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Letter No.1167 of 1870 from Colonel Robert Phayre, Political Superintendent, Frontier Upper Sind, Jacobabad to Colonel William Lockyer Merewether, The Commissioner in Sind, Kurrachee [Karāchi] [‎120v] (2/6)

The record is made up of 3 folios. It was created in 17 Aug 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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" charge of the Frontier of Sind, I have exerted every effort in my power to
" to bring about the establishment of order and good government in your
" Hio-hness' neighbouring dominions. But I laboured to little or no purpose,
<c for I was always secretly thwarted by your Highness' officers."
4. Khelat history from that day to this shows that precisely the same
system of " secret thwarting" is now rife, whenever it suits Khelat officials
to have recourse to it; and I am convinced by the multitude of facts that
have come to light in the present correspondence, that the old spirit is still at
work ; and what makes it the more dangerous and difficult to counteract now,
is, that Captain Harrison fails to see it, and will not regard British Frontier
policy from any but an exclusively Khelat point of view.
5. In addition to others the Government Resolutions as per margin
afford proof of what 1 now state, and it will
No. be I"' 46 impossible to successfully carry out
Department. the policy therein advocated, if the Political
Bombay Government Kesolution jW en t at Khelat continue to go dead against
No. 2244, dated 16th July 18/0. ^ & &
it as he has hitherto done.
6. This Seistan move on the part of Khelat bears a striking contrast to
the impotent efforts of that Government at Kedj, and other parts of the Perso
Mekran border. There where such expressions of devotion, as those reported
from Seistan, would be especially useful to us, if verified by acts, the Khan
has failed to carry duo weight with the most powerful of the border Eelooch,
and but for your own diplomatic efforts in that quarter, the Persians, who
evidently hold KHelat in supreme contempt, would unquestionably have long
ago passed their legitimate bounds, and done us an almost irreparable injury.
7. It would appear too from this example, that Khelat influence is
strangely subject to the rules of contrariety—-just where, it would eminently
serve British interests, as in Mekran ; it is weak, if not abortive, and on the
other hand where the Khan's intervention is utterly useless, nay actually
mischievous as in Seistan, he is made to appear in a light that throws the
King of Persia and the Ameer of Caubul into the shade entirely. If it were
not so serious, it would be ridiculous.
8. Under these circumstances I submit that the sooner the Khan of
Khelat is advised to look to his home administration and policy, and to look
for influence and popularity in that, the better. Let him, by adopting the
principles of an enlightened rule, elicit expressions of affection and loyalty from
his own instead of Seistan subjects, and then we shall have practical proofs ol
improvements, that may be recorded with satisfaction for the information of
Government.
9. I observe from the Diary that something has occurred at Lus Beyla,
the particulars of which are not given ; but it must be an important cause that

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Letter enclosing a copy of Captain Harrison's Khelat [Kalāt], covering the period 11-17 July 1870 and commenting on the further correspondence recorded as having been received by the Khan of Khelat from individuals in Seistan [Sīstān] and expressing his concerns over what he views as a potential threat to the British Government's Persian and Afghan Policy.

Phayre continues by citing from a letter which General John Jacob had written to the Khan of Khelat in 1854 regarding the Khan's efforts to thwart the work of the frontier officers, and comparing that to the present day situation. The colonel also comments on the entry relating to events at Lus Beyla [Lasbela], details of which are yet to be received and Captain Harrison reporting on a raid by the Murree tribe on Poolajee.

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Letter No.1167 of 1870 from Colonel Robert Phayre, Political Superintendent, Frontier Upper Sind, Jacobabad to Colonel William Lockyer Merewether, The Commissioner in Sind, Kurrachee [Karāchi] [‎120v] (2/6), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F126/22, ff 120-122, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100024195160.0x000027> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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