![Letter No.52 of 1870 from Colonel Sir William Lockyer Merewether, K.C.S.I. & C.B., Commissioner's Office, Camp the Tanda to His Excellency The Right Honourable Sir William Robert Seymour Vesey Fitzgerald, G.C.S.I., Governor and President in Council, Bombay [‎63r] (19/28)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001524.0x0003a1/Mss Eur F126_22_0125.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Letter No.52 of 1870 from Colonel Sir William Lockyer Merewether, K.C.S.I. & C.B., Commissioner's Office, Camp the Tanda to His Excellency The Right Honourable Sir William Robert Seymour Vesey Fitzgerald, G.C.S.I., Governor and President in Council, Bombay [‎63r] (19/28)")
Letter No.52 of 1870 from Colonel Sir William Lockyer Merewether, K.C.S.I. & C.B., Commissioner's Office, Camp the Tanda to His Excellency The Right Honourable Sir William Robert Seymour Vesey Fitzgerald, G.C.S.I., Governor and President in Council, Bombay [63r] (19/28)
The record is made up of 14 folios. It was created in 26 Jan 1870. 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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( 19 )
a
Sirdars
Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
and advising them that if they did not get what they wanted, to
" report rne to you and the Commissioner in Sind, and that everything would
" then be made rhrht.
O
" i s with this idea that some of them refused the Khan's terms."
Colonel Phayre very properly, and in accordance with the instructions con
veyed to him in May, refused to see the
Sirdar
Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
, and in positively declining
either interview or further intercourse, added " that I had fulfilled my promise
when I first came to Jacobabad in continuation of Sir Henry Greens, that
" I would use my good offices with the Khan on his behalf, that he had de
clined the Khans offer and therefore that I did not see what more could be
" done for him."
JO. Captain Harrison, in his annual report now being submitted, writes
in further reference to Moolla Mahomed « His Highness, whilst occupied in
" punishing those who for years past had been trying to subvert his authority,
was not forgetful of those who were anxious to return to their allegiance,
fcudar Alia Uinna Khoord, and
Sirdar
Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
Adum Khan W udhera went to Seebee
Moolla Mahomed is with the " after The ^ liad P arted the Jam, and gave as
Beejiranee Murrees, and it has "their reason that no one would believe they had
baen reported from tne Boogtee « i i" • . .
Hills that these
Sirdars
Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
fled after ' been forgiven. His Highness hearinor this sent
him. Enquiries will be made. <( ii , i .
R. P hayre . a written order sealed by him, stating that
<( they might return to their country and live amongst
theii o\\ n people, and that if their conduct was such as met with his ap-
" proval, that he would look upon them as his
Sirdars
Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
. The whole of the
" liaisanee Tribe sent Hybut Khan, the elder brother of their
Sirdar
Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
Moolla
♦ His Highaes's Wukkeel at " Mahomed ' to
Nawab
An honorific title; an official acting as a provincial deputy ruler in South Asia; or a significant Muslim landowner in nineteenth century India.
Mahomed Khan,* saying that
Jacobabad. ^ ^ ^ they did not wish to join in any intrigues that
might be got up against the Khan, and only
" wished to be allowed to remain quietly at Mittree. His Highness wrote
" two very kind letters to Hybut Khan, saying that he had no wish to inter-
" lere with them, and that no one should harm them so long as they adhered
" to their present good intentions.
Dhectlv
Sirdar
Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
Moolla Mahomed heard of the defeat of the Jam of
• Head Quarters of the Mur- " -^ e 3^ a ar,c ^
Sirdar
Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
Nooroodeen, he fled with six
roe8 - w L M followers to Kahun 4> (only one of whom was a
Kaisanee). The rest of the Tribe elected to
" remain quietly at Mittree under Hybut Khan."
31. The fears cxpiessed by Moolla Mahomed were, I am certain, quite
unfounded, and given out merely as a reason for his going to the Murrees, and
with the hope of enlisting their sympathies. The district of Seebee is foreign
to Beloochistan, and belongs to Kandahar; the Khan would not therefore
venture to molest the
Sirdar
Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
there, even if he troubled himself about him at
all now, which is very doubtful. There was another object which struck me
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Letter regarding Colonel Robert Phayre's report 'outline of Khelat [Kalāt] affairs from 1857 to 1869' and providing comments on each of the points made by Colonel Phayre.
Sir William Merewether's observations include explanations of terms used in the report; the influences around the young Khan of Khelat [Kalāt], Khodadad Khan; the difficulties caused by the Khan having been raised in seclusion by his mother; recent events in Khelat from 1857 onwards; grievances against the Khan by discontented nobles; attempts by the Jam of Beyla [Bela] to disrupt the Khan's government and rulership.
The letter goes on to give Merewether and others opinions on the Khan's Wuzzeer Wullee Mahomed Shagassee and of Khodadad Khan himself; as well as the apparent change in temperament of Moolla Mahomed Raisanee; and the ongoing difficulties with Azaud [Azad] Khan od Kharan not only in Khelat but in Beloochistan [Baluchistan] in general.
The letter also comments on the number of regular forces under the Khan's command; Captain Harrison's more favourable impressions of these forces and the arrangements for payment of these forces; as well as Merewether's disagreement with Colonel Phayre's opinion that the British Government should interfere in both these matters and that of the relations between the Khan and his Chiefs.
The letter proceeds by making observations on the state of affairs in Beloochistan and why he advocates that their should be no change in policy towards Khelat state. Merewether also comments on recent proposals around the future management of the Murree and Boogtee tribes as well as his recommendation that Government relations with these tribes should not be handled directly but should go through the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Khelat. The letter also outlines Colonel Phayre's proposals for the enacting of suggestions from the Punjaub Government on the protection of the frontier, and Merewether's disagreement with these proposals, giving reasons, and his alternative plan for taking these suggestions forward by using the local tribes to provide defensive forces for the frontier, along with details of costings for such a plan.
The letter concludes by noting that the current sum of 50,000 rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. per annum which the British Government pays to the Khan under the terms of their treaty does not actually re-imburse him for the duties lost from leveies on merchants passing through his territory and that a further sum of 44,000 rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. per annum should be granted to aid the Khan in acting on his engagements in regards to cattle-lifting and intertribal quarrels.
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Letter No.52 of 1870 from Colonel Sir William Lockyer Merewether, K.C.S.I. & C.B., Commissioner's Office, Camp the Tanda to His Excellency The Right Honourable Sir William Robert Seymour Vesey Fitzgerald, G.C.S.I., Governor and President in Council, Bombay [63r] (19/28), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F126/22, ff 54-67, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100024195159.0x00007e> [accessed 15 June 2026]
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- Reference
- Mss Eur F126/22, ff 54-67
- Title
- Letter No.52 of 1870 from Colonel Sir William Lockyer Merewether, K.C.S.I. & C.B., Commissioner's Office, Camp the Tanda to His Excellency The Right Honourable Sir William Robert Seymour Vesey Fitzgerald, G.C.S.I., Governor and President in Council, Bombay
- Pages
- 54r:67v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
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- Open Government Licence