The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c15.124

v1.c15.124

To understand the significance of the north-west frontier of India we must look far beyond the immediate boundaries of the Empire. Persia, Afghānistān, and Baluchistān form a single plateau, not so lofty as Tibet, but still one of the great natural features of Asia. This plateau in its entirety is most conveniently known as Irān. On all sides the Irānian plateau descends abruptly to lowlands or to the sea, save in the north-west, where it rises to the greater heights of Armenia, and in the north-east, where it rises to the lofty Pāmīrs. Southward and south-westward of Irān lie the Arabian sea and the Persian gulf, and the long lowland which is traversed by the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. Northward, to the east of the Caspian sea, is the broad lowland of Turkestān or Turān, traversed by the rivers Oxus and Jaxartes, draining into the sea of Aral. Eastward is the plain of the Indus. The defence of India from invasion depends in the first place on the maintenance of British sea-power in the Persian gulf and the Indian ocean, and in the second place on our refusal to allow the establishment of alien bases of power on the Irānian plateau, especially on those parts of it which lie towards the south and east.