'Report on The Mission to Seistan, by Surgeon-Major G. W. Brazier-Creagh, A.M.S [Army Medical Services] 1897.'

Content

The volume is Report on The Mission to Seistan by Surgeon-Major George Washington Brazier-Creagh, 1897. The report is based on a return journey to, and tours of, the Seistan [Sistan] region of eastern Persia [Iran] between April and October 1897. The report, marked confidential, was printed at the Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India, in 1898.

The objective of the mission was ostensibly to investigate the risk of the plague spreading into Seistan from Baluchistan, but this was largely a cover for intelligence gathering, particularly with regard to Russian activity in the region.

The first part of the report consists of five chapters that cover the following matters:

• Their journey from Quetta to Nasratabad [Zabol], Seistan
• Their arrival in Nasratabad and reception by the Deputy Governor, Mir Mahsum Khan [Mīr Ma‘ṣūm? Khān]
• Local politics and administration
• The closing of the trade routes between Seistan and British India (now Pakistan) by the Persian Government under the suspected influence of Russia
• Russian influence and propaganda in the region more generally
• Criticism of elements of the Perso-Baluch Boundary Commission
• Raids on merchants along the Quetta-Seistan trade route
• The postal system along the Quetta-Seistan route
• British treatment of refugees of regional conflicts
• British strategical policy in the region, particularly in light of Russian activities and with reference to railway construction.

The second part of the volume consists of eleven appendices containing the following information (often tabulated):

• Genealogical charts of the region’s tribes and powerful families
• Meteorological data
• Topographical data
• Details of water sources
• Lists of villages.

The appendices section also contains copies of some of Brazier-Creagh’s diary entries and correspondence written during the mission, as well as letters from local officials and leaders.

At the back of the volume are the following plans:

• ‘Plan Showing the Waterways & Distribution of Helmund Delta’ (folio 62)
• ‘Nasratabad Fort’ (folio 63).

Extent and format

1 volume (62 folios)

It is grouped into

'Plan showing the waterways & distribution of Helmund Delta'

2 images

Ref: Mss Eur F111/299, f 62

'Nasratabad Fort'

2 images

Ref: Mss Eur F111/299, f 63

Arrangement

The report is arranged in chapters, each dealing with a different theme or subject, followed by a section of appendices.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 202; 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: An additional printed pagination sequence is also present in parallel between ff 6-64.

Written in

English in Latin script

Type

Archival item

Access & Reference

Original held at

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.

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Mss Eur F111/299

History of this record

Date(s)

1897-1898 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

PlagueBubonic plagueTrade routesReports

Places

Seistan

People & organisations

George Washington Creagh

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'Report on The Mission to Seistan, by Surgeon-Major G. W. Brazier-Creagh, A.M.S [Army Medical Services] 1897.', British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/299, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0002fd> [accessed 24 July 2026]

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