!['Seistan' [‎18r] (35/782)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003bc/Mss Eur F111_352_0045.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'Seistan' [‎18r] (35/782)")
The record is made up of 1 file (388 folios). It was created in 17 Jan 1899-4 Apr 1904. 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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
5
The heat and flies increased daily towards the close of our stay, so that it
was with considerable relief that we left Seistan behind.
The direct road to Birjand runs across a portion of the lake that is usually
dry until the end of March, but we were fortunate in crossing it two or three
days before the spring floods, which were late, reached it ; failing this we should
have had to march round the southern corner of the lake, thereby adding some
sixty or seventy miles to our journey.
At Baring we camped on the western edge of the lake, not far from a
signal tower built by Nadir Shah, the conqueror of Delhi.
Thence two more desert stages with a slight rise, brought us to the village
of Zaimul-abad at the entrance to the hills. Three more stages—all of consi
derable length—and we reached Duruh. where at an elevation of about 4,000 feet,
we were once again in a tolerably cool climate.
At this village I dismissed most of the camels, keeping sufficient to carry
our loads and grain in two relays. This naturally necessitated a slow rate of
progress, but I did not wish to enter Birjand before receiving precise instructions
as to my position there, while the survey operations were much benefitted by
the change.
Upon returning to the Iran plateau, I have been much struck by the well*
kept fields and numerous orchards, which contrast most favourably with the
slovenly tillage in Seistan where, indeed, orchards practically do not exist.
The reason is that, in Seistan, the Government owns the land, so that neither
the headmen, who are frequently changed (their posts being bought and sold)
nor the peasants, have any interest in making improvements. I think that,
although there might be difficulties owing to the nature of the water-supply, the
Persian Government would be well advised to gradually sell all the land, which
the headmen and villagers, not to mention members of the ruling family, would
be glad to purchase. If this course were adopted, the Persian treasury would
receive substantial sums of money, while the proprietors would immediately set
to work to improve their land and thereby raise Seistan to a level with other parts
of Persia, as the improvements would include better accommodation, at any rate,
for man, who, in Seistan inhabits a hovel worse than most Persian stables.
From Duruh, instead of taking the direct road to Birjand via Sarbisha, I
decided to march north along my postal route which is also of interest as being
the Perso-Afghan frontier.
At Tabas, which is the centre of a Sunni population, official instructions
reached me to the effect that I was to be considered Consul of Kain, as I had
requested, while the acting Consul General for Khorassan informed me that a
Russian Consular Officer was on the point of starting for Birjand and Seistan.
I consequently decided to march across the hills to the capital leaving half my
loads and three of the sowars at Tabas.
When a march distant from Birjand, following my usual practice, I sent my
Persian Secretary ahead, to arrange for my reception.
I had read in more than one report that the Governor of Kain or the Amir,
as he is termed, was the reverse of friendly toward British officials ;at the same
time, I felt that, if this were the case, the arrival of a Russian representative
might be used as a means of demonstrating this feeling Accordingly, I
impressed upon my Secretary that he must strike at the root of the matter and
insist upon the Amir, besides giving me the usual reception paying the first call.
The same evening I received the welcome information that everything had
been arranged in a satisfactory manner the Amir finally agreeing to call first,
and merely stipulating that his visit should be paid two days after my arrival
and not at once.
On the following day, I rode into Birjand, in full uniform, being met by a
reception party, headed by Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, the younger brother qf
About this item
- Content
The file contains papers relating to Seistan [Sistan] and Persia [Iran].
The file includes printed copies of despatches from the Agent to the Governor-General of India and HM Consul-General for Khorasan and Seistan (Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Martindale Temple), to the Secretary to the Government of India Foreign Department, with enclosed despatches from Captain Percy Molesworth Sykes to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (the Marquis of Salisbury). Skyes’s despatches regard matters including: Seistan; trade routes into South-East Persia; the boundary between Persia and Afghanistan, in relation to the River Helmund [Helmand] changing its course (in despatch No. 5, which includes four sketch maps, folios 12, 13, 14 and 15); Sykes’s journey to Birjand (in despatch No. 7, which includes a sketch map on folio 20); the ruling family of Kain, which also governed Seistan, Tabbas and Tun; Sykes’s journey from Seistan to Kerman [Kirman] (in despatch No. 11, which includes a sketch map); and the direct Kerman-Quetta caravan trade that Sykes was trying to establish.
The file also includes copies of the following papers:
- A despatch from Temple to the Secretary to the Government of India Foreign Department, enclosing a letter from Temple to Sir Henry Mortimer Durand (HM Minister, Tehran), with copies of enclosures, regarding the establishment of a Seistan and Kain consulate
- A letter from Charles Edward Pitman, Director General of Telegraphs, to the Secretary to the Government of India Public Works Department, enclosing a copy of a ‘Report on the Preliminary Survey of the Route for a Telegraph Line from Quetta to the Persian Frontier’ by H A Armstrong, Assistant Superintendent, Indian Telegraph Department, which includes six photographs of views along the route [Mss Eur F111/352, f 52; Mss Eur F111/352, f 53; Mss Eur F111/352, f 54; Mss Eur F111/352, f 55; Mss Eur F111/352, f 56; and Mss Eur F111/352, f 57], and a map showing the proposed route of the telegraph line [Mss Eur F111/352, f 59]
- Letters from Hugh Shakespear Barnes, Agent to the Governor-General in Baluchistan, to the Secretary to the Government of India Foreign Department, enclosing copies of the diary of the Political Assistant, Chagai, for the weeks ending 16 February, 28 February, and 8 March 1900
- Diary No. 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12 of Major-General George Frederick Chenevix-Trench, HM Consul for Seistan (Diary No. 6 includes a sketch map, folio 86)
- A copy of a ‘Report on Reconnaissances Made while Attached to the Seistan Arbitration Commission’ by W A Johns, Deputy Consulting Engineer for Railways, Bombay
- A copy of the report ‘Notes on Persian Seistan’, compiled by Captain Edward Abadie Plunkett, and issued by the Government of India Intelligence Branch, Quarter-Master General’s Department
- Two copies of map signed by Plunkett titled ‘Persian Seistan-Cultivated Area’ [Mss Eur F111/352, f 270]
- A booklet entitled ‘Notes on the Leading Notables, Officials, Merchants, and Clergy of Khorasan, Seistan, Kain, and Kerman.’
- Printed copies of letters from the Government of India Foreign Department to the Secretary of State for India (Lord George Francis Hamilton), relating to the maintenance of British interests in Persia, dated 4 September 1899 and 7 November 1901 (the former with an enclosure of a minute by the Viceroy on Seistan).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (388 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 390; 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. The file contains one foliation anomaly, f 301A
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
Use and share this item
- Share this item
'Seistan' [18r] (35/782), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/352, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069721602.0x000026> [accessed 25 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100069721602.0x000026
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100069721602.0x000026">'Seistan' [‎18r] (35/782)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100069721602.0x000026"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003bc/Mss Eur F111_352_0045.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003bc/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F111/352
- Title
- 'Seistan'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:51v, 58r:58v, 60r:112r, 113r:125v, 147r:218r, 218r, 219r:269v, 271r:301v, 301Ar, 301Av, 302r:388v, 389v:390r, 389r, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence