Sykes' History of Persia Vol 2 (pdf) - Heritage Institute

THE SIGNATURE OF NASIR-U-DIN SHAH KAJAR.
(Through the courtesy of Messrs. Tussauds.)
CHAPTER LXXX
THE AWAKENING OF
PERSIA
The stream of renovation flows quickly towards the East.
JAMAL-U-DIN.
The Question of Telegraphic Communication between
England and India. In the it
preceding chapter has been
shown by what process the boundaries of Persia have been
fixed as they are to-day. In the present some account
is given of the steps
Persia has taken towards the utilization
of the material and commercial advantages of Europe.
One great difference between the progressive West
and the unprogressive East lies in the nature of their
communications. In Persia, as explained in Chapter II.,
little
improvement can be recorded since the days of
Cyrus the Great, so far as the Persians themselves are
responsible. Fortunately, however, Persia lies on the
highway of the nations, and owing to her advantageous
position has become the recipient of a splendid service of
telegraph lines.
Before we deal with these, it is desirable to glance
at
the larger question of telegraphic communication between
England and India, of which the Persian lines formed a
part. During the Indian Mutiny
the need for direct
telegraphic communication was felt in
seriously England,
and in 1859 an attempt was made to lay
a cable down the
Red Sea in correspondence with wires which stretched
from Marseilles to Alexandria. This attempt entirely
failed.
At that period Turkey had realized the advantage of
the
telegraph
for the control of her widespread! ng
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