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'Report on the Quetta-Seistan [Sistan] Trade Route, for the year 1900-1901' [‎5v] (10/32)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (14 folios). It was created in 1901. 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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REPORT ON THE QUETTA-SEISTAN TRADE ROUTE FOR THE YEAR 1900-1901.
duty of preparing the trade returns falls to the lot of the Nushki Tahsil establish
ment. The Tahsil establishment is so weak that it cannot devote either the time,
attention or care which is necessary for the careful preparation of such import
ant returns as these, and the result is that inaccuracies frequently occur. More
than one case has come under my notice where the Moharir, whose duty it is to
register trade, has failed to enter caravans which happened to pass a few miles
from Nusliki owing to his having been engaged on some other duty at the time.
6. 1 desire to refer here to the difficulty I experience in writing anythin^
regarding trade which will prove of any commercial value to merchants. Por
several months in the year I am stationed at Quetta, that is to say, at a distance
of nearly six hundred miles from the nearest Persian market; it is conse
quently difficult for me to obtain reliable information how or w’here goods sell,
w r hat class of goods are in demand or, in short, to keep myself acquainted with
the ever varying requirements of the Persian Market.*
I w r ould venture to suggest that the duty of writing an annual report on
the trade of Southern Khorasan, to embrace the points I note, be entrusted to
our Vice-Consul in Seistan, and that his report be printed and be published in
Calcutta as is done in the case of the Mashad annual Consular report. A report,
of the nature I advocate, would supply a much-felt want and w*ould be greatly
appreciated by Indian traders, whose common complaint now is that they have
not access to a Consular report dealing w ith the trade of Southern Khorasan.
7. Plague in Sind and Karachi continued throughout the year to exercise
an influence adverse to trade. The prices for goods current in the Quetta
Bazar range so high that they offer the traders W'ho come to Quetta little
inducement to purchase. In spite of this, however, many traders were compelled
to make their purchases in Quetta, as they w r ould not face the delay, expense
and personal discomfort entailed by a visit to Karachi and detentions in quaran
tine camps.
8. The establishment of a Consular treasury in Seistan is proving a great
convenience to traders, who find in it a simple means of remitting money to
India. The treasury has had the further effect of adding to our prestige in the
country, for the Amir Hashmat-ul-Mulk makes use of it to transmit revenue
to Mashad. The Seistanis are aw r are that the Amir pays part of the revenues
of Seistan into our Consulate treasury, and they argue that this is a sign of
the friendly understanding which exists between the tw o countries,
9. A visitor to Seistan cannot fail to notice the large amount of Russian
gold which is in circulation in the Kasratabad Bazar. M. Miller, the Russian
Consular Agent in Seistan, makes a point of discharging many of his liabilities
in gold, with the intention, no doubt, of familiarising the Seistanis with its
look and of bringing home to them the wealth and might of the Russian
Empire.. M. Miller is remarkably astute and possesses a thorough insight into
the Persian character. I would suggest that we take a leaf out of his book, and
forward our Consul in Seistan a sum of a few hundred pounds in sovereigns for
gradual distribution by him in meeting his engagements.
10. The trading communities of Seistan and Birjand were wont to complain
that they experienced a difficulty in keeping themselves in touch with the
fluctuations in prices in the Karachi and Bombay markets. The difficulty,
which was a real one, has been overcome by Colonel Trench arranging for the
Bombay market prices being translated into Persian and being despatched
monthly to Khorasan for circulation among merchants there. On my side I have
arranged through Messrs. Molver Mackenzie & Co., of Karachi, for the Karachi
“price current” to be forwarded weekly to Birjand, and 1 have also arranged
that a copy of the weekly Quetta Bazar Nerrick is to be supplied to our Consul
in Seistan. Mohamed Ali’s Agent t in Birjand recently wrote to inform me
that the Karachi “price current’’ is much appreciated.
11. I w ould again venture to draw especial attention to the representations
I have yearly | made, in my reports on the subject of improving the facilities
for the carriage of goods between Quetta and Kushki. I do not think that it is
necessary for me to repeat what I have said in these reports, but I trust that I
* It will no doubt have been noted that^in none of my previous annual reports have I ever attempted to analyse the
trade returns.— F. W. J
t Umar Din.— F. W.
J Uimy report for year 1899-1900, paragraphs 12 and 13, Appendix II, and my report for the year 18.)S-S9,
paragraphs 8—10, Appendix II.— F. W.
2

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Content

Report by Captain Frank Cooke Webb Ware, Political Assistant, Chagai. Printed in Calcutta at the Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India, 1901. The annual report concerns the conditions and development of the Quetta-Seistan trade route and follows on from Ware's similar reports of 1897 (Mss Eur F111/362), 1898 (Mss Eur F111/364), and 1899-1900 (Mss Eur F111/374). The report opens with a letter from Ware to Captain A McConaghey, First Assistant to the Agent to the Governor-General in Baluchistan, dated 17 August 1901, in which the main points of the report are summarised and a brief account of the year is given.

Extent and format
1 volume (14 folios)
Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 16; 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.

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English in Latin script
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'Report on the Quetta-Seistan [Sistan] Trade Route, for the year 1900-1901' [‎5v] (10/32), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/375, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100065265171.0x00000b> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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