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The record is made up of 1 file (388 folios). It was created in 17 Jan 1899-4 Apr 1904. 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.
k
a-
Khorassan.
D. No. 21-F.
No. 19 A., dated Meshed, the 11th February 1899.
From— Lieutenant-Colonel H. M. Temple, Agent to the Governor-General of
India and Her Britannic Majesty's Consul-General for ^Rhorasan and
Seistan,
To—The Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department.
With reference to telegram dated 9 th February 1899, I have the honour
to forward copies of Captain Sykes’ despatches addressed to Her Majesty s
Secretary of State regarding Seistan.
2. In the despatch dated the 17th January 1899, he says that <c the Gov
ernor of Seistan and his entourage are at a loss as to the object of my appoint
ment, as they say there is but little British trade and no British subjects (sic)
in Seistan.”
3. As to this, I would observe that I have not heard that there are any
Russian subjects or any Russian trade in Seistan, notwithstanding this the
Russian Government proposed last summer to establish a Russian Consulate
in Seistan. It is plain, therefore, that they appreciate the importance of the
matter.
4. Captain Sykes goes on to say “ what with a Consulate General at
Meshed and a staff of intelligent men at Robat, one of whom is frequently in
Seistan, our interests do not at present require more than the occasional pre
sence of a Bolitical Officer.”
As to this I would beg to point out that the subordinates of Lieutenant
Webb-Ware at Robat have no authority to go into Persian territory to look
after the interests of traders who have passed into Persia from Baluchistan,
although these subordinates may cross the border to obtain supplies, etc. The
British Consulate General at Meshed is balanced by the Russian Consulate
General at this place. At Turbat-i-Haidari between Meshed and Seistan, the
Russians have two Russian officers, a doctor and ten cossacks; while at Karez,
also south of Meshed, they have an officer, a doctor and ten cossacks and two
assistants to the doctors. The Russian Government have besides employed
Native Agents
Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government.
in Seistan since 1891, Rahim Khan Marvi and Haji Agha ;
Saiyid Husain, Ali Naki Mirzuaff have at different times been appointed as
Russian Agents; latterly the Russian Agents have been the Customs Sub-Con
tractors, Mirza Muhammad Husain and Mirza Abdulla Makui. The business
of the last two men being to collect customs in Seistan, they have special faci
lities for supplying information to the Russian Consul-General, and also ham
pering British traders, on the plea of recovering from them customs dues. To
(1? Seistan was appointed) -W counterbalance these very significant Russian
arrangements we have ^hitherto sent officers to travel occasionally through
Seistan. A British Consul to counterbalance the appointment of a Russian
Consul to that place, and not in cohsequence of the Russian arrangements
detailed above. I cannot agree with Captain Sykes that our arrangements do
not require more than the occasional visit of a Political Officer. If it is worth
the while of Russian to employ so many persons on the pushing of Russian
trade in the direction of Seistan, I would venture to urge that it is necessary
for us to do at least as much, otherwise British trade and influence in Persia
will both dwindle to a very low ebb.
5. Captain Sykes proceeds to say “ to make a fair comparison when
appointed to Kirman I found perhaps 50 cases awaiting disposal * * . Upon
reaching Seistan, on the other hand, I find sis British subjects he^^in 0, their
way to Meshed.” J os °
With regard to this I would beg to point out that the Bandar Abbas
route has long been open, while the Nushki-Seistan route has only lately been
opened. A number of cases for disposal is hardly to be expected at first.
Before cases can arise traders should be assured that the route is open and
safe, and that they will not be either'robbed on the road or find that their
810 F. D.
II
About this item
- Content
The file contains papers relating to Seistan [Sistan] and Persia [Iran].
The file includes printed copies of despatches from the Agent to the Governor-General of India and HM Consul-General for Khorasan and Seistan (Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Martindale Temple), to the Secretary to the Government of India Foreign Department, with enclosed despatches from Captain Percy Molesworth Sykes to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (the Marquis of Salisbury). Skyes’s despatches regard matters including: Seistan; trade routes into South-East Persia; the boundary between Persia and Afghanistan, in relation to the River Helmund [Helmand] changing its course (in despatch No. 5, which includes four sketch maps, folios 12, 13, 14 and 15); Sykes’s journey to Birjand (in despatch No. 7, which includes a sketch map on folio 20); the ruling family of Kain, which also governed Seistan, Tabbas and Tun; Sykes’s journey from Seistan to Kerman [Kirman] (in despatch No. 11, which includes a sketch map); and the direct Kerman-Quetta caravan trade that Sykes was trying to establish.
The file also includes copies of the following papers:
- A despatch from Temple to the Secretary to the Government of India Foreign Department, enclosing a letter from Temple to Sir Henry Mortimer Durand (HM Minister, Tehran), with copies of enclosures, regarding the establishment of a Seistan and Kain consulate
- A letter from Charles Edward Pitman, Director General of Telegraphs, to the Secretary to the Government of India Public Works Department, enclosing a copy of a ‘Report on the Preliminary Survey of the Route for a Telegraph Line from Quetta to the Persian Frontier’ by H A Armstrong, Assistant Superintendent, Indian Telegraph Department, which includes six photographs of views along the route [Mss Eur F111/352, f 52; Mss Eur F111/352, f 53; Mss Eur F111/352, f 54; Mss Eur F111/352, f 55; Mss Eur F111/352, f 56; and Mss Eur F111/352, f 57], and a map showing the proposed route of the telegraph line [Mss Eur F111/352, f 59]
- Letters from Hugh Shakespear Barnes, Agent to the Governor-General in Baluchistan, to the Secretary to the Government of India Foreign Department, enclosing copies of the diary of the Political Assistant, Chagai, for the weeks ending 16 February, 28 February, and 8 March 1900
- Diary No. 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12 of Major-General George Frederick Chenevix-Trench, HM Consul for Seistan (Diary No. 6 includes a sketch map, folio 86)
- A copy of a ‘Report on Reconnaissances Made while Attached to the Seistan Arbitration Commission’ by W A Johns, Deputy Consulting Engineer for Railways, Bombay
- A copy of the report ‘Notes on Persian Seistan’, compiled by Captain Edward Abadie Plunkett, and issued by the Government of India Intelligence Branch, Quarter-Master General’s Department
- Two copies of map signed by Plunkett titled ‘Persian Seistan-Cultivated Area’ [Mss Eur F111/352, f 270]
- A booklet entitled ‘Notes on the Leading Notables, Officials, Merchants, and Clergy of Khorasan, Seistan, Kain, and Kerman.’
- Printed copies of letters from the Government of India Foreign Department to the Secretary of State for India (Lord George Francis Hamilton), relating to the maintenance of British interests in Persia, dated 4 September 1899 and 7 November 1901 (the former with an enclosure of a minute by the Viceroy on Seistan).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (388 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 390; 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. The file contains one foliation anomaly, f 301A
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'Seistan' [3r] (5/782), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/352, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069721602.0x000008> [accessed 23 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F111/352
- Title
- 'Seistan'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:51v, 58r:58v, 60r:112r, 113r:125v, 147r:218r, 218r, 219r:269v, 271r:301v, 301Ar, 301Av, 302r:388v, 389v:390r, 389r, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence