran, No, 43, dated 7th April difficult.* It is true that tho BushirO
1883 road passes by Shiraz and Ispahan, but
the real important place i9 Toheran and besides Hamadnn is quite as impor-
tant from a commercial point of view as either Shira, or Ispahan.
113. Tho Third route of importance in connection with tho Karun rivet
is tho Kermanshah route. The importance of opeuing up tho Kermanshah
country may be gnthered from the fact that Captain Napier at Kermanshah
found about 80,000 tons of grain of little value to anybody on account of the
difficulty of export. The grain sold at the absurdly low rate of Rs. 9 per ton.,
In fact the Kermanshah district is one of tho most fertile in the world and
abounds in excellent horses. If the Karun were opoued for navigation, the
Kermanshah trade might easily go by Hamadan to Dizful, but probably shorter
roads might bo found.
114. A Frenoh Engineer in Porsian service, M. Vauvilliers, has recently sub­
mitted to the Persian Government a scheme for establishing water communica­
tion between Kermanshah and Dizful. A river called Kerkhab joins the
8hat-el-Arab below Karun. This river is supposed to be navigable till very
near Kermanshah, and at one point, it is only 30 miles distant from Dizful.
M. Vauvilliers proposes to make a canal at this point, and thus connect Ker­
* From Uiniitor, Tohoron, No, 78, doted 11th Juno manshah with Dizful.t Even if this
1883. scheme should prove difficult of execu­
tion, there is every reason to believe that a road following the Kerkhab would
givo easy communication with Dizful.
iv.—GENERAL BEMARK3.
115. The opening of the Karun river for navigation would be equally ad­
vantageous from a political and from a commercial point of view. Considering
the political aspect of the case, it may be remarked that it would give England,
as the country which would most largely employ the new route, paramount
influence in Southern Persia, while the possibility of bringing troops within
a few hundred miles of tho most important Persian towns naturally would
contribute largely to the re-establishment of British influence at Teheran.
From a commercial point of view it would appear that the only chance of
successful competition with Russian trade is the opening up of the Karun.
Twenty years ago British merchants almost monopolized the trade of Persia.
At this moment English goods are rarely seen beyond Isfahan, and even
at this place Russian produoo is sold in equal quantity with British merchan­
dize.
110. Thi9 change is due to the development of steam navigation on the
Caspian and to the construction of good roads leading from the Caspian to
Teheran and Meshed. Mr. Thomson is of opinion that a railway must shortly
be made from the Caspain to Teheran, and that, if nothing is done towards
developing communications with the Persian Gulf, British trade will be driven
out of all the important and wealthy parts of Persia. At present this trade is
confined to the roads Trebizond* Teheran, Baghdad-Kermanshah-Teheran, and
BushireJspahan-Teheran.
117. The Trebizond road may be left out of consideration, as it cannot pos­
sibly compete with the Russian roads.
118. The Baghdad-Kermanshah-Teheran road is 600 miles long, a great
part leads through difficult country, and the Turkish opposition to free trade on
the Tigris will be an almost unsurmountable obstacle to tho development of
this trade route.