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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' [‎70v] (145/500)

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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5 6
[Chap. X.
The months are arranged _so as to bring ® J‘ ffe h ren f. bet ^en
the volume of the falling over in August and September ana tne rising river
„ Oc ober and November. It must be borne ,n mind that these figures are
based on the assumption that the years we measured are the normal year o!
their clas This assumption is probably not far wrong; the table for a normal
year (Table 3) is perhaps above the average, while tha for a dry year (Table 5)
fs perhaps a little below the average ; this and he table for a year of great flood
are very difficult ones to construct. The important feature of the supply f rom
an irrigation point of view is that from October to January ; it does not neces.
sarily follow that the supply at this season will be good in a year of good flood
or vice versa. But on the average of years these differences may be expected
to neutralise each other. Each year of observations will enable a nearer
estimate to be made of the normal volumes of each class of years into which
the character of the floods have been divided, especially if the officer making
the observations continues the investigations into the past by collecting more
details from observant men* who have lived in Seistan.
While the date of low river seems to come each year just before or just
after the first of September that for high flood may come at any time from the
end of March to early in May. And there may be considerable flood any time
after the beginning of Decemberf. The weather, as has already been
explained in Chapter V, comes from Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. storms, which furnish
the cold weather rains of the Punjab ^ and the North-West Frontier Region of British India bordering Afghanistan. ;
those who are observant of these rains will understand the phases of the
Helmand River at this period of the year. Suffice it to say, that no attempt
has been made to average out the supply due to the variations of the date of
high flood in different years, only because the average discharges during the flood
season are not important from an irrigation ^ point of view. The lowest
discharges are then always sufficient for the cultivation to be done, and measures
for flood protection must be based on the greatest discharge ; this we have
ascertained from the flood marks of the great flood of 1885.
In the Seistdn delta the spring crop sowings begin punctually at the autumn
equinox {vide page 57 of Chapter X of the “ Revenue Report and Notes ”), and the
autumn crop sowings begin at the spring equinox ; it would have been more
satisfactory to have made out the tables accordingly, but this would have added
a good deal to the complexity of the calculation and not materially altered the
results. Practical convenience will probably be best met by making the account
from the first of October and the first of April respectively.
In Chapter XIV, page 97 of the “ Revenue Report and Notes,” it has been
explained that all failures of the supply in the river occur only in the hottest months
of July and August; there has never been a failure of the cold weather supply.
In 1902, although the river below Rudbar was dry for nearly three months, yet at
the end of September it came down in good flow, and during November and De*
cember there was a very good supply in the river. This is the valuable feature of
the Helmand River, and it is this trustworthy cold weather supply which makes
Seist&n the granary from which wheat and barley can be obtained in years
of the greatest drought. This fact has been established by the observations of
the Missions in 1872 and 1902, both of which reached Seistan after a year of great
arought when the grain had been exported to relieve the distress in the neighbour*
mg districts.
In Chapter X of the Revenue Report and Notes” the system of cultiva*
tjon been described, and it is explained how wheat and barley can be sown
thioughout the spring crop season, so that in years in which the supply in the
river is poor m early autumn, it is still possible to raise a good acreage of crop,
as t re supply at the maturing time of the crop is always sufficient.
The average annual acreage of spring crop may therefore be arrived at
rom e average monthly discharge throughout the spring crop season, so soon
as a suitable Duty has been determined.
^ Thls ? ver . a gs mont:lll y discharge from Table 12, Statement A, is 4 .° 7 °
cusecs, this ffischarge may be considered to be inflated by the fa ct that the spring
such o'Sons reminded ol their previous erperie.re ».
t In 1905 the Band was carried away by a flood of
50,000 cusecs on the 20th of December.

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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' [‎70v] (145/500), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/256, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100040681825.0x000092> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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