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Letter No.159 of 1870 from Colonel Sir William Lockyer Merewether, K.C.S.I. & C.B., Commissioner in Sind, Commissioner's Office, Kurrachee [Karachi] to His Excellency the Right Honourable Sir William Robert Seymour Vesey Fitzgerald, G.C.S.I., Governor and President in Council, Bombay [‎84v] (10/16)

The record is made up of 8 folios. It was created in 26 Mar 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. .

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that the Government should be fully informed upon the lights and shades of
ivhelat history, before we enter upon any further arrangements whatever with
the Khan or his subjects, as these negative results" have lasted by far too
long.
7. I have said that His Highness' Vakeel, Mahomed Khan, was present
at every interview which the Punjaub Officers and myself had with the hill-
people at the beginning of this year, and the
Copies of all letters to and from i r-i opo 3 i ,i i
the tribes were given to him. close of 18G8,and he was consequently thorough
ly well aware that while I undertook to employ
a few of the Murrees as police for the purpose of preventing the tribe from
plundering in Cutchee and to apprehend offenders ; he, on the Khan's part,
was to look to the then existing arrangements for guarding Eastern Cutchee
and the Kafila A train of travellers; a caravan; or any large party of travellers. route particularly, which, both he and his master knew per
fectly well, are guaranteed hy Treaty, and could not possibly be affected,
except for the better, by any separate and extra arrangements which cost
the Khan nothing.
8. I find, on referring to my records, that in about three weeks after the
departure of the tribes from Jacobabad, I received a letter from Sohrab Khan,
the Chief of the Doombkees, complaining that the Kukkul Murrees, who were
in rebellion from Guzzen at that time, had been threatening to plunder in
Cutchee. I therefore repeated my former exhortations in the following ver
nacular letter dated 26th March 18G9 :—
"To,
Mahomed Khan,
Vakeel of His Highness the Khan of Khelat.
After Compliments,—»
I have received Sohrab Khan's petition, and send a copy of it for your
perusal. Having become acquainted with its contents, please make proper
arrangements for the border of Cutchee, These Kukkul Murrees are not
subject to Guzzen Khan at present, and it is therefore necessaiy that your
arrangements should be made with care. Do not be slack in this. Make great
exertions regarding it. I have myself made great efforts for the welfare of
the Khan's country, and my earnest advice to His Highness is, that he will be
pleased to order proper arrangements to be made for the safety ofhiu own pco-
I j U and country.
K. Pilvyue , Colonel,
Political Superintendent.^

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Letter enclosing correspondence on the arrangements entered into with the Murree tribe in February 1869 for the protection of Kafilahs (convoys of travellers) on the route from Affghanistan [Afghanistan] to Sind [Sindh].

The letter reports on the failure of the scheme owing to its limited scope, giving details of specific incidents which led to its end and stating that such schemes are of no use if the whole tribe is not commanded to abide by them, which had not happened in the case of the Murree tribe.

The letter concludes by stating that Merewether also regrets the tone of Colonel Phayre's letter No.1838 of 1869 and recommending an early interview with His Highness the Khan and the Wuzzeer Healyanee Wullee Mahomed as well as according full confidence in 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. , Captain Harrison who has not been recognised as well as he should have been by Colonel Phayre.

The following correspondence is enclosed with the letter:

  • Letter No.1400 of 1869 from Colonel Robert Phayre, Political Superintendent and Commandant, Frontier Upper Sind to The Commissioner in Sind, Kurrachee [Karachi] 2 October 1869 regarding the temporary agreement made ith the Murree Chief's for the protection of Eastern Cutchee and the Central Asian trade passing through that province and reporting on an attack made by Pullia Murree on the Soombkees and a subsequent recommencement of plundering by the Moondahee Murrees in Cutchee. Colonel Phayre reports on difficulties with the policy and his proposal to discontinue the allowance for scouts at outposts (ff 80-81).
  • Letter No.784 of 1869 from William Lockyer Merewether, Commissioner in Sind, Camp Dowlutpoor to Colonel Robert Phayre, Politicl Superintendent, Frontier Upper Sind, 24 November 1869 concurring with the Colonel's decision to discontinue the allowance (f 81).
  • Letter No. 791 of 1869 from William Lockyer Merewether, Commissioner in Sind, Camp Taroosha to Colonel Robert Phayre, Political Superintendent, Upper Sind Frontier, 27 November 1869 requesting that the Colonel inform him whether the statement by Guzzeen, Principal Chief of the Murree clan, that he attributed the failure of the agreement to a lack of co-operation on the part of the Khan of Khelat [Kalāt], was a general statement or whether their were specific charges in regards to it and stating that in his opinion the failure of the agreement was owing to it being too limited in scope and that British efforts in ensuring peace and security through the territory of Khelat should be done through their support of the establishment of a strong ruling power in that country. The letter also requests a report from Captain Harrison regarding arrangements for the protection of merchants travelling through the Bolan and Cutchee, both before and since the withdrawel of the payment to the Murrees (ff 81v-82).
  • Letter No. 1784 of 1869 from Colonel Robert Phayre, the Political Superintendent, Frontier Upper Sind, Jacobabad to William Lockyer Merewether, the Commissioner in Sind, 14 December 1869 informing him that Guzzeen had primarily alluded to the Tullanee case which had already been reported to Lockyer and his statement was a general one, and giving Colonel Phayre's agreement with Merewether that the scheme was too limited in scope (f 82).
  • Letter No. 56 of 1869 from Charles Henry Harrison, 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. , Khelat, at Camp Jacobabad to Colonel Robert Phayre, the Political Superintendent, Frontier Upper Sind, 27 December 1869 forwarding a statement of raids known to have been committed since August 1868 and outlining his highness arrangements for the stationing of troops which had been modified through some misapprehension in October 1869. The letter concludes by reporting on a system of outposts in Cutchee which had been established by 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 since the subsidy had ended (ff 82v-83).
  • Letter No. 1838 of 1869 from Colonel Robert Phayre, Political Superintendent, Frontier Upper Sind, Jacobabad to William Lockyer Merewether, Commissioner in Sind, 30 December 1869 forwarding Captain Harrison's report and discussing the misapprehension by the Khan of Khelat, which Colonel Phayre believed there were no grounds for, detailing his reasons for this belief. The letter also encloses a copy of a translation of a letter from the Khan of Khelat to Colonel Phayre acknowledging receipt of a letter in which the Colonel informed him of the exploring expedition taking place in Beloochistan [Baluchistan].
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Letter No.159 of 1870 from Colonel Sir William Lockyer Merewether, K.C.S.I. & C.B., Commissioner in Sind, Commissioner's Office, Kurrachee [Karachi] to His Excellency the Right Honourable Sir William Robert Seymour Vesey Fitzgerald, G.C.S.I., Governor and President in Council, Bombay [‎84v] (10/16), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F126/22, ff 80-87, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100024195159.0x0000a7> [accessed 17 June 2026]

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