PROCEEDINGS OF TH 
 ENTRAL ASIAN SOCIETY 
 
 INDIA 
 
 COLONEL C. E, DE LA POER BERESFORD 
 
 Late Military Atta. 
 
 ^ 
 
 LONDON 
 ENTRAL ASIAN SOCIETY. 22, ALBEMARLE STREI^
 
 Ipvoceebiiujs of the Central 
 Hsiati Society* 
 
 RUSSIAN RAILWAYS TOWARDS INDIA 
 
 BY 
 
 COLONEL C. E. DE LA POER BERESFORD 
 
 LATE MILIT.UiY ATTACHE AT ST. PETEKSBUKG 
 
 READ DECEMBER 13, 1906
 
 on LI. 
 
 URL 
 
 ^^miG^o 
 
 RUSSIAN RAILWAYS TOWARDS 
 INDIA 
 
 Sir Thomas Holdich : Although at present pubHc interest con- 
 cerning the far-off frontier of Afghanistan is somewhat discounted 
 owing to the miserable position in which Eussia finds herself 
 to-day, the subject will continue to be of undying interest so long 
 as Russia and England remain as they are in Asia. As to rail- 
 ways in Central Asia, they must always have a peculiar interest, 
 because further extension towards Afghanistan can only have a 
 strategic military meaning. Under no circumstances can they be 
 considered purely as a commercial venture. They are more or 
 less a disguised threat to peace on the frontier. We shall this 
 afternoon be able to hear much more on this question from 
 Colonel de la Poer Beresford, who has had unusual opportunities 
 as Military Attache at St. Petersburg for studying the subject. I 
 have, therefore, very much pleasure in calling ujDon Colonel Beres- 
 ford to read his paper. 
 
 [Before reading his paper. Colonel de la Poer Beresford gave a 
 few words of explanation about a map which he had brought to 
 illustrate and to make clear his remarks. It was, he said, a 
 Russian map published in St. Petersburg, but not officially, and 
 was entitled * Railway Lines to India.' It had been carefully 
 copied by a friend, but he explained that the mountains were not 
 marked sufficiently clearly, and the existing and projected rail- 
 way-lines were hardly so conspicuous as they ought to be. But 
 the map was of special interest, and would be of considerable 
 help to the audience in following his remarks.] 
 
 The completion of the line from Orenburfr to 
 Tashkent gives liussia direct mil communication fi'om 
 St. Petersburg' to Kushk post on the frontier of Afghan- 
 istan. From St. Petersburg to Orenburg is about 1,230
 
 ( -* ) 
 
 miles. From ()rt'nl)urg to Tashkent the distanee is 
 1,500 miles, and from JTishkent, via Samarkand and 
 Merv to Kushk post, about 450 miles. It is possible to 
 proeeed to Kushk post via Rostov on the Don, Petrovsk 
 and Haku, to embark there for Krasnovodsk on the East 
 Caspian shore, and to entrain there again for Askhabad 
 and JNlerv. These are the existing lines of railway 
 towards India. The projected lines shown on the map 
 are not yet commenced. An exception to this state- 
 ment must be made, as will be seen later on, as regards 
 the line from Charjui on the Amu to Termez on the 
 same river. Another line that must be considered is 
 the Batum-TiHis-Erivan. It is proposed to carry this 
 eventually from the Russo-Persian frontier at Julfa, 
 near Xakhitchevan, through the Persian provinces of 
 Azerbidjad, Kasvin, Teheran, and Khorassan. To this 
 I will come presently. At this moment the rail-head is 
 some miles short of the Persian frontier. All the lines 
 1 have mentioned are single lines, with the broad 
 Russian gauge. I have ^'isited Erivan, Orenburg, 
 and Tashkent, and watched the construction of the 
 \arious lines. They, like all railways in Russia, are 
 laid on transverse sleepers, to which they are pinned 
 down by large nails. Fish-plates at the joints give 
 extra security, but chairs are unknown. A¥ith such 
 an arrangement much ballast is necessary to ensure 
 ordinary stability. ITnfortunately for Russia, her Asiatic 
 lines run, as a rule, through sandy countries where 
 stone is rarely found. It is impossible, then, to run 
 heavy trains at great speed o\ er these lines. Neverthe- 
 less, the late war in JManchuria has shown us of what 
 one line, the Trans-Siberian, is capable. 
 
 Prince Hilkoff laid two great railways in Asia — the 
 Trans-Siberian and the Orenburg- Tashkent. The
 
 ( ^ ) 
 
 Central Asian, formerly called the Transcaspian, was 
 thought out by SkobelefF; but General AnnenkofF 
 actually bridged the black sand (Kara-Kum). Uzun- 
 Ada, the original starting-point, no longer exists. It is 
 from Krasnovodsk, where the condensers are, that the 
 rails from piers in the Caspian run on to Andijan, 1,850 
 miles away. The first section of the line to JMulla-Kari 
 was finished in December, 1880. \A^ater-trains over- 
 came the difficulty of the dry desert. These still ply 
 on the line. Huge vats, truncated pyramids in form, 
 fixed on waggons convey the precious fluid. The line 
 was laid from Kizil-Ar^ at to Merv, 352 English miles, 
 in fourteen months. 
 
