Skip to item: of 500
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

'Seistan. Irrigation report of the Perso-Afghan Arbitration Commission, 1902-1905. Volume I. Report and appendices. Simla: Government of India Foreign Department, 1906' [‎91v] (187/500)

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. .

Transcription

This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.

Apply page layout

78
[ Chap. XIL
be no dangerous change m re distribution silt, they will rise much above
silting. If the channels below the wo ks^ experienced i„
the country ; th « m ^\ l^s sLuld be very familiar to the engineers on the
the valley*. Such problems shouia ^ deUas in Madrag _ The w6 . rks
works m the Kistna, enoua h yet to have bred the troubles out of which
m the Punjab are n » J g . dn where th e experience of thousands
such experience is bought i it is^on y where g ^ onerous
i. cHapTCT ix. » ■ jj^^ASsaSfsvs
iTready well understood on the Northern India Perennial Canals.
We may now consider whether masonry regulators at the heads of canals
ya/c may tvould be a convenience t© the people ; the
Regulators for the present canal heads. people have traditions that SUCH reguktdfS
existed in former times and say that there were 7 ° » the at the Sar
Gah-i-Seistdn but we were unable to discover any remains of them, and it is not
likely that any ever existed there; a very small masonry work, said to be a
regulator, has been mentioned on the second page of Chapter IV as seen by Mr.
Thfe near Burri ; with this possible exception, no masonryt regulators se«ii
ever to have been used in Seistan.
The people sometimes revet the heads of their^ canals with tamarisk ; the
water-courses that leave the right bank of the main stream arid Rud-i-Pari£h
near Shahgul where the river has great command over the land are reveted at
the head. The feeder channel of the Lakhshak from the Rud-i-Nad-i* Ah is
‘provided with a tamarisk weir to limit the proportion of the volume that escapes
down that channel. The ingenious regulators on the small canals in the trough
^bf the river are described on the last pnge of Chapter XXI of the Revenue
Report and Notes”, and a drawing (A.) will be founddn the box.
One simple and sufficient reason for not making masonry regulators at the
heads of the channel on the canalised arm of the river—-this is the Rud-i-Seistan
in these times—is that in high river while the band holds large volumes^
of water are forced down the canal, which must escape through the canals,
and in doing so would wreck those regulators that were not properly
designed.
A regulator might be built at the head of the main canal to control the
supply, there seems to be no objection or difficulty in doing this other than the
great disadvantages given on the second page of this Chapter against a
masonry weir; but it never has been done, and it is probable that a comprehensive
"control over the water to get a high duty out of it never has been attempted;
and if this surmise be correct, we know within a little what must have been the
greatest acreage that could be attained to, and within a little what the maximum
population was in Seistan in the time of its highest development in the past.
The canals from the Rud-i-Seistan are sometimes closed off in flood, and
rotational turns^ would often be most desirable at low river ; our experience in
India shews that such rotational turns cannot be efficiently carried out unless
masonry regulators are provided ; if the full value of the water is to be got at
tipffit times, the heads of all the canals frnm a channel like the Rud-i-Seiskn. * * * §
* This is rot likely to be serious; if the bed rises much, the works to irrigate the Hauzdar tract could be
made cheaper ; in any case it is not a difficult matter to effectually close off the Taraku and Sena»Rud
troughs.
f On the Zorkan and Zarkan canals whose beds had risen high above the country brick masonry water
course heads were used. ( The head of the Jai Surkh Nawar water-course was in masonry, because there
was a dangerousdraw into this depression. On some ancient canals, perhaps older than those for Sar-o-
tar, revealed in the wind scours to the east of Dam-i-Kalan, a colaba (earthenware pipe) under a canal was
found. r
J In 1903 the volume down the Rud-i-Seistiin rose to 5,863 cusecs, even though the band, had been
swept away ; ordinarily about 2,500 or 3,000 cusecs is the maximum discharge.
§ This is sometimes attempted—see the note on the year 1895 in Appendix 24 of the “ Revenue Report and
Notes .

About this item

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
View the complete information for this record

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

'Seistan. Irrigation report of the Perso-Afghan Arbitration Commission, 1902-1905. Volume I. Report and appendices. Simla: Government of India Foreign Department, 1906' [‎91v] (187/500), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/256, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100040681825.0x0000bc> [accessed 28 March 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100040681825.0x0000bc">'Seistan. Irrigation report of the Perso-Afghan Arbitration Commission, 1902-1905. Volume I. Report and appendices. Simla: Government of India Foreign Department, 1906' [&lrm;91v] (187/500)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100040681825.0x0000bc">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000912.0x0000b1/IOR_L_PS_20_256_0187.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000912.0x0000b1/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image