War by Revolution. Germany and Great Britain in the Middle East in the Era of World War I

THEGERMANTHREATONTHEPERIPHERY 127

BaghdadandSyriatoinfiltrateAnglo-Indiantroopsin southern

MesopotamiaandEgypt,andtoassassinateBritishofficers. Both

missions,however,becausetheyincludedmainlyHindus(likeHar

DayalwhohadreturnedtoConstantinople),soonquarreledbitterly

withlocalIndianrevolutionariesalreadyinTurkey,manyofwhom

wereMuslims.OppenheimandChattopadhyayaarrivedintheTurk-

ishcapitalduringthespring,butneithersucceededin mediating

betweenthefactions."AlthoughthemissiontoMesopotamiasuc-

ceededindistributingpropagandaamongAnglo-Indiantroopsand

even inbombinganofficers'casino,itsHindumembersfellafoulof

localTurkishauthorities,whoarrestedoneofthegroup."

Despitesuchconflictsandtheoverwhelminglackofsuccessof

theBerlinIndiancommittee'srevolutionaryactivities,thecommit-

teeremainedbothfanaticalandoptimistic.ItbombardedtheGer-

manswithdemandsformoneyandothersupportfor theIndian

revolution,includingaGermannavyattackonBombayandKarachi."

InDecemberChattopadhyaya,writingforthecommittee,claimed

thatPunjabprincesintendedinMarch 1916 toincitearevoltin

PeshawarandQuetta.Thecommitteeasked]agowforassurancesthat

Germanywouldassisttherevoltwitharmsandmoneyandwould

"havenootherthancommercialandculturalinterestsinfurthering

thecauseofIndianNationalIndependence.">'Theforeignsecretary,

obviouslyenthusedbythecommittee'snews,repliedimmediately,

assuringtheIndians"thatGermany,thetruefriendofalloppressed

nations,has nootherthancommercialandculturalinterestsin fur-

theringthecauseofthenationalindependenceofIndia.?"

Afghanistanand Persia
MuchoftheIndiancommittee'sclaimthatprincesinthePunjab
wouldrevoltrestedoninformationthecommitteehadreceivedfrom
HarishChandra.APunjabirevolutionarylivinginSwitzerland,he
specializedinspreadingdefeatismamongIndiansoldiersinFrance
andBritain.Chandrahadreturnedto SwitzerlandinAugust 1915
afterspendingseveralmonthsinIndia;whilethere,hehaddelivered
tonumerousprincesmessagesfromMahendraPratapSingh,who
hadjoinedtheGermans.Chandra,Prarap'sprivatesecretary,had