• Lord Curzon was one of the greatest and most influential Governors-General of India.

• He was born in 1859 and entered Parliament in 1886.

• Before becoming Governor-General, he worked as Under Secretary of State for India.

• He made a state-entry in Calcutta on 3rd January 1899.

• Aged 40, he was full of vigour and energy.

• He had visited India four times and had an intimate knowledge of the East.

• Lord Curzon had written three important books on Asian questions.

• He spent six eventful years in India and can be compared to Lord Dalhousie.

• He worked tirelessly, driving his subordinates to hard work as well.

Curzon’s Foreign Policy

His Tribal Area Policy

• When Lord Curzon assumed office, the tribal area on the north-western frontier demanded immediate attention.

• Trouble had already arisen in Chitral during Lord Elgin II’s tenure, and British forces were sent to maintain law and order.

• These forces were not withdrawn, and a Jehad against the British led to two expeditions to address the situation.

• By 1899, around 10,000 troops were stationed in Chitral, Tochi Valley, Landi Kotal, and Khyber Pass.

• Lord Curzon, belonging to the forward school of thought, did not follow a policy of further penetration into the tribal area.

• Instead, he adopted a middle-of-the-road policy, not prepared to evacuate Chitral, Quetta, and other frontier posts, but also not extending the policy to its logical conclusion.

• Curzon ordered the gradual withdrawal of British troops from the tribal area, replacing them with tribal levies trained and commanded by British officers.

• Example: Afridis of Khyber Rifles were put in charge of Khyber Pass.

• Strategic railways were constructed up to Dargai, Jamrud, and Thal.

• Jamrud was at the entrance of Khyber Pass, and Thal was at the gate of Kurram Valley.

• The Government of India put limits on the import of arms and ammunition into the tribal area.

• Tribal people were warned that while their independence would be respected, any outrage on Indian soil would not be tolerated.

• The Government recruited a special police force to protect against tribal raids, ensuring they were always on guard and capable of pursuing raiders.

• Roads were constructed in the tribal area, creating jobs for the local people in both construction and maintenance.

• The Indian troops withdrawn from the tribal area were stationed at cantonments at the borders of the tribal area, connected by roads.

• The goal of these measures was to enable the Government of India to rush reinforcements into the tribal area during emergencies.

• Prior to Lord Curzon, the north-west frontier districts were under the control of the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab, leading to delays and inefficiency in addressing frontier issues.

• Lord Lytton had suggested creating a separate province for direct control, but it was not accepted.

• In 1901, Lord Curzon established a separate North-Western Frontier Province under the control of a Chief Commissioner directly responsible to the Government of India.

• The new province covered an area of 40,000 sq. miles and faced opposition from some Punjab officials, but it was successfully implemented.

• Lord Curzon’s frontier policy was followed by his successors and defended by him in 1908, emphasizing a sensible compromise between conflicting views.

• Thompson and Garrat stated that while Lord Curzon did not solve the frontier problem, he introduced a system that became a compromise between different expert opinions.

• Another writer noted that the Curzon frontier policy evolved into a new forward policy focused on civilisation, not military conquests.