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'Report of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Edward Stewart, Bengal Staff Corps, on Special Duty on the Perso-Afghan Frontier.' [‎130r] (15/80)

The record is made up of 1 file (40 folios). It was created in 8 Feb 1883. 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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Chapter III.
Journey from Rui Khaf to Mohsinabad, and some way up the Hari Rud River.
In February 1882, a small party of Persian cavalry, under a Persian major, were
sent from Mashad by the Rukn-ud-Dowlah, the Governor General of Khurasan, to
inquire into the truth of a statement made by Ayub Khan that I was building' a strong
fort at Kbaf, and had a thousand men from Herat to help me in the work. I need
hardly say this proved to be quite untrue, and that I built nothing whatsoever; but
this was a trick of Ayub Khan to repay me for having caused his removal from khaf.
I did know that Persian governors were often very stupid, but I should have thought
that the Rukn-ud-Dowlah, the Shah’s brother, who knows me, would have had more
sense than to believe such a statement. On the 14th March I proceeded to Karat,
the frontier place of the Khaf district. A fine fort has been built at Karat; it had
been deserted for many years, but 14 years ago the Persian Government allowed a
sum of 1,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. (a toman 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. is worth Is. 6</.) for rebuilding it. The Governor of
Khaf at that time was Attaulla Khan Timuri. He raised a levy of the people of the
Khaf district, and proceeded to Karat and built the present fort, which, though not
large, is the best and strongest I have seen in Khurasan. Karat is 22 miles from
Khaf, situated in a small valley across the range of hills which forms the boundary
between Bakharz and Khaf. The building of this fort has been a great check to
Turkoman raiding in the Khaf and Kaian districts, though it has not prevented it
altogether. Karat w^as, until August 1881, under the Governor of the Khaf district,
but in that month a raid was made by a party of Turkomans on a Timuri nomad camp
near Karat, and 40 men, women, and children, and two large flocks of sheep were
carried off. I passed near and saw the hill from which they had been taken. Though
it is less than nine miles from Karat, the news of what had taken place did not reach
that place until two days had elapsed, and did not reach Khaf until the fourth day,
when, of course, pursuit of the Turkomans was • useless. Sipah Salar Muhammad
Husain Khan, G.C.S.I., who was then Governor General of the Khurasan province,
took a very serious view of the conduct of the Governor of the Khaf district in not
having prevented this raid, and, as a punishment, transferred the Karat fort to the
custody of the Governor of the neighbouring district of Bakharz. As Karat was built
by the Timuri tribe and was chiefly inhabited by them, Dervish Aly Khan, of Khaf,
felt the loss very deeply, and used all his influence in Tehran to get the place again
made over to him. On the hill above the fort of Karat there are the ruins of a strong
fort and of a considerable town. On a lower mound, just below the old fort, there
are the ruins of a mosque with a very fine brick minar, or pillar, which can be
ascended by an interior staircase, still in good preservation. This minar is built in
two stages. The foundations have sunk in consequence of the weight of the super,
structure, and the minar, especially the upper portion of it, slopes at a considerable
angle, giving it somewhat the appearance of the leaning tower at Pisa. Near the
minar are the ruins of a fine brick caravanserai A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers). , a portion of the front of which had
been faced by fine marble slabs covered by inscriptions. These marble slabs had
been removed and employed as an edging to a tank in a place used as a mosque in
the fort of Karat. The mollah, or priest, said it was wrong to walk over inscribed
stones, so the inscriptions had been carefully erased with a chisel. On a small piece
of marble which was used as a step in a water mill close by, I was able to trace some
letters, but the only complete word appeared to be “ Ghuri.”
The fort of Karat contains about a hundred and twenty inhabitants, and is in charge
of Mir Panj Yusuf Khan Hazara, the Governor of the Bakharz district. “ Mir Panj
is a rank in the Persian army, corresponding to our Brigadier-General. It is really
one who commands five battalions, but in Persia the title is often given to people who
have no actual military command. 1 halted on the loth March at Karat, and
taking a small escort of horsemen who had been furnished me by the Governor
of Khaf, I rode out to the village of Firizneh, the last inhabited place on Persian
soil. From Firizneh I had a good view of the mountain ranges which run out
towards Ghurian. I saw and took the bearings of the hill of Sang-i-Dokhtur, which
is in Afghan territory, near Ghurian. It is called Sang-i-Dokhtar because there
is a large stone placed on end on the top of the hill, which is said to have been carried
up by a young woman. Of course this is a mere fable, as the stone is very large, and
could not be moved by any human being. I also saw the Do Shakh peak, a con
spicuous mountain beyond Ghurian. The country between Firizneh, the last village
in Persia, and Sherabad, the first village on Afghan soil, is quite uninhabited, though

About this item

Content

This file consists of a report written by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Edward Stewart, Bengal Staff Corps, in which he describes his journeys to and around Mashad, Herat and Merv in the vicinity of the Perso-Afghan frontier, and provides detailed intelligence regarding topography, settlements, communications, vegetation and agriculture. He also describes local populations, tribes and chiefs, and their present and historical actions and allegiances.

The author records his opinion that due to a general fear of Torcoman raids, and a positive attitude towards Russia, the region of Khurasan [Khorāsān] could willingly fall under Russian sway; he therefore urges the instalment of an English officer on the Perso-Afghan frontier to maintain a British influence there.

The report is written in twelve chapters, and is followed by five appendices giving detailed descriptions of routes travelled, with mileages.

Extent and format
1 file (40 folios)
Arrangement

This file begins with a table of contents (f 123) followed by a report (ff 123-158), with five appendices at the end (ff 159-162).

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 123 and terminates at the last folio with 162, 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 present in parallel between ff 123-162; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.

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English in Latin script
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'Report of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Edward Stewart, Bengal Staff Corps, on Special Duty on the Perso-Afghan Frontier.' [‎130r] (15/80), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/C42, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100032562303.0x000010> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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