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'Perso-Afghan frontier. Report on Hashtadan' [192r] (1/12)
The record is made up of 1 file (6 folios). It was created in 24 May 1885. 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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Perso-Afghan Frontier. Report on Hashtadan.
Colonel J. W. Ridgeway to Earl Granville.
No. 45 (Confidential). Camp Sinjao,
My Lord, ' 24th May 1885.
I have the honour to submit, for your Lordship’s information, copy of
the correspondence quoted in the accompanying list, regarding the disputed
Hashtadan lands, on the Perso-Afghan frontier.
2. Hashtadan is a valley about 30 X 20 miles, which, for at least two
generations, has lain waste owing to Turcoman raids. Lately a Company
has been formed at Mashad, of which the present Governor General of
Khorassan is the trading member, for the cultivation of the tract, and two
months ago labourers were sent and operations commenced for the repair of
the aqueduct in its north-west extremity. The Afghans took umbrage at
this and appealed to Sir Peter Lumsden, who referred to Her Majesty’s
Minister at Teheran. On the 2nd April Sir R. Thomson telegraphed that
the Shah had instructed the Governor General to send an officer with
explanations.
3. On the 15th April Mr. Merk was deputed by Sir Peter Lumsden to
inquire into the dispute. He arrived at Hashtadan on the 16th, and reported
that the Persians had been at work for some w T eeks, but that on the 12th
April the Afghans had sent 20 irregular infantry with orders to stop the
work; while, on the 15th idem, the Governor of Karaz arrived at Hashtadan
with 30 Persian troopers. Mr. Merk arranged that, pending inquiry, the
Afghans should retire to Kafir Kala and the Persians to Karez. The ground
was then surveyed, and the Afghan claims recorded. No Persian agent had
arrived, and therefore the inquiry was necessarily ex parte. Your Lordship
* i/"*j u i at o observe that Mr. Merk’s opinion* was in favour
* Vide Enclosure No. 8. r* i v a c i i • r
of the Afghan claim.
4. After Mr. Merk’s return to the British camp the Persians again began
work, and troops were sent by the Governor General to prevent interference
with them. Sir Peter Lumsden accordingly addressed Her Majesty’s Minister
at Teheran by telegram, pointing out that no agent had been "deputed in
accordance with the Shah’s instructions. He also addressed the Governor
General of Khorassan to the same effect, and asked him to cause work to be
suspended until the dispute had been decided. On the 5th May the Governor
General replied that he was not authorized to discuss the matter, and that
indeed no discussion was necessary, as the land was indisputably the property
of Khorassan. On 7th idem, Sir Ronald Thomson telegraphed that the
Governor General had been desired to explain the Persian claims to Sir
Peter Lumsden when he reached Mashad. Sir Peter Lumsden had a con
versation with the Governor General at Mashad on 11th idem regarding the
dispute, but no conclusion was arrived at, as the Governor General said that
the question must be settled at Teheran.
5. On hearing from Sir Peter Lumsden to this effect, I had an interview
with the Amir’s agent, Kazi Saad-ud-din Khan, and pointed out to him how
inopportune it was to raise the question at the present moment. To this the
Kazi assented, but he assured me that the Amir attached very great
importance to the dispute, and he feared that, on hearing of the proceeding
of the Persians, His Highness would order some strong measures to be taken.
Accordingly, on the 13th, I telegraphed to the Government of India
suggesting that the Amir should be advised to let the matter drop for the
present.
6. Being about to move my camp to the vicinity of Herat, I thought it
desirable, before leaving the frontier, to ascertain—if I could do so quietly—
15277. I. 524. A
About this item
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This file concerns the disputed Hashtadan lands, on the Perso-Afghan frontier. It begins with a confidential letter, dated 24 May 1885, from Colonel Joseph West Ridgeway, Assistant Commissioner in charge, Afghan Boundary Commission, Camp Sinjao, to Earl Granville [Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville], Foreign Secretary, London.
In his letter, Ridgeway summarises the current dispute, which began in March 1885, when the Persian authorities took steps to cultivate the disputed land, which had reportedly remained uncultivated for two generations. Ridgeway reports that on 12 April the Afghans responded by sending twenty irregular infantry with orders to stop the work. On 15 April, the Governor of Karaz (also spelled in the file as 'Karez') [Kārīz, Iran] arrived at Hashtadan with thirty Persian troopers. Ridgeway states that the matter was only temporarily resolved by William Rudolph Henry Merk, political officer on special duty with the Afghan boundary commission, who arranged that, pending inquiry, the Afghans should retire to Kafir Kala [Islām Qal‘ah, Afghanistan] and the Persians to Karaz.
Ridgeway includes with his letter a series of enclosures which document the ongoing dispute. The enclosures are as follows:
- No. 1 Letter from Kazi Saad-ud-din Khan, agent of Abdur Rahman Khan, Amir [Emir] of Afghanistan, to Sir Peter Stark Lumsden, member of the Council of India and Afghan boundary commissioner, dated 23 March 1885
- No. 2 Letter from Sir Peter Stark Lumsden, Tirpul [Tir Pol, Afghanistan], to Kazi Saad-ud-din Khan, dated 26 March 1885
- No. 3 Telegram from Sir Ronald Ferguson Thomson, Her Britannic Majesty's Minister, Teheran [Tehran], to Sir Peter Stark Lumsden, no. 42, dated 2 April 1885
- No. 4 Letter from the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs (unnamed) to Sir Ronald Ferguson Thomson (no date)
- No. 5 Letter from William Rudolph Henry Merk, Hashtadan, to Sir Peter Stark Lumsden, dated 16 April 1885
- No. 6 Letter from Sir Peter Stark Lumsden to Kazi Saad-ud-din Khan, dated 17 April 1885
- No. 7 Letter from Kazi Saad-ud-din Khan to Sir Peter Stark Lumsden, dated 18 April 1885
- No. 8 Letter from William Rudolph Henry Merk to Sir Peter Stark Lumsden, dated 27 April 1885
- No. 9 Letter from William Rudolph Henry Merk to Sir Peter Stark Lumsden, dated 1 May 1885
- No. 10 Telegram from Sir Peter Stark Lumsden to Sir Ronald Ferguson Thomson, dated 2 May 1885
- No. 11 Letter from Sir Peter Stark Lumsden to the Governor General of Khorassan [Khorasan], dated 2 May 1885
- No. 12 Letter from the Governor General of Khorassan to Sir Peter Stark Lumsden, dated 5 May 1885
- No. 13 Extract from a report of Khan Baba Khan, Native Agent Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government. , to Colonel Joseph West Ridgeway, Assistant Commissioner in charge, Afghan Boundary Commission, dated 6 May 1885
- No. 14 Telegram from Sir Ronald Ferguson Thomson to Sir Peter Stark Lumsden, dated 7 May 1885
- No. 15 Extract from a demi-official letter from Sir Peter Stark Lumsden, Mashad [Mashhad], to Colonel Joseph West Ridgeway, dated 11 May 1885
- No. 16 Telegram from Colonel Joseph West Ridgeway to the Government of India, no. 549, dated 13 May 1885
- No. 17 Telegram from Colonel Joseph West Ridgeway to the Government of India, no. 557, dated 14 May 1885
- No. 18 Letter from Captain Albert Frederick de Laessoe to Colonel Joseph West Ridgeway, dated 22 May 1885
In his letter Ridgeway makes special reference to the final enclosure, Captain Albert Frederick de Laessoe's letter, which concludes in favour of the Persian claim. Ridgeway suggests that, if possible, the matter regarding Hashtadan should be deferred until the question of the Perso-Afghan frontier can be resolved outright, preferably by one officer.
It should be noted that the list of enclosures which follows Ridgeway's letter incorrectly states that item no. 10 is from Sir Ronald Ferguson Thomson to Sir Peter Stark Lumsden, whereas in fact the telegram is from Lumsden to Thomson.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (6 folios)
- Arrangement
Following the opening letter, the enclosures proceed in chronological order.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence for this description commences at f 192, and terminates at f 197, as it is part of a larger physical volume; 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. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 5-206; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.
Pagination: the volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/18/C49
- Title
- 'Perso-Afghan frontier. Report on Hashtadan'
- Pages
- 192r:197v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence