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'Report of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Edward Stewart, Bengal Staff Corps, on Special Duty on the Perso-Afghan Frontier.' [‎130v] (16/80)

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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16
»,„„,««f it i. M..- «r —-“-i JZtXZj'SS ESSrt
KolLKtlSl town which has only lately been finished, where Yusuf Khan,
mv visit by tbe Commander of that place. I passed through the villages of Farman-
T d tlSofI“ttU itrtTS h—t^io^d, as it
is'the last'inhabited place in Persia on the direct road from ^Mashadto^Herat.^A large
number of horsemen under command of a nephew of Yusuf Khan was sent out to
meet me and escort me into Mohsinabad, where I was received with all civility by
Yusuf Khan Hazara. He is a very fine looking old man who has led a most ad ven
turous life, having been sometimes a subject of 1 ersia, and sometimes a subject of the
Afghans. The Hazaras, who now live at Mohsinabad, were brought from Herat, in
1857 by Sultan Murad Mirza Hissam-i-Sultaneh, when he had to give up Heiat .o
the Afghans, according to the treaty with England. Formerly these Hazaras had
inhabited Bakharz, but had left Persia about fifty-six years ago, and settled in
Afghanistan, from which they were brought back. Kala Nau, north-east of Herat, is,
however, the original seat of these Hazaras, where they were settled by one ot the
Usbeg kings several centuries ago. Bakharz, though originally Persian, has some-
times belonged to Afghanistan. Yusuf Khan Hazara, who is 78 years of age, is still
very hale and hearty, and even now a very dashing horseman and swordsman. He
is quite a picture of a border freebooting chief, and has spent his life in fighting
Turkomans or other foes. He is alternately in favour and disgrace with the Persian
Government. For some time after they were brought from Herat, he and his Hazaras
were settled in Isfaryin, south of Bujnurd; about seven year’s ago he was permitted to
come, with about 500 families of his tribe, and settle at Mohsinabad, where he was
allowed to build the present small town, and given 3,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. to help him in building
the fort. It is not a strong place, but the presence of 500 families of Hazaras so near the
border is a great check on Turkoman raids. The Hazaras are brave men, and not like
the ordinary border cavalry, who carefully avoid any meeting with Turkomans, but
these men, like the Kurds and Turks of Daragez and Kuchan, meet the Turkomans
on quite equal terms. Yusuf Khan Hazara showed me nine Turkoman prisoners whom
he had caught raiding, and kept down a dry well. I knew that Central Asiatic Chiefs
kept prisoners down dry wells, but I had not heretofore seen prisoners so confined.
They were very heavily ironed, having both leg irons and neck chains. They were
allowed to walk about the fort, the weight of their chains preventing any attempt to
run away, but towards evening they were always put down the well, and kept there
till broad daylight. The well had a room built over it, the door of which was locked,
and watched by a sentry. The well itself had a wooden cover, which was locked at
night. Ruffians as these men were, captured redhanded on a slaving expedition, I
could not but be sorry for them. They were also very badly fed, the only food supplied
them being 6^ pounds of bread a day amongst the nine, but they were permitted to
and got a little more food in this way. I was told that they had formerly been
well fed, but it was found that their quarters were so comfortable that they would not
ask their friends to ransom them. The ransoms demanded for these men w ? ere far
higher than I had been accustomed to in Daragez, where from 30 to 100 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. was
the usual ransom, so much as 100 being rarely demanded. The ransom placed upon
them was, however, from 100 to 200 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. each. One of them was a man of
influence in the Merv country, being nephew of Kaushid Khan, who built the fort
that bears his name. These prisoners begged me to pay their ransom, but 1 declined to
do so.
The portion of the Hazara tribe which is settled in Persia is said to number 3 000
families, but I should doubt there being so many. Some of these are still in Isfarvin •
a large number, under the son of Mir Panj Yusuf Khan, are settled near Mashad • a“<i
abou 500 families live m Bakharz. They are a branch of the great Hazara tribe, which is
ftmiid scattered over all the more mountainous and least accessible parts of Afghanistan
The tribe is also sometimes called Mongol and Barbari. Their own account*of them'
thlr^ l>; thdt t ‘ e - V fro "' ,lie borders of China, in the time of Chingiz Khan and
!\h * iT Were °TV a,I . y 8 1 , . t,ed n , ear at0 "' u oaHed Kandab, in ChineJ’-iw. ".’
should veiy much doubt this. 1 hey are undoubtedly of Turanian
figures, beardless faces,and crooke.reyerpiaVtdainfSTarta^lZod^Hn •i' 6 ”' 8qUat
curious thing that all Hazaras, whenever found wM.ef b, Afcbf, il Vely
Turkt. speaking people, do not speak Tartar dialects, but always some form ofPeS.

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.' [‎130v] (16/80), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/C42, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100032562303.0x000011> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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