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'Seistan. Irrigation report of the Perso-Afghan Arbitration Commission, 1902-1905. Volume I. Report and appendices. Simla: Government of India Foreign Department, 1906' [‎26r] (56/500)

The record is made up of 1 volume (246 folios). It was created in 1906. 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 II.
The delta of the Helmand Rivet*
The topography of the delta of the Helmand has been described in Chapters
other account* Of the topography. XXXJHand XLVII of the “ Revenue
Report and Notes ; notes on the geology
of the ancient deltas have been made over by Colonel McMahon to Mr. T. H.
Holland, Director of the Geological Survey, for study ; while Mr. G. P. Tate of
the Survey of India has written on the ancient and modern topography of Seistdn ;
with all this information available it will only be necessary to refer to the salient
features as they affect the irrigation problems to be studied.
The levels taken during the stay of the Mission in Seistdn have been plott-
The contoured map. ? d , 0n 0n f of ‘ he m ?P s Scale of one
inch to the mile; with this information
the contours have been drawn in, so far as it was possible ; from this map they
have been transferred to the map on the scale of 4 miles to the inch, which
is also coloured to^ shew the tracts into which the country is divided from an
irrigation point of view {vide Statement H). While studying this map and
the^ statement of areas it may be useful to notice that the extreme length of the
basin containing the deltas of all the rivers, ancient and modern, from north to
south, is 140 miles, while its width from east to west is 80 miles. The water of
the Hamun when at full flood level extends along 40 miles of the north-east
boundary, 50 miles of the north boundary and 100 miles of the west boundary.
The Gaud-i-Zireh is 70 miles from east to west and less than 20 miles from
north to south.
The colours and the contours on the map alike draw attention to the main
The high plateaux or dasht .features of the country. The high un-
commandable plateaux coloured dark red
on the map lie on either bank of the Rud-i-Sena, and rise nearly aoo feet above
the present cultivated tract; they are alluvial plains on which old river beds can
be traced; from the left bank of the Helmand River between Bandar-i-Kamal
Khan and the Band-i-Seistan the highest plateau is reached in a series of terraces,
each about 30 feet higher than the one below. There are deep depres
sions in these plateaux, whose origin can only be guessed at and whose value
for irrigation works will be dealt with in Chapter XVI.
Thedower parts of these plateaux coloured brown on the map could be
The uncommandabie plateau. commanded by specially constructed, very
expensive high level canals, as described at
the end of Chapter XIII. The only attempt at irrigation in the past that can be
The Rud-i.Sena Canal. f ° Und 00 the 7 1 is 3 canal down th 6 bed
of the Rud-i-Sena whose bed was kept
high up out of the bottom of the trough ; the object of the canal seems to
have been to cultivate in the trough of the Rud-i-Sena and in some depressions
to the south of ’Aliabad, Sihkuha and Warmal. There are no remains of human
habitations along this canal, and there is much about it that would indicate that
it was never opened. It is interesting to notice that the great flood of 1885
would have poured a volume down the Rdd-i-Sena, had not the spoil banks of
this old canal, which are massive because the canal is in cutting, closed the
entrance to the deep channel of the trough. Some water found its way for a
short distance down the canal, but its volume was small, as the canal is not cap
able of carrying more than 100 to 200 cusecs. The river spill eventually all
drained back to the river in the neighbourhood of the place where it left it.
South of Kabr-i-Haji on the left bank of the river opposite Kala-i-Fath is an
The Yak6b. ancient canal noticed by Dr. Bellew and
called by him Yakdb which also seemed
designed to irrigate in a depression or old river bed running parallel and to the
west of the present river. Its bed is very high above that of the present river,
but its head reach has probably been cut away just as that of the canal in the
Rud-i-Sena has been.

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Content

The first volume of reports produced by the Irrigation Officer of the Perso-Afghan Boundary Commission, Seistan [Sīstān], and submitted to the Government of India, Foreign Department.

Contents:

  • 'Chapter I. The catchment area of the Seistan Lake. The trough of the Helmand River below Kala-i-Bist.'
  • 'Chapter II. The delta of the Helmand River.'
  • 'Chapter III. The inundated area.'
  • 'Chapter IV. Canals, ancient and modern.'
  • 'Chapter V. Rainfall in the Helmand basin.'
  • 'Chapter VI. Note on the evaporation from the surface of water in Seistan.'
  • 'Chapter VII. Lines of levels, maps, surveys, etc.'
  • 'Chapter VIII. Discharge observations.'
  • 'Chapter IX. The silt carried in the water of the Helmand River.'
  • 'Chapter X. The volume available for the irrigation of the delta: the duty: the culturable area that could be brought under command.'
  • 'Chapter XI. Probable rates of work if canals are made.'
  • 'Chapter XII. Irrigation works suitable to the circumstances of the people.'
  • 'Chapter XIII. Works required to gain complete control of the river for the irrigation of the delta.'
  • 'Chapter XIV. Probable cost of, and income, and percentage of profit from the irrigation works.'
  • 'Chapter XV. Drainage scheme for the inundated area.'
  • 'Chapter XVI. Schemes for utilising some large depressions either as escape, or impounding reservoirs.'
  • 'Chapter XVII. Impounding reservoirs in the trough of the Helmand: control of the floods by works in the catchment area.'

Appendices:

  • 'Appendix 1. The Hazarajat and the country drained by the Farah Rud and Harud Rud.'
  • 'Appendix 2. The trough of the Helmand River below Kala-i-Bist.'
  • 'Appendix 3. Detailed measurements of depths of water evaporated in Seistan.'
  • 'Appendix 4. Extracts from "The Irrigation of Mesopotamia" by Sir William Willcocks, KCMG.'
  • 'Appendix 5. Comparison of rates at Quetta with these on the Chenab and Jhelum Canals.'
  • 'Appendix 6. Rates of cost and of income on the Punjab Perennial Canals.'
  • 'Appendix 7. The manufacture of lime at the Consulate, Seistan.'
  • 'Appendix 8. Details of the cost of the work on the buildings erected by the Imperial Bank.'
  • 'Appendix 9. Note on lime, bricks and stone for large works in Seistan.'
  • 'Appendix 10. Comparison of rates likely to obtain in Mesopotamia with those in Egypt by Sir William Willcocks, KCMG.'
  • 'Appendix 11. Note by W A Johns, Esq., Railway Reconnaissance Officer, on the cost of excavating in the hard Seistan clay, and driving tunnels or kariz therein.'
  • 'Appendix 12. On the cost of excavation in the culturable soil of the delta and in the hard tough alluvial of the high plateaux or dasht .'
  • 'Appendix 13. The meaning of the words clay and silt .'
  • 'Appendix 14. Dates on which the Sar-i-Shela flowed in 1903.'
  • 'Appendix 15. Expenditure incurred on the Irrigation Party.'
  • 'Appendix 16. List of maps and sections packed in a tin lined case and filed in the Foreign Office, Simla.'
Extent and format
1 volume (246 folios)
Arrangement

A synopsis of contents is found at folios 12-14.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 248; 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. Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

The volume contains a higher than usual number of blank pages, which may have been the result of a printing error.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'Seistan. Irrigation report of the Perso-Afghan Arbitration Commission, 1902-1905. Volume I. Report and appendices. Simla: Government of India Foreign Department, 1906' [‎26r] (56/500), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/256, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100040681825.0x000039> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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