!['Seistan' [‎91r] (181/782)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003bc/Mss Eur F111_352_0199.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'Seistan' [‎91r] (181/782)")
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.
of the Helmund. The bund so called looked more like a means of training a
portion only of the water, as the water which flowed down the canal did not even
touch the artificial bund, but was directed by sandbanks which had formed above
the bund.
The canal which now as then is about 50 yards wide appears not to affect the
main stream of the Helmund which was flowing like a mighty river of 150 yards
wide towards Milak and the north.
I was afterwards told by Mir Abbas of Eskel, who is very conversant with
everything in.Seistan, that the bund was no longer a necessity, and that the chan
nel of the Seistan canal was now so deep that it would naturally draw off as
much water as was wanted.
In any case the great bund which creates the water-supply for all Seistan
is very disappointing as a sight and does not raise the actual level of the water
an inch.
ijth June .—Left Khoja Ahmad for Eskel where I was glad to make the
acquaintance of one of the most important men in Seistan. He, like all the leading
men in Seistan, is very glad to be in favour with the British representative, and as
the day was very hot and the wind scorching, I was glad to take refuge in his
Mehman Khana.
Mir Abbas is a man full of information and ready to enlighten you on any
point about Seistan. He is a great collector of old coins and stones, which men
bring him from the ruined cities near. He gave me some coins and showed me
with great pride some large crystal heads, rings and seals which he carried with
him. I told him they were crystals, but 1 found afterwards he was grievously
disappointed as he fully believed he was in possession of enormous diamonds and
am glad to say thought I was very ignorant.
Mir Abbas has several good humoured fat sons. His younger brother, about
29 years old, a fine intelligent looking youth, was very anxious, he said, to be
employed in Quetta; he said he could produce ten sowars and asked me whether
I thought he would be accepted.
Mir Abbas was in great distress about his daughter who he said, w’as posses
sed by a devil. He asked whether my Shia Sayad
Munshi
A term used in the Middle East, Persia and South Asia to refer to a secretary, assistant or amanuensis. Munshis were employed in the British administration in the Gulf.
I had with me would
come and exorcise the devil,
The
Munshi
A term used in the Middle East, Persia and South Asia to refer to a secretary, assistant or amanuensis. Munshis were employed in the British administration in the Gulf.
was sent for and told me he hoped for good results from his
visit.
18th June .—Returned to Nusratabad after an absence of six days.
In the evening I was told that Mr. Miller had been much upset by having
had a packet of letters stolen from his house. The letters were written by the
Russian new’s-wnter in Mian Kangi on the border and w r ere destined for Meshed.
The usual reports were made to me that Mr. Miller suspected us of the robbery
of which, of course, we are innocent.
igth June. —Mr. Miller dined. In the course of conversation he said he
had sent an invitation to young Russian guardsmen to come and shoot in the
winter in Seistan.
I think the British subaltern is more likely to be here before the Russian
guardsmen.
21 st June .—I received news that my postman between this and Birjand had
cause of complaint against their treatment by the people. I wrote to
the Shaukat-ul-Mulk and represented the facts and asked him to prevent such
occurrences.
22nd June .—Birjand post arrived. Heard from Colonel Temple who said
he had seen the Rukn-ud-Uaulah on the subject of the visit of the Mustophi
Khalik Khan. He said as the matter was delicate and the course adopted by
the Wali to extract revenue was that usually adopted in Persia ; he had not done
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
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'Seistan' [91r] (181/782), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/352, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069721602.0x0000b8> [accessed 27 June 2026]
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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