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'Perso-Afghan frontier. Report on Hashtadan' [‎196r] (9/12)

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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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9
^ 2 -
* o
/A® first P^ce. I am not authorized to discuss the matter, but I write
lx this much, for your Excellency’s information, that this Hashtadan is
whatever ° f thiS and requires no Action
Some years ago, when Major Napier, a British Engineer nrenared a man
of hat frontier, which was published in London, lie 01^7 Hashtadan
as it ought to have been placed, as part of the Bakharz district and as the
soil of this Government. I have got that map with me, and wiU 8 “w it
to any person that you may direct. There is no doubt in this matter 7t is
7my (LvcrnmTft 6 col “ion of the undisputed landed property
No. 13.
Extract from Report of Khan Baba Khan to Colonel Rideewav
dated 6th May 1885. ^
At Kafir Kala I heard from Nasir Khan, Sadbashi of the Khassadars that
^ ie Persians have again commenced work on the karezes of Kulukh Pardi
H ' Kai \ ez ’ Gh a ffar Sultan, Chief of Karez, who has seen Mr. Merk told me
that orders have been sent by Asaf-ud-daula to Yusuf Khan Sartip (Hazara)
Governor ot Mohsmabad, to commence the work on the Kulukh Pardi
karezes and not to stop ; to send 100 Bakharzi sowars to that place to be
always present there; not to stop the work even if the Afghans protested
against it; to answer harshly if the Afghans spoke harshly. The Asaf ud
daula also wrote to Yusuf Khan to direct the Afghans to discuss the mat"^
t leherau oi at Mashad, and not on the spot. This order was received
ten days ago, and the Bakharzi sowars are now at Kulukh Pardi. Ghaffar
Sultan with one or two other influential men, and Gul Mahomed Khan son
of Yusuf Khan, Hazara, also went to Kulukh Pardi, and returned after the
work was commenced. The chief merchant, Abid Kasim Khan, who is in
charge of this work, has gone to Khaff to get some labourers for the work. •
Ihe work has been commenced for nine or ten days. The Bakhn™
sowars are now at Earmandabad, midway between Karez and Kulukh Pardi
where there is plenty of grass and water. They left Kulukh Pardi because
there was no water there. uccause
No. 14.
Telegram from Sir Ronald Thomson to Sir P. Lumsden
dated 7th May 1885.
Minister Eoreign Affairs now states that it was not intended to send an
official to your camp, but to Hashtadan, to meet officer deputed by you to
make inquiry on spot. Governor General Khorassan will be ordered to
explain Persian claims when you reach Mashad.
No. 15.
Extract from demi-official Letter from Sir Peter Lumsden to Colonel
Ridgeway, dated Mashad, 11th May 1885.
You will see by one of the telegrams from Sir Ronald that the Teheran
authorities suggested that I should settle the Hashtadan business with the
Governor General here. I had a long meeting with the Asaph-ud-daula
heic to-day, and entered on the Hashtadan question. I pointed out to him
ow peculiar it was that with 700 villages to repopulate and reclaim in Jam
“ U d have g° ne out of his way to enter on the cultivation of Hashtadan’
doubtful m tenure, &c. In support of his claim he produced Napier’s map,
it 1 showed him that even that map would go against his claim, as the
15277. 0

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Content

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
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'Perso-Afghan frontier. Report on Hashtadan' [‎196r] (9/12), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/C49, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100026567106.0x00000a> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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