“St. Petersburg,
“January 31, 1873.
“M. le Comte,—Lord Augustus Loftus has communicated to me the reply of her Britannic Majesty’s principal Secretary of State to our despatch on Central Asia of the 19th December.
“I enclose a copy of his document.
“We see with satisfaction that the English Cabinet continues to pursue in those parts the same object as ourselves, that of ensuring to them peace, and as far as possible, tranquillity. The divergence which existed in our views was with regard to the frontiers assigned to the dominions of Shir Ali. The English Cabinet includes within them Badakshan and Wakhan, which, according to our views, enjoyed a certain independence. Considering the difficulty experienced in establishing the facts in all their details in those distant parts, considering the greater facilities which the British Government possesses for collecting precise data, and, above all, considering our wish not to give to this question of detail greater importance than is due to it, we do not refuse to accept the line of boundary laid down by England. We are the more inclined to this act of courtesy as the English Government engages to use all her influence with Shir Ali in order to induce him to maintain a peaceful attitude, as well as to insist on his giving up all measures of aggression or further conquests. This influence is indisputable. It is based not only on the material and moral ascendency of England, but also on the subsidies for which Shir Ali is indebted to her. Such being the case, we see in his assurance a real guarantee for the maintenance of peace. Your Excellency will have the goodness to make this declaration to her Britannic Majesty’s principal Secretary of State, and to give him a copy of this despatch. We are convinced that Lord Granville will perceive in it a fresh proof of the value which our august master attaches to the maintenance and consolidation of the most friendly relations with the Government of her Majesty Queen Victoria.
“(Signed) Gortchakow.”
In 1874, after the annexation of Khiva to the Russian dominions, Earl Granville wrote, on January 7, as follows, to her Majesty’s Ambassador in St. Petersburg, summing up the previous correspondence which had passed between the two Governments:
Earl Granville to Lord A. Loftus.
[Extract.]
“Foreign Office,
“January 7, 1874.
“Her Majesty’s Government see no practical advantage in examining too minutely how far these arrangements (between the Russian Government and the Khan of Khiva) are in strict accordance with the assurances given to me in January last by Count Schouvalow, as to the intentions with which the expedition against Khiva was undertaken. They are not disposed to share in the exaggerated apprehensions which have at times been expressed in this country as to the danger to British rule in India which may arise from the extension of Russian influence in Central Asia.