Southern Asia 1918: Dunsterforce

Changes to the map 10 June 1918–16 August 1918

In Azerbaijan, the Ottomans have reached the outskirts of Baku. The Baku Commune has been overthrown and replaced with the Centro-Caspian Dictatorship (in Baku), Bicherakov's White forces (in Derbent), and the Dictatorship of Five (in Mughan). British forces under Dunsterville have arrived in August and are now defending Baku.

Dunsterville has reached Baku from Persia, where he has secured Enzeli. British forces in Persia have also neutralized the Jangali and advanced to reach Mianeh. However, the Ottomans have retaken Tabriz and defeated the Assyrian militia at Urmia. In the south, the Shiraz Crisis is over with the British defeat of local rebellions.

The Russian Civil War is now in full swing. The White movement's Transcaspian Committee and Ural Regional Government have seized control of much of Russian Central Asia, with British forces arriving via Mashhad in Persia to support the former. However, the Turkestan Soviet Republic still holds out in Tashkent.

British Protectorates in the Persian Gulf

The British Residency of the Persian Gulf maintained British India's influence in a number of Gulf states from the 19th Century until 1947. These states were nominally independent - and shown as such in most atlases from the period - but all signed treaties guaranteeing British control over their foreign affairs.

The Sultanate of Muscat and Oman was the only one of these states with significant international relations, having obtained trade agreements with the US and France before it signed its treaty with Britain. Maps of the time often show Trucial Oman and even Qatar as regions of Oman.

Trucial Oman was the region to the west of Oman which collectively signed treaties with Britain. The sheikhdoms of this region were often called the Trucial States, and later became the United Arab Emirates. However at this time they had little unity, with no regional council until 1952.

Indian Empire

The British Indian Empire, also known as the British Raj, was comprised of a complex of presidencies, provinces, protectorates, and agencies. Only the top level subdivisions are shown here.

The area under direct British rule was known as British India and made up of presidencies and provinces - a presidency simply being the name for an older province.

Outside British India, but often included within the sphere of the presidencies/provinces, were the hundreds of protectorates or 'princely states'. These were indirectly ruled states, the largest being Hyderabad, Kashmir, and Mysore. The others were either collected into agencies - which might in turn contain other smaller agencies - or fell under the sway of the provinces.