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'Reconaissance through Baluchistan and Seistan, 1897' [6r] (16/120)
The record is made up of 1 volume (58 folios). It was created in 1897. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
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7
. i ...» /
A Reconnaissance through Baluchistan and Seistan,
1897 .
CHAPTER I.
General Account of Journey Across the Baluchistan Desert.
■TO> loft Ouetta on the 6th April 1897, in accordance with telegraphic instructions
from the Foreign Department directing me to reach Seistan with the utmost expedition.
My party S and escort included Hospital Assistant Abas Ah, Surveyor *S ar
Bc „ KiV Sher Ali, clerk, Dafifadars Muhammad Azim Khan and Ghulam Haidar with
12'sowars "of the Sind Horse, Jamadar Jhanda Khan, with 15 Rustomzai llaluch ev e. ,
mounted on trotting camels.
Sowar
In the East India Company army and later Indian Army, an ordinary native cavalryman or mounted cavalryman.
Mir Afghan, 9th Bengal Lancers (personal orderly),
f ° Ur “I^Ihki^miles) on the 9th April. Here I was forced to halt for one
day the local Sardars having intimated their desire to come in and salaam to me, as ah
Kort a recent raid that 0 had been committed, the result of a long-standing feudal
nnarrpl between the Rakshani and Zagar Mangal tribes. , . ;1
quarrel between^i tQ Dalbandin (122 miles) on the 15 h Apr
From here two routes were open to me, a northern one, vid Ismail, IVIera! Jhuh, Manz 1
and Amtr Chah, and a southern vid Asa, Zeh, Isa-Tahir Mash-Kiga, and Amalaf Phe
latter route, though somewhat longer, was chosen, as being the least known, and
SeqU ^^Barn™ 0 too^nmognLing the^nec^essity of finding out the best routes, and having
a complke reconnai s ’sance b and survey of those best suited for the deyelopment of our
commercial interests in this sphere, requested me to proceed by this little k o
mute unless some unforeseen obstacles arose to prevent my doing so.
^Sg Mbandin on the 17th April, having halted aaaytohiresoine ra
camels to carry water before facing the desert, we reached kuudi (134 miles) miiI.ou
“^^Thirthe first n secfio r n ll of the route, was over weird, arid and barren stretches of sandy
desert unrelieved by a single interesting feature. Nothing but a vast expanse of sant y
plaTn and sMtings, stretching away on afl sides, apparently without limit till lost in yellow
fiery haze and mirage. It°can be dismissed in very few words, having no advantages
whatever, strategical or otherwise, to recommend it. , n „ A Tni i (1 „x on
Pushing forward from Kundi on the 24th April we reached Kirtaka (131 miles) on
the 98th Amil having’ halted one day to explore the Amalat range. , ,
_ ThK, the second section of the route, is over a much better hoe, being hard pat
most of the way ; water, too, is procurable at reasonable intervals and is of better quality
than that met with on the first section of the route. strewn skirts
Startino- a^ain next morning we zig-zagged along the rugged, boulder-stre n .1
of the hillsf crossing numerous broad scours, the outlets ot the drainage from e
Miriawa, Racha, and Lar ranges. t j ont-v. AtmmI
J Our frontier post Robat (47J miles from Kirtaka) was reached on 30th Ap .
The intervening distance between Quetta and the Persian frontier, a distance of
5274 miles, was accomplished in 24 days, including five days’ halt, averaging — mi es per
daJ Thls^wf over e^eptbnally 1 bad going for the greater part of the journey, and in
excessive heat, with indifferent, not to say bad, water at long intervals, is a test ot what
our native cavalry and heavily-laden camel corps can do at a pinch.
The length of the marches varied, all distances from 12 to 43 miles^ being covered
each day and I had not a sore back amongst the animals on reaching Seistan.
Letters awaited me here from Sartip, Deputy Governor, and from Colonel . a ,
About this item
- Content
This volume is a confidential report, printed at the War Office, by Harrison and Sons, printers in ordinary to Her Majesty, in 1899, and authored by Major George Washington Brazier-Creagh, Intelligence Division, War Office, concerning the resources, administration and general affairs in Baluchistan and Seistan [Sīstān] following his political mission in 1897. The report contains an introduction by the author, (folio 4), dated 5 December 1898, in which he mentions that details from the report are being incorporated into the Baluchistan Gazetteer and Route books. He also pays tribute to Colonel Bell and Captain Henry Dundas Napier who preceded him, as well as Captain Arthur Henry McMahon and George Passman Tate. The text of the report is accompanied by footnotes and section headings appear in the left and right hand margins.
The report includes a table of contents on folio 5 with the following five chapters:
- 'Chapter I. General Account of Journey across the Baluchistan Desert' (folios6-8), including details of incidents en route, future trade prospects, danger threatening commerical prospects, and a list of leading merchants in Seistan;
- Chapter II. Russian Designs and Political Consideration' (folios 8v-10), includsing details of future policy, approaches to Seistan, alternative routes, influential Sardars of Seistan, treatment of refugees by the British Government, and the feeling of the people;
- 'Chapter III. Resources and Population of Seistan' (folios 11-24), including details of administration, fertile places, a list of villages, climate, seasons and winds, sanitation, population, transport (camels, donkeys and horses), windmills, agriculture, industries and trade, Camel Corps, sport and shooting, locusts, and fish;
- 'Chapter IV. Exploration of the District in the West and South' (folio 25), including details of crossing the Dasht-i-Shelag, pollution of wells, character of country, routes, and pilgrimage;
- 'Chapter V. Land System - Revenue and Productions &c' (folios 26-29), including details of ijaras [ ijārah ], tenant rights and responsibilities, hardship of tenants, collection of revenue, culturable area, annual yield, surplus grain, irregularity and delayed water supply, and ancient ruins.
There is a list of nine appendices (folio 5v) as follows:
- 'A.- Geneaological tables of Sarbandi, Kayani, and Naroi tribes' (folios 30-31);
- 'B.- List of Taoki tribes in Seistan' (folio 31v);
- 'C.- Average temperature of each camp', April to November 1897 (folios 32-35);
- 'D.- Aneroid readings', April to November 1897 (folios 36-39);
- 'E.- List of wells and springs', with serial numbers corresponding to 'Map No. II' (folio 39v);
- 'F.- List of villages', with serial numbers corresponding to 'Map No. II' (folios 40-41);
- 'G.- Table of meteorological observations, Baluchistan' (folios 41v-43);
- 'H.- Table of meteorological observations, Seistan' (folios 44-50);
- 'I.- Table of meteorological observations, Neh and Birjand Districts' (folios 50v-51).
The file also includes five maps and sketches, store in a pocket (folio 58). They are listed on folio 5v as follows:
- 'No. 1. Baluchistan and Seistan' (folio 53);
- 'No. 2. Seistan' (folio 54);
- 'No. 3. Route plan of Robat Nala' (folio 55);
- 'No. 4. Waterways of the Helmund [Helmand] Delta' (folio 56);
- ’No. 5. Nasratabad [Naṣratābād] Fort' (folio 57).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (58 folios)
- Arrangement
This volumes contains a page of contents (folio 5) referencing page numbers.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.Pagination: The volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
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- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'Reconaissance through Baluchistan and Seistan, 1897' [6r] (16/120), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/300, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100025688316.0x000011> [accessed 11 May 2024]
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- Reference
- Mss Eur F111/300
- Title
- 'Reconaissance through Baluchistan and Seistan, 1897'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:57v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence