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'Perso-Afghan frontier. Report on Hashtadan' [‎194v] (6/12)

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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. .

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too heavy to be moved at once; and the Persians and Afghans agreed to
to leave matters in statu quo till the receipt of further orders from their
respective superior authorities.
2. I would now submit a map of the locality in dispute, with its neigh
bourhood, drawn by Sub-Surveyor Hira Singh, together with the result of
my observations and inquiries, which latter, according to my instructions,
have been cx-parte from the Afghans only. I marched from Tirpul to Kafir
Kala, thence to Kuluhh Pardi and via Hashtadan to the Persian villages
of Farizna and Karat; and returned to Tirpul by Charkila and Ckashma
Dozan. I found Kafir Kala occupied by 100 Afghan khassadars. The
plain in front of this post, as far as Dogaru, was at the time of my visit
impassable owing to recent heavy rains; and traffic between Kuhsan and
Persian territory took, as it generally does under similar circumstances, the
southern route via Killa Darband.
3. The tract claimed by both Afghans and Persians is the drainage basin
of the stream which, issuing at the Dahana Shorao, flows between Kafir Kila
and Dogaru under the name of Kal-i-Kalla, and falls into the Heri-Rud
near Toman 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. Agha. The boundaries of this area have been coloured green
on the accompanying map. With the exceptions noted below, it is at
present entirely unoccupied by either Persian or Afghan subjects. The
nearest Persian villages are Parizna and Karat. The area in question
consists of a grassy steppe, covered with camel scrub, and having a gentle
and uniform slope from the surrounding hills towards its centre. It bears
many traces of having been extensively cultivated in former days ; fallen-in
karezes are frequently met with, old irrigation channels can still be seen,
while the mounds of Kulukh Pardi, Hashtadan, and Char Kila, the ruins of
a masonry mill at Dahana Shorao, a large brick reservoir at Kulukh Pardi,
and other remains show that a considerable population must have inhabited
villages the ruins of which are dotted over this once fertile plain. Its soil
is still arable, except where, in the central portion of the basin, a “ kavis ”
has been formed in the course of time, the result probably of the ground
having become waterlogged in consequence of the closure of the irrigation
channels and cessation of cultivation.
4. Although the Shorao basin was once well cultivated, and is still
capable of being reclaimed, it is quite clear that for at least two generations, if
not more, the whole plain has been waste and unoccupied. It is situated in
the very track of Turcoman raids upon the Persian districts of Khaf, Birjand,
and Chain on the one hand, and on the other upon the Afghan settlements at
Ghorian and Zindijan in the Herat valley, at Sabzawar and Anardarra. Till
last year neither Persian nor Afghan patrols could venture to enter this
plain, and caravans used the direct road from Herat to Khaf, across this
basin between Ghorian and Karat, only by stealth, or under the escort of
such of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood as entertained secret relations
with the Turcomans.
5. At present the eastern and southern portions of the plain are grazed
over by flocks belonging to shepherds from Ghorian, whose tents I found
pitched at Chashma Dozan, Chat Nakhchir, Chat Surkh, and Robat-i-Turk.
(I may mention here that an unsuccessful attempt was made last year by
men df Ghorian to reopen the karez at Ali Agha, in the vicinity of Chashma
Dozan.) At the north-western corner of the plain, between Kulukh Pardi
and Hashtadan, operations to excavate karezes were commenced about six
weeks ago by the agents of a Company formed at Meshed for the reclamation
of Hashtadan. As I have already reported, the Persians in charge of the
works informed me that the chief promoter of the scheme is the present
Governor of Khorassan, to whom falls one half of the profit or loss of the
undertaking, his partners being the Malik-ul-Tujjar and the Mustasshar-ul-
Mulk at Mashad. The central section of the basin is at present unoccupied
in any way.
6. The Afghans claim the whole of the area within the green boundary
on the following grounds:—
(1.) That in the time of Amir Sher Ali Khan it was settled to be within
the Afghan border (principally as regards responsibility in con-

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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.

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English in Latin script
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'Perso-Afghan frontier. Report on Hashtadan' [‎194v] (6/12), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/C49, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100026567106.0x000007> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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