RUSSIA AND PERSIA. 205
in the rupture that took place between England and Persia in 1856; but it is probable that during the earlier portion of the reign of the present Shah Nasireddin the Russians were not so active as they had been during the lifetime of his father. The border dispute between Persia and Turkey, which is not yet settled, has also brought England and Russia into contact upon this question, as well as upon those to the East. The root of this dispute is to be found in the acts of nomad tribes upon the borders of the pashalik of Bagdad, and in the grievance Persia conceived she had received by several political exiles being afforded sanctuary within the Turkish frontier, and at Bagdad in particular. There was also the dispute with regard to the sacred shrines at Kerbella and Nedjef, and numerous other trivial circumstances arising from the fluctuating character of the Turco-Persian frontier that were fruitful causes of disagreement between the two Governments. In the year 1823 Persia and Turkey were on the point of war, when the active intervention of the British Government averted the catastrophe. With the cooperation of Russia a peace was concluded at Erzeroum between the rival powers, the principal clauses of which granted a free road for Persian pilgrims to the holy places, the extradition of political offenders, and the acceptance by the Porte of a certain responsibility for the acts of the border tribes of Hyderanloo and Sibbikee. These provisions soon became a dead letter, and once more the two great Powers had actively to intervene. A second treaty was signed in
