'Report on the Development of the Baluch-Persian Caravan Route and on the Nushki, Chagai and Western Sinjerani Districts, for the year 1899-1900' [‎3v] (6/64)

REPORT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OP THE BALUCH-PERSIAN CARAVAN ROUTE AND
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7. The dak System of postal communication used in Moghul India and later by the East India Company. service which links Quetta to Nasratabad, the capital of
Seistan, was reorganised on the 1st January 1900 and converted from a weekly
into a bi-weekly service. The Quetta-Seistan dak System of postal communication used in Moghul India and later by the East India Company. service is playing an
important part in helping us to consolidate our influence both in Southern
Khorassan and in Persian Baluchistan.
8. I would respectfully urge on Government the importance of extending
the Quetta-Nushki telegraph system west to the Persian frontier. The remarks
I have to offer on this subject will be found embodied in paragraph 37,
Appendix II of .this report.
9. The number of buildings in the Nushki bazar has now reached a
total of 242, made up as follows—shops 133, houses 109—representing, it is
estimated, a capital outlay of Rs. 7o,000.
10. A brief account of my tour to Nasratabad, the capital of Seistan, will
be found embodied in paragraphs 75 to 85, Appendix II, of this report.
11. The Government of India were pleased to listen to the representations
which have been made by me, in previous years, on the importance of spend
ing money on improving the caravan route, and at the close of last year a grant
of Rs. 93,000, spread over a period of three years, was allotted for this purpose.
Out of this sum Us. 24,600 has been expended on improvements which have
already produced a marked effect in popularizing the route. Amongst the
more important of these improvements, I would draw special attention to the
katcha road which has been carried, at a cost of only Rs. 10 a mile, from
Nushki to llurmak, the first stage on the caravan road beyond Killa Robat,
where the trade route debouches from the Koh-i-Malik Shiah range of hills.
12. I consider that the further development of the Nushki-Seistan trade
route now depends largely on the facilities for the carriage of goods between
Quetta and Nushki being improved and on a commodious caravan-serai being
built in Quetta without Municipal limits. I would venture to draw special
attention to these two matters, which will be found dealt with, in detail, in
paragraphs 12 and 31 respectively of Appendix II of this report.
13. Mr. Miller, Russian Consul in Seistan, reached Nasratabad on the
14th February 1900. The appointment of a Russian Agent in Seistan, which
can neither be justified nor explained by the exigencies of Russian trade with
Southern Khorassan, evinces the interest with which Russia regards Seistan,
her desire to extend her sphere of influence, and her determination to leave no
stone unturned to injure tho new trade route.
14. I am gratified to be able to state that during the year there was an
entire cessation of Damani raids into the district. I attribute this to my
having met Mir Jahind Khan, the Damani Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. , at Mir Jawa in the SDrin"
of 1898. ^ 3
15. I trust that the measures I have adopted for the protection and
de\elopment of trade through Nushki by the trade route will continue to
merit your approval, and that the suggestions I submit in this year’s report
will have, as in previous years, the advantage of your favourable consi
deration.
16. In accordance with the practice followed in former years I have
divided the report into four appendices. The first appendix naturally deals
with the administration of the three districts which go to form the Cha°\u
Political Assistancy.. The second appendix is occupied with trade and the
trade route. The third is devoted to Nushki export and import trade returns
lor each of the twelve months under review; while the last appendix refers to
miscellaneous subjects.
The four appendices are headed :—
L-" On the Administration of the Nushki, Chagai and Western
Sinjerani Districts.”
II.—“On the Quetta-Seistan Trade Route.”
III.—“ Nushki Trade Returns for the year 1st April 1899 to 31st March
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