 From Krasnovodsk to Askhabad is a desert journey 
 of eighteen hours. The traveller passes through the 
 country of the Yomud Turkomans, entering the Akhal- 
 Tekke oasis at Uzun-Su, and skirting the base of Kopet 
 Dagh, or Daman-i-Kuh. It lias been said that a railway 
 was projected to run from Askhabad to JNIeshed, via 
 Firuze and the Gulistan liills. But I saw no sign of 
 such a thing three years ago. The projected line to 
 Meshed will not pass this way. An error in Central 
 Asian cartography is that many places, Askhabad, 
 Luftabad, etc., are shown in our maps as fortresses. 
 They are guileless of defensive works. 'I'he only fortress 
 is Kushk post, on the iVfghan frontier. ^Vlong the 
 railway in the Akhal-Tekke oasis are seen the Persian 
 towers — for Shah-Abbas ruled up to Kara-Kum — into 
 which the inhabitants Hed at the approach of the Turko- 
 mans. A moimted Tekkc here and tliere, his black 
 stallion's coat glistening in the sun, is all tliat remains 
 of tlie iVlamans tliat swept the plains of Khorassan. 
 The hardy Turkoman liorse is almost extinct. 
 
 In this nearly rainless district water is so precious
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 that it is hoarded underground ! When found beneath 
 the surface it is led along underneatli it by a system of 
 horizontal tunnels ventilated by vertical shafts. It is 
 thus brought to the level of the land to be irrigated. 
 These wells are styled ktirez, the ordinary cylindrical 
 cuttings being named cliah. From Askliabad to Giaours 
 we are still in the Akhal-Tekkc oasis ; but thence the 
 rails are laid across the Kara-Kum. Thirty miles beyond 
 Diishak a bridge spans the Tejend, whose waters mingle 
 with the sand among tlie tall reeds that cover the plain 
 to the north. Only 300 miles to the south the Tejend 
 flows, as the Hari Rud, under the walls of Herat. It 
 waters the country of the Sank Turkomans. Their 
 beautiful carpets are known in the trade as Pendjeh 
 rugs. Seven hours from Askhabad the engine draws up 
 at a commonplace station lit by petroleinii lamps. A 
 noisy crowd of Russian ladies, officers, Persians, and 
 Usbegs surround the train. The JNIurghab here is but 
 a muddy stream, whose waters are soon lost in the 
 desert. To the east is a high, continuous wall of earth. 
 Nearer, a few miserable houses and dust-smothered 
 locust-bean trees. Yet the place has a famous history. 
 Here Timur the I^ame fought nine battles. This is 
 Merv, Ain-i-jahan, the Eye of the A^'^orld. 
 
 The district between JNIerv and Rokhara is an 
 irregular, wind-swept sea of sand. Sven Hedin's 
 description of Gobi applies to it : 'A regular chaos of 
 sand dunes all linked together, running without a break 
 one into another.' These hillocks appeared to me like 
 petrified waves, from whose crests blew a sandy foam. 
 The station in the centre of this awful desert is called 
 Pesski, or ' the Dusty.' The constant danger is that 
 these shifting masses may overwhelm and bury the line. 
 To prevent this wattle screens are erected in the direc-
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 tion of the prevailing wind. Tamarisk and Saxaoul 
 {Maloxylon ainmondendron), the only things that will 
 grow there, are planted on the embankment to hold it 
 together. The light of the sun is never veiled here save 
 by the simum, through the dust of which it glows red, 
 as through fog. Ten miles west of the ancient Oxus 
 begins the territory of the Am\r of Bokhara. In this 
 green fringe of the desert the Esari Turkomans tend 
 their horses, carefully wrapped in camel's hair blankets 
 to preserve their silken skin sheen. INIerv is left at 
 6 p.m. At 2 p.m. next day the train reaches Charjui. 
 The Turkomans rove no further to the east than the 
 great river. 
 
 The original wooden bridge over the Amu, or ancient 
 Oxus, at Charjui (Four Springs), was built on 3,300 
 piles, driven through the sandy bottom into an im- 
 permeable substratum. It took seven months to build, 
 being finished in January, 1888. I crossed it twelve 
 years later. It has been replaced by a steel lattice- 
 girder bridge, carrying a single pair of rails, over granite 
 piers 30 feet high. In May, 1888, Samarkand was 
 reached. Not until 1895 was Tashkent joined by rail 
 to this place. That branch, which will now become the 
 main Moscow-Samarkand line, crosses the Sir-Daria 
 (Jaxartes) at Chinaz, by a bridge similar to, but 
 smaller than, that at Charjui. I read in the Times a 
 short time ago that the line from Charjui to Termez is 
 in process of construction. It is only shown as pro- 
 jected on the map on the wall. I leave to the military 
 correspondent of the Times the responsibility for the 
 statement which bears the stamp of probability. I am 
 not able to confirm it from personal observation. It 
 forms, in any case, part of the most direct projected 
 line towards the frontier of India. Russian troops at
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 Termez would be within forty English miles of JNIazar-i- 
 Sh^rif. This place is on the road from the ruins of 
 Balkh to Khiilm and Tash-kurgan, about ten miles east 
 of the ruins. From Merv to Kushk post a branch line, 
 finished in 1897, follows the Murghab A^alley. I could 
 only drive a short way alongside of it. The stations are 
 Yulatan (the camp to which Salza's brigade of Caucasian 
 Rifles was quickly moved from Tiflis five years ago), 
 Band-i-Sultan, Iman-Baba, Ak-tepe, Pul-i-Khisti, Kara- 
 tep^, and Kiishkhinski post. The trackless desert to 
 the east of this single line is called the Desht-i-khol. 
 On its southern borders are the aouls of the Kara Turko- 
 mans ; the Alieli Turkomans wander to the east of the 
 Murghab Valley. 
 
 Farab, opposite Chrirjui, on the right bank of the 
 Amu, is the headquarters of the Russian steamboat 
 ser^'ice on the river. The steamers draw about 5 feet. 
 The navigation is difficult owing to the shifting sand- 
 banks. At night-time all craft anchor. From Farab 
 to Termez upstream is a five to seven days' journey. 
 Downstream to Kungrad about the same. The stations 
 at which the steamer stops between Farab and Termez 
 are Sakar-bazar, Burdalk, Kerki, whence leads a fair 
 road to Samarkand, 160 miles away, Jishak, Kelif, etc. 
 Stores and war material pass by these steamers, but 
 their importance as carriers will diminish as the railway 
 along the left bank comes into use. I do not believe 
 the stories lately circulated as to concentration of large 
 bodies of troops at Termez or Kerki. These tales fall 
 around in Russia like leaves in \^allambrosa ev ery year 
 as the recruits pass to garrisons in Asia from their 
 European homes. It is worth noting that these lines of 
 communication towards the upper Amu, or Oxus, have 
 a great strategical importance. They lead to Mazar-i-
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 Sherif and Badakshan. A large Russian force could, in 
 the event of an advance southwards, be brought by 
 these ways into this country. Quartered on the line 
 Mazar-i-Sherif-Kungrad-Faizabad (in Badakshan), it 
 could draw a certain amount of food from the country 
 and be also continually fed along its own communica- 
 tions. There is a road that I am told is tolerable from 
 this region to the Dora Pass leading into the Chitral 
 ^^alley. I do not think that this road is at present 
 passable for troops of all arms, but no doubt it could 
 soon be made so. Perhaps some such thoughts entered 
 the mind of the Russian diplomat who, on hearing of 
 our occupation of Chitral, said : ' Vous nous avez ferme 
 la porte au nez.' 
 
 Bokhara is some ten hours by train from JNlerv. A 
 branch railway from the main line runs up to its walls. 
 I saw here the revolting dungeon or pit in which our 
 brave countrymen, Stoddart and Conolly, were confined. 
 They were put to death by order of Nasrulah-Bahadur, 
 Amir of Bokhara, some seventy years ago. The State 
 of Bokhara counts 1,250,000 JMahomedan inhabitants. 
 The army is 11,000 strong. Of this force 4,000 men, 
 armed with old smooth-bore muskets, are quartered in 
 the city. Bokhara is in an oasis surrounded by deserts 
 watered by the Wafkan, a tributary of the Zarafshan. 
 The waters of this river, regulated by hatches and locks 
 in Russian keeping, are the food and drink of Bokhara. 
 No garrison is necessary, for with a few turns of a le\^er 
 the conquerors can cut off the whole water-supply of 
 the oasis. The relations between these and the con- 
 quered races seem satisfactory. In Moslem lands there 
 is always a hidden fire. It broke out at Andijan in 1899, 
 and was quickly suppressed. 
 
 The distance from Bokhara to Samarkand is 140
 
 ( 10 ) 
 
 miles. A good unmetalled carriage-road runs close to 
 the railway through Kermine to the ancient INIarakanda. 
 At Katta Kurgan the mountains come in sight, the 
 Hissar chain under features, almost, of Alai and the great 
 Tianshan. The contrast to the hateful sands is so great 
 that one perhaps overestimates the beauty and resources 
 of this region. We are nearing the cotton and vines of 
 Fergana. Leaving Bokhara at 10 a.m., the train arrives 
 at Samarkand at 7.30 p.m. Samarkand is divided into 
 two distinct towns : the Russian, not unlike a large 
 Indian cantonment, with broad poplar-shaded avenues, 
 and the native town. Here are the stately ruins of the 
 Eibi-Khanum, to the memory of Timur's wife, a princess 
 of, I think, the Ming dynasty of China. There are, 
 also, the Gur-Amir, Timur's own tomb, and the resting- 
 place of Shah Zindeh. There are good roads from an 
 Eastern, not Indian, point of view, from Samarkand to 
 Kerki, on the Amu-Daria, to Tashkent via Jizak, and 
 thence to Khokand, Khojent, Namangan, Andijan, 
 JMargeliln, and Osh. I travelled to the latter place 
 from Andijan on a tar ant ass, and remember the ruts ! 
 Samarkand yields to Tashkent as a military station, but 
 from its central position and good connnunications is 
 a place of importance. Of all the ruins of Samarkand, 
 so eloquent in their deserted grandeur, none impressed 
 me as did the Gur-Amir. Inside the dome, in front 
 of the horse-hair standard, one feels the presence of 
 Tamerlane. Beneath the cupola is a nephrite ceno- 
 taph, the largest block of green jade in the world. 
 Around it a carved gypsum balustrade. In the crypt 
 below lie the bones of the conqueror of Toktamish 
 Klian, of Sultan Bayaz\d, of the Caucasus, Persia, and 
 India. 
 
 Tashkent is about 110 miles fi'om Samarkand. The
 
 ( 11 ) 
 
 capital of Central Asia is well placed on the Chirtckik 
 stream, some 1,300 feet above sea-level, and, though hot 
 in summer, is cold enough for furs in winter. The fine 
 new town, with its cathedral, where KaufFman lies 
 buried, observatory, parks, etc., contrasts curiously with 
 the huge but squalid collection of mosques, medresses, 
 and shaded bazaars that make up the old Tashkent, and 
 in which 160,000 souls bargain, pray, and lie dormant. 
 The chief importance of this place is that it is the centre 
 of Russian communications in Central Asia. Before the 
 iron horse came three great roads joined here. One to 
 the south, to Khojent, branching thence eastwards to 
 Margelan, Andijan, and China ; to the west to Samar- 
 kand and Merv. A second was the post-road via 
 Chimkent, Aulie-Ata, Vernoe, past Lake Balkash to 
 Semipalatinsk on the Irtish, 2,000 miles to the north. A 
 third, passing Chimkent and Aralsk, led to Orenburg. 
 \\^ith the creation of the railway system, not yet com- 
 pleted, Tashkent becomes the southern apex of an 
 irregular triangle of railways, of which two sides, 
 Samara-Tashkent and Samara-Tomsk, are finished, 
 and the third, Tashkent to Ob on the Siberian line, is 
 projected. 
 
 Having now described the Central Asian Railway 
 from personal observations, I must say a word as to its 
 projected continuation, and the alternative line towards 
 India through I*ersia. The black dotted line on the 
 map shows the former as running from Charjui along 
 the left bank of the ^Vmu, or Oxus, on Russian territory 
 as far as Kerki. A few miles south of this it crosses the 
 Afghan border passes near Mazar-i-Sherif, almost in a 
 direct line to the valley of tlie Kabid River, Jellalubad, 
 and Peshawur. To do this it nuist, after crossing the 
 Ak-Serai stream, a left affluent of the Upper Amu, or
 
 ( v> ) 
 
 ( )xus, pass either throiit^h or over several small mountain 
 masses and the huge main chain of the Hindii-Kush. I 
 confess that, for Russian engineers, little accustomed to 
 tunnelling, this seems to me a very difficult as well as a 
 \'ery costly undertaking. Turning to the projected line 
 through Persia, its projectors ignore the treaty that 
 closes the dominions of the Shah alike to llussian or 
 British railways. The physical obstacles to the laying 
 of this line are not considerable. It is almost finished 
 to tlie frontier at Jiilfa, on the Aras or Araxes River. 
 Thence it is to proceed past Tabriz to Teheran. At the 
 capital a line is to branch south to Kum, Isfahan 
 (Isphahan), Shiraz (where it might meet a line made by 
 us), and thence to Bunder-Abbas in the Ormiis channel. 
 The main line is to run eastwards from Teheran through 
 Khorassan almost on the old trade route to INIeshed and 
 Kushk post. Thence it is to be continued to Herat 
 to Farah. Here it branches again ; one line goes towards 
 Seistan, the other to Kandahar. According to the map, 
 British lines are in course of construction, or projected, 
 to Kandahar and to Nushki, Kerman, and Shiraz, with a 
 branch to the north through the marshes of Seistan to 
 Meshed. Of these projected lines to India, that from 
 Kushk post to Herat and Kandahar seems to me, speak- 
 ing academically (without raising the mihtary side of the 
 question), easy and cheap to construct. It is the pro- 
 longation of the line jSIoscow-Orenburg-Tashkent-Merv- 
 Kushk post, already constructed. The engineering diffi- 
 culties in the way are inconsiderable. The Paropismus 
 chain can be easily crossed ; but there is the veto of the 
 Amir of Afghanistan to be considered. I^eaving these 
 questions to the discussion of those amongst my audience 
 so nnich more fitted to give an opinion than I am on 
 them, I will very shortly describe the Russian military 
 position in Central Asia.
 
 I 
 
 ( 13 ) 
 
 The Russian troops quartered in Central Asia con- 
 sist of two army corps. The strength of each corps 
 may be taken as in round numbers 38,000 men and 124 
 guns available for service. It is true that tlie ' States- 
 man's Year-book ' for 1 905 places the strength of a 
 Russian army corps at 47,053 men, but the Turkestan 
 army corps are not so fully provided with cavalry as 
 those in Russia, and their normal casualty list is very 
 high. Thus, if we put Russia's forces in Turkestan as 
 from 76,000 to 80,000 men and 248 guns, we shall be 
 close to the mark. The Army List tells us that the First 
 Turkestan Army Corps has its headquarters at Tashkent, 
 and consists of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Turkestan 
 Rifle Brigades, the 1st Turkestan Reserve Brigade, the 
 1st Turkestan Cossack Division, the 1st Turkestan 
 Artillery Brigade, the 2nd Orenbiirg Cossack Battery, 
 the Turkestan Mountain Horse Artillery Battery, and 
 the Turkestan Sapper Battalion. Reference to p. 106 
 et seq. of the same list shows us that in Tashkent are 
 four battalions of riflemen, two battalions of the 1st 
 Turkestan Reserve Brigade, one Orenburg Cossack 
 Regiment (No. 5), the 1st Turkestan Artillery Brigade, 
 and the Turkestan Sapper Battalion. At Saniark?ind, 
 some ninety-five miles south-west of 'IMshkcnt. are 
 three rifle battalions, one reserve battalion, one Cossack 
 cavalry regiment, and a few details. The remaining 
 rifle battalions of the First Turkestan Corps are stationed 
 thus : The 8th at Katta-Kiu*giln, on the railway from 
 Samarkand to Bokhara ; the i)th at Margelan ; tlie 11th 
 at Andijan (terminus of the Central iVsiaii Bailway) ; 
 the 12th at Khokand, in Fergana. The whole of the 
 4th Turkestan Rifle Brigade, com])rising the 13tli, 14th, 
 15tli, and 16th battalions, is stationed at the most 
 unhealthy and dreary town of Terniez, on the Upper
 
 ( 14 ) 
 
 Amu-Daria, about forty-five miles north of JNlazar-i- 
 Slierif. 
 
 I will quote the opinion of an officer of the Indian 
 army as to the appearance of the Russian troops in 
 Central ^Vsia : ' It is the characteristic of the English 
 nation to despise and depreciate a rival, and it is to be 
 feared that oiu- appreciation of Russia's military power 
 is derived rather from what we would wish to think 
 it than from what it actually is. It is to be trusted 
 most sincerely that we may never find out our mistake, 
 but these are questions that shoidd be studied carefully 
 and coolly with a mind imbiassed by national training 
 and prejudices. Nothing is more surprising than to 
 observe the fine physique and soldier-like bearing of the 
 Russian soldiers here, so different from the impression 
 generally prevailing amongst Englishmen. The men 
 are great, broad-shouldered fellows, well set up and 
 active, while the officers are a most remarkably intelli- 
 gent-looking and smartly turned-out lot, and both would 
 compare favourably with any other European troops 
 that I ha\ e seen. Botli officers and men, too, have a 
 particularly impressive bearing. They carry themselves, 
 as every British soldier is taught to do, as if they were 
 proud of themselves, and yet without the offensively 
 o\ crhearing demeanour of the Prussian soldiers. Alto- 
 gether the impression derived from such specimens of 
 tlie Russian troops as are seen about here is most 
 favourable to them.' 
 
 The regiments of the Turkestan Cossack Division are 
 divided into two brigades, the first of wliich has one 
 regiment, the 2nd Ural Cossacks, at Samarkand : and the 
 otlier, the 4th Orenbiu'g Cossacks, at Kerki, in Bokhara. 
 The second brigade, with headquarters at New JNlar- 
 gelan, has but one regiment there, the Gth Orenbiu'g
 
 ( 15 ) 
 
 Cossacks. Its other unit, the oth of the same, is at 
 Tashkent. A Semiretchia Cossack regiment takes the 
 place of the last-mentioned in the brigade at JNIargelan, 
 where is also quartered the Turkestan Mountain Horse 
 Artillery Battery. This Cavalry Brigade is intended 
 to act in the valleys of the Sir Daria and Narin. The 
 only unit of the First Army Corps unaccounted for is 
 the 2nd Orenbiu'g Cossack Battery. It shares with foia- 
 rifle battalions the unhealthy quarter of Termez. A 
 glance at the map will show that, with the exception of 
 the brigade and battery on the river at Termez, this 
 Army Corps, say 30,000 men, is at Tashkent, or on the 
 railway fi'om near Bokhara to Andijan. The troops at 
 Osh and Namangan, although off the line, are within 
 six hours' march of it. It is particularly to hold in awe 
 the large native population of Tashkent, 1,50,000 in 
 number, and the Khokandis, who are turbulent and 
 impatient of restraint, that the First Army Corps is 
 thus disposed. The 8,000 troops, ill-armed, ill-disci- 
 plined and worse clothed, paid (occasionally) by the 
 Amir of Bokhara and the inhabitants of that ancient 
 city, are controlled by other means. No Russian soldier 
 shows his face there save those of the escort of the 
 Political Resident. 
 
 The Second Turkestan Army Corps has its head- 
 quarters at Askhabad, on tlie Persian frontier, in the 
 vVkhal-Tekke oasis, which town is at present being 
 patrolled by armed Cossacks. The Tekke Turkomans 
 number some 7.50,000 souls. Tlie Yomuts range from 
 the Caspian to Kizil-Arvat ; the ^Vkhals roam the oasis 
 thence to INIerv. The Sank Turkomans line the river 
 Murghab as far south as the ^Vrglian border. These 
 nomadic tribes are watched by the Second Turkestan 
 iVrmy Corps, commanded by the able General Ussa-
 
 ( 16 ) 
 
 kofski. His command consists of the 5th, 6th, and 7th 
 Turkestan Rifle Brigades ; the 2nd Turkestan Reserve 
 Rifle Brigade ; the Transcaspian Cossack Brigade ; the 
 2nd Turkestan Artiflery Brigade ; 4th Kuban Cossack 
 Battery ; the Kushk post Fortress Artillery ; and the 
 Transcaspian Sapper Battalion. Of these the whole 
 sixth brigade of four battalions is at Askhabad. 
 
 There are also the 2nd Reserve Brigade, the Geok- 
 Tepe Reserve Battalion, and two cavalry regiments. 
 The 5th Rifle Brigade is along the river Amu, 
 one battalion being near the Aral Sea at Fort Petro- 
 Alexandrovsk, one at Charjui, and two at Kerki, near 
 the Afghan border. The 7th Rifle Brigade has two 
 battalions at JNIerv — one at Saraks and one at Kiishk 
 post. There is one reserve battalion at Krasnovodsk, 
 on the Caspian, one at Kushk post. The Transcaspian 
 Sapper Battalion has its headquarters at JNIerv, but its 
 men are constantly employed along the railway. It 
 will thus be seen that, although the Russian troops in 
 Turkestan are somewhat scattered, yet they are almost 
 all on the railway. The Tiu'komans are watched by 
 one Army Corps, the Khokundis and Bokhariots by 
 another. The mountain batteries awe the few moun- 
 tain tribes, whilst some eight battalions of riflemen 
 observe the Afghans fi'om the line of the Amu-Daria. 
 It is, of course, possible that a general rising in Turke- 
 stan may take place after the Russian reverses in the 
 Far East. But the IMahomedans of Central Asia are 
 far less fanatical than those of the Caucasus. The 
 Turkoman is a bad believer ; the Tajiks, Usbegs, and 
 Sarts are unwarlike people. The Kirghiz are pagan 
 nomads, much scattered. The Bokhariots are Aryan 
 Mahomedans. There is very little cohesion and no 
 unity existing between these various races. 
 
 I
 
 ( 17 ) 
 
 DISCUSSION. 
 
 Sir Edwin Collen : Sir Thomas Holdich, Ladies and Gentle- 
 men, — I am quite sure that we have all listened with immense 
 interest to the admirable lecture which Colonel Beresford has given 
 us, and have gathered a great deal of information, plainly put, with 
 regard to Russia's position in Central Asia. Owing, no doubt, to 
 the shortness of the time at the lecturer's disposal, he was unable 
 to dilate more freely on the enormous difficulties which would 
 follow Eussia in any attempt to prolong the railway from 
 Charjui and Termez, on the one side, and from Kushk post on 
 the other ; and the details were hardly, perhaps, within the scope 
 of Colonel Beresford's lecture, although he alluded to the difficul- 
 ties which would pursue Russia in carrying on the line from 
 Mazar-i-Sherif towards the Hindu-Kush and the Peshawar 
 Valley. It appears to me that Russia can easily enter Afghan 
 Turkestan, but that she would meet with almost insuperable 
 difficulties in her advance to any distance beyond the Afghan 
 frontier. We have been assured by the late Prime Minister that 
 any further extension of railways towards Afghanistan would be 
 regarded as a hostile enterprise. Afghanistan is not likely to 
 permit such an extension, and if we could possibly obtain from 
 Afghanistan the permission to advance our railway-lines to Kabul 
 and Kandahar, we should be in a remarkably fine strategic 
 position. To hold this strategic front, and to connect Kabul and 
 Kandahar by rail, would be essential to any prolonged defence of 
 Afghanistan. I wish once again to express my great apprecia- 
 tion of Colonel Beresford's lecture, and to thank him personally 
 for his kindness in coming to address us this afternoon. 
 
 Sir Alfred Lyall : In expressing my thanks and appreciation 
 to Colonel Beresford for his able lecture, I have nothing to say, 
 being a civilian, on the military question which has been set 
 before us this afternoon with great precision and effect. Colonel 
 Beresford has given us much information concerning Russia's 
 railways, the different places on the lines, and the disposition of 
 troops. I should like to ask him how many troops Russia has 
 enlisted from the population itself of Central Asia, and how her 
 system contrasts in this respect with ours. I am aware that
 
 ( 1« ) 
 
 Russia promotes Asiatics to high offices in the army, but my 
 general impression is that the difference between the two systems 
 might be broadly described by saying that, while Eussia has 
 Asiatic officers, but very few Asiatic soldiers, England has no 
 Asiatic officers of high rank, but maintains a larger Asiatic army. 
 I myself shall be disposed to advocate the occasional promotion 
 of our native officers to the upper grades in our military service. 
 It is curious how Afghanistan, the last of the old-fashioned 
 khanates of Central Asia, still blocks up all political and com- 
 mercial communications across the Asiatic continent. The Amir 
 naturally does not like a great armed Power to project railways 
 towards and into his territory. The mountains are an enormous 
 barrier against any advance ; they stop all intercourse, and keep 
 apart two great nations who are jealous of each other. History 
 certainly shows that India has been conquered from the moun- 
 tains, and Afghanistan commands the passes through these 
 mountains by which all invaders have descended upon India, 
 while no invader has ever been thoroughly successful until he has 
 conquered Afghanistan. Baber himself was only successful when 
 he had made his base firm in Afghanistan, because all his previous 
 inroads were checked and foiled by insurrections of the highland 
 tribes in his rear. But the English, who came into India from 
 the sea-coast, took these natural defences of India in reverse, 
 and have marched up from the sea to the mountains. 
 
 Lord Eonaldshay : I have little to add to the excellent lecture 
 to which we have listened, but, as having travelled extensively in 
 that part of the world to which Colonel 'Beresford has directed 
 our attention, I should like to make one or two observations. 
 He has spoken of the Orenburg-Tashkent line which is now in 
 existence. This line has certainly increased Eussia's power of 
 massing troops. Colonel Beresford gave the distance between 
 Orenburg and Tashkent as 1,500 miles. Is this a slip of the 
 tongue, or is it correct ? I was told that the distance was 1,600 
 versts, which would be about 1,000 miles. A correspondent of 
 the Times of India, who has been travelling recently in Central 
 Asia, gives the distance as 1,738 versts, or, roughly, 1,150 miles. 
 A projected line spoken of in Eussian official circles is from 
 Tomsk to Tashkent. I have travelled the whole of the distance 
 that such a railway would follow. There are no engineering 
 difficulties, and official support was promised as soon as the 
 Orenburg-Tashkent line was completed. I am in a position to
 
 f 
 
 ( 19 ) 
 
 know that advances have been made to contractors for surveys 
 and estimates. For the moment railway schemes are in the 
 background owing to convulsions in Russia, but when she has 
 recovered from her internal difficulties, I think the next line that 
 we shall have to consider will be the link between Central Asia 
 and the Siberian system. 
 
 Colonel Beresford spoke of the Tiflis-Erivan line to Julfa, on 
 the Persian frontier. In October, 1905, it was completed to 
 within twenty-five miles of the Persian frontier, and was to be 
 finished within a year. He alluded to the difficulties of railway 
 construction in the Shah's dommions owing to the Secret Con- 
 vention. I do not think any difficulties stand in the way of 
 Piussian railways. The Convention prohibited all but Piussian 
 lines. Subsequently less drastic arrangements were made, and 
 Russia was to have the first call. No one was to build railways 
 in Persia until Russia had done so, and she will no doubt begin 
 as soon as she is in a position to undertake the work. As to the 
 Askabad-Meshed line, with a possible extension to Seistan, I have 
 travelled through that part of the country, and it seems to me 
 that a railway-line from north to south would be very difficult of 
 construction, owing to the parallel mountain-ranges which lie 
 transversely across the route. Sir Thomas Holdich will tell you 
 that any attempt to build a line in this direction would be both 
 exceedingly difficult and exceedingly costly. The information 
 that Colonel Beresford has given us about the Russian troops in 
 Central Asia is very important. I am glad to find that he dis- 
 missed the idea that Russia possessed a large number in the 
 vicinity of the Afghan frontier. The correspondent of the Times 
 of India to whom I have alluded says that Russia has at the 
 present time 200,000 soldiers in different parts of Central Asia, 
 and that large numbers are quartered on the Afghan frontier — 
 1,600 at Kushk post, 10,000 on a war footing at Askhabad — and 
 other figures which he gives show a large army not far from the 
 frontier. Obviously, with the railways which she has constructed 
 and those she has projected, Russia is in a position to amass 
 troops easily so far as transport is concerned. We certainly owe 
 a debt of gratitude to Colonel Beresford for his admirable lecture, 
 and it emphasizes the fact that it is our duty to keep our eyes on 
 the future. 
 
 Major MacSaviney : A point of great importance in the very 
 able lecture which Colonel Beresford has given is the question of
 
 { 20 ) 
 
 Russia's trooi)S in Central Asia. There is much discrepancy as 
 to the actual number. In 1899 I went through the region to 
 try and substantiate rumours and clear up the mystery of the 
 numbers. My conclusion was, after conversations with General 
 Kuropatkin, who was then Military Governor there, that Russia 
 has a very large force, the bulk being reservists. I have studied 
 the question and watched the returns for seven and a half years. 
 Large numbers go out from Russia ; about 20 per cent, return. 
 What has happened to the balance ? They do not all die. I 
 admit the wastage is considerable, but the majority settle in the 
 large military colonies which Russia has established throughout 
 Central Asia. At Andijan, where the rising took place, the 
 authorities hanged twenty- one mutineers and sent the colony 
 to Siberia. How did repopulation take place? By means of 
 Russian reservists. The Government gave them ground, and 
 sent for their wives and children. I know, on the authority of 
 a Russian officer, that there are large Russian colonies in Central 
 Asia. Kuropatkin also said to me : ' We have got our mobiliza- 
 tion arrangements, just as you have.' Large numbers are sent 
 from Russia proper to Central Asia who are nothing more than 
 reservists who may be mobilized. A gentleman who came from 
 Odessa said that a Russian officer had told him that Russia had 
 300,000 men under arms in Central Asia. This is a point which 
 must be kept well to the front. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel A. C. Yate : I can perhaps claim to 
 say a few words on the subject which Colonel Beresford has 
 dealt with in so admirable and interesting a manner to-day, 
 because fifteen years ago I visited Tashkent, via Krasnovodsk, 
 Merv, and Samarkand. Colonel Beresford has described Russia's 
 railways in Central Asia in the light of recent experience. In 
 1890 it was difficult to visit that region, and the fact that I was 
 able to do so was almost an accident. I was in England on 
 leave, and, wishing to use some of the time at my disposal in 
 seeing something of the Russian army, I went to the manoeuvres 
 which took place that year at Krasnoe-Selo and Narva. While 
 there, information reached me that an exhibition was about to be 
 held at Tashkent, and that the Wagon-Lits Company had been 
 commissioned by the Russian Government to invite strangers to 
 visit it and to arrange for their journey to and fro. I resolved 
 to take advantage of this opening, and sent in my name. After 
 leaving Russia, I spent some time at Berlin and Karlsbad. Still
 
 ( 21 ) 
 
 no permit arrived. Finally I moved to Odessa, and wired thence 
 to St. Petersburg to know whether the necessary permit would be 
 granted to me or not. Within twenty-four hours of the sailing 
 of the last possible steamer from Odessa came a telegram in the 
 affirmative. At Baku I found Sir James Hills - Johnes and 
 Mr. C. E. Biddulph. We three travelled together, and had ' a 
 very good time.' We met with great kindness from General 
 Annenkoff, notably at Jizak, where horses were refused us. (The 
 Samarkand-Tashkent line had not then been constructed.) A 
 telegram to General Annenkoff at Samarkand brought an order 
 which the post-master could not ignore. M. Vishnegradsky, the 
 Russian Minister of Finance, travelled in the steamer and train 
 with us from Baku to Samarkand, and at Amu Darya we met Prince 
 Khilkoff, then Annenkoff's assistant, since the Eussian Minister 
 of Ways and Communications. I must, however, confine myself 
 more strictly to the subject-matter of the lecture which we have 
 just heard. 
 
 As to the Russian troops in Central Asia, I may say that 
 I was greatly impressed by the physique, bearing, and spirits 
 of the soldiers — i.e., the non-commissioned officers and men — 
 but not so much by the officers. Sir Alfred Lyall has asked 
 how far Russia's army in Central Asia is native. I saw not one 
 native soldier, and I was not told that any were employed. I 
 remember at Amu-Daria Station General Annenkoff brought 
 and introduced to us a Colonel who was a Khirghiz and an 
 Adjutant who was a Kalmuk. The impression left by this on 
 me was that these were rather exceptions ; but much may have 
 been done in the fifteen years which have elapsed since I was in 
 Transcaspia and Turkestan. May I venture to offer one or 
 two opinions as to the possible future of Russia's railways 
 towards India? Afghanistan at present will have neither our 
 railways nor Russia's. Under these circumstances our best 
 policy seems to be to enable Afghanistan to continue the course 
 she has been pursuing since the late Amir came to the throne. 
 That course consists in the organization of her army and con- 
 solidation of her strength. If Afghanistan holds her own as a 
 strong independent Power, we may wait for the time foretold by 
 the late Amir in some such words as these : ' When we have 
 a powerful army of our own, we can begin to think about rail- 
 ways and telegraphs.' This opinion will be found in the Amir's 
 autobiography, published some years ago by Murray. We cannot,
 
 ( 22 ) 
 
 perhaps, rely absolutely on the authenticity of all that the book 
 contains, but I believe it represents the late Amir's real opinions. 
 If we had as much grit in Persia as in Afghanistan, we might 
 feel that India was safer. But I doubt whether anybody can put 
 backbone into Persia and the Persian Government. Keform in 
 that country seems impossible. 
 
