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'Report on the Quetta-Seistan [Sistan] Trade Route, for the year 1900-1901' [‎11r] (21/32)

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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 TitADE ROUTE FOR THE YEAR 1900-1901.
13
and as the custom employes cannot enter British territory they have no
means of ascertaining what caravans have left the road to avoid paying duty.
Secondly, many caravans cut across from either Amir Chah, Amalaf or Saindak
to Seistan, following the road south of the Gaud-i-Zirreh. Caravans, who are in
the habit of taking this short cut, have no inducement to make a detour to
Hurmak, and will certainly grumble if they are called on to do so. The Persians
would find that preventive posts stationed at Girdi Talab and Neh would prove
far more efiective in catching caravans than a post hidden away in the hills
at Hurmak. Lastly, I am confident that if the 80 miles of waste country
which intervenes between Koh-i-Malik Siah and inhabited Seistan be bridged
over by a post at Hurmak, we will very shortly see the result in the intrigues*
which the Russians will set on foot in Sarhad. Despite what has been said to
the contrary, the Belgian Customs officials, who are employed in Persia, look to
the Russians. To this there may be, and no doubt are, exceptions but generally
speaking, it is the case. We might, of course, make it a condition that if a cus
toms post be stationed at Hurmak, it is not to be used as a base for disseminating
a political influence in Sarhad which is hostile to us, but once the post is a fait
accompli, there is nothing we can do to prevent it from being used for such a pur
pose. To sum up, my arguments are that a customs post at Hurmak, while of no
practical use to the Persians, will furnish the Russian Agent in Seistan with a base
for intrigue which it is certain that he will avail himself of. Added to what I
have said, we will also find the post a source of expense, as it will then be neces-
sary for us to keep a native agent Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government. permanently posted at Killa Robat to guard
our commercial and political interests.
52. Before passing on, I would like to draw attention to the ruling which
Monsieur Caistaigne, the Belgian Director-General of Customs for Khorasan,
has brought in with regard to the 5 per cent, ad valorem duty which the Persian
Government are authorized to levy under the existing International Customs
Convention. Monsieur Spinella maintains, and his interpretation of the Customs
Convention appears to be strictly accurate,! that a duty of 5 per cent, should be
levied on the value of all merchandise at the point it enters Persian territory, or,
in other words, that a duty of 5 per cent, is payable not only on the original cost
price of the goods themselves, but also on the carriage of goods from the town of
despatch to' the Persian Prontier. It needs little intuition to perceive how
seriously a transit duty of 5 percent, on the carriage of goods will affect trade by
the Nushki-Seistan trade route, or the disadvantage which goods entering Persia
by the Nushki-Seistan trade route will labour under when compared to goods
entering Persia through Bandar Abbas. This question appears to me to be
essentially one to which the attention of our Minister in Tehran might advan
tageously be directed. That the question will prove a difficult one to adjust,
I foresee, for both Russians and Persians are likely to oppose any concession
being made the trade route, the Russians for political reasons and the Persians
as any concession will affect their pockets. If the Persians are approached, they
will no doubt argue that if our exports suffer our imports will benefit, carefully
ignoring the fact that Persian exports form a mere fraction of the imports. It
is also likely that they will plead that to grant any concession to the Nushki-
Seistan trade route would be to place other trade routes at a disadvantage when
compared to it, and they will probably conclude by saying that they see no
reason why they should forego their full treaty rights. While there is much
to be said in favour of all the objections I note, yet at the same time it appears
to me that we have strong grounds for urging that goods imported into Persia,
vid the Nushki-Seistan trade route, should be exempted from paying a 5 per
cent, transit duty to the Persian frontier, as, firstly, the Kushki-Seistan route is
affected by Monsieur Caistaigne’s ruling to a far greater extent than any other
trade route, and secondly, the tax falls especially heavy on the very class of
goods which should be treated most leniently, viz., on bulky, utility, piece, and
other goods of low value as against light and high priced goods, many of which
are luxuries. As the question discussed is one which is likely to have a direct
* This is by no means far-fetched, as a reference to Major Benn, Vice-Consul in Seistan’s diary for the period ending
1st to 10th July 1901 clearly shows. Major Benn’s dairies give us a very fair idea of the form which Russian intrigues
in Sarhad are likely to assume once the Russian Agent is placed in direct communication with Sarhad.— B\ W.
11 have consulted the Bombay and Karachi Chambers of Commerce, and both agree in saying that Monsieur
Caistaigne is within his rights. - F. W.

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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' [‎11r] (21/32), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/375, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100065265171.0x000016> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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