Eugene Schuyler to Hamilton Fish, February 17, 1873

No. 335. Mr. Schuyler to Mr. Fish.

Sir: The London Times of the 13th, which arrived this morning, has the full text of the recent correspondence between the Russian and English governments on the subject of Central Asian affairs. This correspondence, which I inclose, (marked A to G,) fully bears out what I have before written to you about the negotiations.

It is evident that Count Schouvaloff, on his visit to London, must have made known to Earl Granville that Russia was ready to come to an agreement with England if only the way were smoothed for her, which will account for the conciliatory and, in some respects, weak tone of Earl Granville’s dispatch of January 24, (F,) as compared with the firm dispatch of October 17, (A.) It would, perhaps, have been better for English interests if Lord Granville had been content to rest the matter with his first dispatch and consider it as settled without asking for any consent on the part of Russia. But as the interests of civilization demand order in the countries of Central Asia, if panics can be allayed in England by an agreement which implicitly allows Russia to do as she chooses north of the Oxus, it is well that such an agreement has been arrived at.

You will notice that Prince Gortchacow, in his last dispatch, (G,) lays much stress on the engagement of the English government to keep Afghanistan quiet. This engagement may yet bring England into great difficulties.

The passage in Lord Granville’s dispatch of January 8, (E,) in which he expresses a wish to avoid discussion in Parliament on the proposed agreement, occasions much surprise.

Count Schouvaloff appears to have given assurances that it was the Emperor’s wish not to occupy Khiva permanently, but his language is ambiguous, and he does not specify whether it is the territory or the town of Khiva which will not be occupied. It will be easy for the Russian government to find reasons of necessity for occupying Kungrad or the mouth of the Oxus.

I have, &c.,

Memorandum of Mr. Struve for Genial Kaufmann

D.

In the strict sense of the word, the possessions of the Ameer Shere Ali Khan only extend eastward as far as the meridian of the point of junction of the river Kouktcha with the Amou-Daria.

This line separates Badakshan and Wakhan from the province of Kunduz, which incontestably forms part of the dominion of Shere Ali Khan. It was annexed to Afghanistan about twenty years ago, by Mahammed Afzul Khan, son of Dost Mahammed, who was at that time governor of Balkh. Afzul Khan, as we learn from an English communication, made a fruitless attempt to seize Badakshan, the consequence of which, however, was that the Meer of Badakshan, hi order to secure the safety of his dominions, engaged to pay to Dost Mahammed Khan an annual tribute of two rupees for every house, and to deliver up to him the mines of rubies and lapis-lazuli situated in his territory.

This engagement, however, was not fulfilled. The death of Dost Mahammed Khan suggested to the chiefs of Badakshan, who little wished to become subservient to Cabul, the idea of seeking the protection of Bokhara; but the Ameer Seid Mouzaffer totally declined to interfere in the affairs of Badakshan, not because he looked upon this country as a dependency of Afghanistan, but because at that time he was anxiously watching the progress of our arms in Central Asia, and was preparing to march against Kokand.

Djandar Shah, who was then ruler of Badakshan, was an entirely independent sovereign, and recognized as such by all his neighbors. He had entered into friendly relations with Mahommed Afzul Khan and his son, Abdourrahman Khan, to whom he paid no tribute. When Shere Ali Khan, having defeated Abdourrahman, had occupied Cabul and Balkh, and made himself master of all Afghanistan, he sent an embassy to Djandar Shah, calling upon him to fulfill the engagements which he had formerly contracted. Djandar Shah answered by a refusal. Thereupon Mahammed Shah, his nephew, supported by the Afghan troops, overthrew his uncle, and made himself master of Faizabad, the capital of Badakshan, while his younger brother, Mizrab Shah, seized Tchaïab, the chief town of the province of Roustakh. The two brothers now pay to Shere Ali Khan, in recognition of the co-operation which he granted them, an annual tribute of 15,000 rupees, (9,000 roubles.) With the exception, however, of a very small number of Afghan adventurers, one meets in Badakshan with neither officials nor troops of the Ameer of Cabul, and his people themselves detest the Afghans.

This intelligence, rurnished by Abdourrahman Khan, and gathered partly from the lips of envoys of the Serdar of Balkh who came to Tashkend, is confirmed by the statement of Alif Bek, ex-governor of Sarikoul, (a province of Kashgar bordering on Wakhan,) who presented himself at Tashkend in the month of August of the present year. He added that Djandar Shah, the legitimate ruler of Badakshan, who, first of all, fled to Bokhara, had afterward returned by Samarkand and Kokand to Chongnan.

Such a state of things existing in Badakshan clearly shows that Shere Ali Khan could have no pretension to the possession of Badakshan as an inheritance bequeathed to him by Dost Mahammed Khan, and that his authority is not yet established in Badakshan. Mahammed Shah and Mizrab Shah, the actual rulers of Badakshan, do not consider themselves as beks of the Ameer of Cabul, and if they pay him tributes, it is only in the interests of their own security, and in order to shelter themselves from the sudden attacks of the brigands of Kunduz. Moreover, they have still to fear their uncle, Djandar Shah. There is nothing to favor the belief that the state of affairs in Badakshan is likely to change soon in favor of Shere Ali Khan, and it is certain that the present state of things in that country is in accordance, or nearly so, with the objects we have in view in Central Asia in common, and after a previous and voluntary understanding with England. Nor floes anything point to the possibility of a collision between Afghanistan and Bokhara on the side of Badakshan; the Ameer Seid Mouzaffa has put forward no pretension to the possession of that country. In the same way, Shere Ali Khan, who with difficulty keeps up a show of authority at Badakshan, is not in a position at this moment to exercise any-influence over Kouliab and Hissar, the towns of Bokhara which lie nearest to Badakshan. The official recognition of Russia and England of the rights of Shere Ali Khan over this country would at once lead that sovereign to make every effort to establish himself at Taizabad and in the district of Roustakh, and should he once succeed, a collision between Bokhara and Afghanistan would become inevitable. In support of this view, it will suffice to state that the former bek of Hissar, who in 1870 took refuge in Afghanistan, after his revolt against the Ameer Seid Mouzaffar in 1869, has already made attempts to recover his province, with the assistance of the Afghans, to whom he promised the entire subjection to the Ameer of Cabul of the whole of the province of Hissar and Kouliab. That this plan has not been carried out, must be attributed to the fact that the authority of Shere Ali Khan in Badakshan was null, and that the Ameer had no means of aggression at his disposal in that state.

To the east of Badakshan, in the upper basin of the Amou-Daria, lies a country little known, named Wakhan. This country, sometimes called Dariapendz, (the Five Rivers,) on account of the five principal tributaries which give rise to the Amou-Daria, to the north borders on the Pamir Steppe, which separates it from Karategnine; to the east it marches with Sarikoul, which belongs to the states under Yakoub Bek; to the south it is separated from Tchitrar (a country completely independent of Cabul) by the mountains of Nouk San, the eastern prolongation of the Hindoo Koosh. Wakhan is administered by a chief of its own, but the poverty of its inhabitants and the barrenness of the soil of mountainous district have brought it into dependence upon Badakshan, the beks of which do not, however, meddle with its domestic affairs. Once a year the chief of Wakhan sends a certain sum of money to the beks of Badakshan, but there are no direct relations between this country and Afghanistan.

A road passes through Badakshan and Wakhan, connecting Kunduz with Sarikoul, Yarkend, and K ash gar. According to certain information in our possession, this road is longer than the direct road from Peshawur to Yarkend taken by Mr. Shaw.

As to the Amou-Daria, this river serves as a boundary line between Afghanistan and Bokhara for a distance of about three hundred versts, from the confluence of the Koutkcha on the east up to the point where both banks belong to Bokhara, and especially as far as the pass of Tehouekha-Gouzar, opposite the Bokharan village Khodja-Laleh, which is on the right bank of the river.

To sum up as far as regards the northwest boundary of Afghanistan, although there are doubts as to the actual possession by the Ameer of Cabul of the towns of Aktchou, Beripool, Mai mane, Chibirgan, and Andkhoi, lying to the west of Balkh, it may be taken into consideration that all this region is isolated from the states of Bokhara by an almost impassable desert, and, in part, even by the sands; and that, consequently, on that side there would be less fear of any immediate collision between Afghanistan and Bokhara.