 Sir Thomas Holdich : I should like to make a few remarks on 
 one or two points before we tender the thanks of the meeting to 
 Colonel Beresford for his excellent paper. He spoke of the diffi- 
 culties in extending the line from Kushk post to the town of 
 Kushk. There are no mountains in the way ; all that the railway 
 engineers have to do so far is to run the line up the flattened 
 northern slopes of the Koh-i-Baba. As to the main extension of 
 railways in Central Asia, I think we are hasty in assuming that 
 they are all built from purely strategic motives. Had we been in 
 the place of Russia, we should have done as Russia has done. And 
 as for the concentration of troops, we, too, should have found that 
 it was necessary to maintain a large force north of the Oxus, in 
 order to keep so vast a territory in order. But whenever a line 
 passes south of the Transcaspian line it must be regarded as a 
 direct menace to the Afghan frontier. How far these lines have 
 been pushed south is, so far as we know, a matter of doubt. Only 
 one, however, has been carried to a successful conclusion. The 
 road into the Chitral Valley I consider to be impracticable for 
 military purposes, owing to the mass and the altitudes of the 
 mountains. No military railway could ever be maintained across 
 such high mountains and be kept in efficient order all the year 
 round. As to the line due south from Meshed to Seistan, it 
 would be very difficult to construct. In fact, I cannot conceive 
 of such a line as a rational project so long as the Kandahar- 
 Herat route is available. At some future time, when we and 
 Russia have consented to agree, it is a certainty that the 
 Kandahar-Herat line will be carried out. 
 
 As to the troops, I should like to ask what proportion of the 
 Russian Army is Asiatic. We are apt to confuse the words 
 ' Asiatic ' and ' native.' The term ' native ' is misleading, and 
 is often loosely applied. Colonel Yate says that he saw no 
 ' native ' soldier in the Russian army in Central Asia. He 
 means, I expect, that native soldiers were not derived from the 
 State in which they were born and bred. What I should like to
 
 ( 23 ) 
 
 know is on what terms Russians would meet our Asiatic soldiers 
 in India. I should say that in the whole of the army the pure 
 EurojDean Russian element is not a very large proportion, because 
 the Empire contains such a large number of Asiatic subjects, 
 such as Cossacks and Siberians. But whether the troops are 
 Asiatics or Europeans does not matter so long as they are good 
 soldiers. I do not quite agree with what has been said as to the 
 physique of the Russian army. The Cossacks and Guards are 
 certainly exceptionally fine men ; but the infantry of the Oxus 
 frontier I considered distinctly inferior, and amongst them I 
 should say that the proportion of Asiatics to Europeans is about 
 ten to one. But it is not a question as to European or Asiatic ; 
 it is a question of the quality, training, and leading of the 
 troops. Sir Alfred Lyall will forgive me for saying that the 
 English cannot claim to be the first conquerors of India by sea. 
 He overlooked the fact that the Arabs, under Muhammad Kasim, 
 came by sea, successfully occupied Sind, and remained in power for 
 two centuries. Colonel Beresford has given us a most interest- 
 ing paper, which has led to a useful discussion. We beg to 
 tender him our hearty thanks. 
 
 Colonel Beresford : I should like to say a few words with 
 regard to some of the points raised and questions asked by those 
 who have taken part in the discussion. As to the point about 
 the troops belonging to the territory they occupy, there is only 
 one regiment in Central Asia in which this is the case — namely, 
 a division of irregular Turkoman cavalry, which is in camp near 
 to Askhabad. I have visited the camp, and seen the horses and 
 men. There are 700 sabres. The married men are allowed 
 leave every year, as an officer told me, to go to see their wives. 
 He remarked that they were faithful husbands, which is more 
 than other Russians are. All cavalry regiments, Cossacks and 
 Kalmuks, are practically Asiatics. The Kalmiiks came across 
 the river after the Hun invasion, and settled at Kazan in masses. 
 The Cossacks have lost much of their value since they became 
 less nomadic. There are many Khirghiz and Turkoman officers 
 in the Russian army. 
 
 As to the distance from Orenburg to Tashkent, it is about 
 1,200 miles ; I am obliged to Lord Ronaldshay for calling my 
 attention to an error which crept into my remarks. ]\Iost men 
 in the infantry regiments in Central Asia are I'oles. They form 
 the best shooting corps in the army. The climatic conditions
 
 ( 24 ) 
 
 are more favourable, and the physique of the men is good. I 
 cannot say anything now as to loyalty in the army. I should be 
 sorry to depend upon it myself. The Poles are as good fighters 
 as any in the Russian army ; they are more intelligent and alert 
 than the Eussians. I do not think that the troops available for 
 active service can, under any computation, exceed 100,000 at the 
 outside ; there are many reservists who must, of course, be con- 
 sidered potentially. They and their sons are useful warriors. 
 Settlers in past days crept up to the Caucasus, and took care that 
 the mountaineers did not rob them of their lands. The poor 
 Armenians came across the country and pushed inland. They 
 drove the other inhabitants out into Turkey. Then these came 
 back and found the country occupied. This was the beginning 
 of the war. But I am straying from the subject of this after- 
 noon's lecture. There is no difficulty to be overcome in the 
 construction of the line from Kandahar to Herat. I am exceed- 
 ingly grateful to you all for the kind way in which you have 
 listened to my remarks, and to Sir Edwin Collen, Sir Thomas 
 Holdich, and the other distinguished gentlemen who have been 
 kind enough to take part in the discussion. 
 
 BILLING AND SONS, LTD., I'RlNTEKa, GUILDFORD
 
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