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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.
6
crowning victory at Omdurman, lias raised our prestige to the highest point
it has perhaps ever reached in .Baluchistan, while the fact that the Reki
tribesmen of Ladis, who are employed at the various posts are regularly and
generously paid, is also known far and wide; moreover, it offers an excellent
object lesson as to British methods of procedure, and naturally, it increases the
eagerness shown by Baluchis of all classes to obtain shelter under the aegis of
the Pax-Britannica.
As a second point, it is evident that Sir Naoroz Khan of Khuran has more
influence in Persian Baluchistan than any Persian
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.
that I know of, my
movements being regularly reported to him throughout the journey by various
Chiefs, all of whom appeared to be anxious to court his favour.
Finally, the drought has almost depopulated Sarhad and this factor tends
to add to the general feeling of unrest prevailing throughout the country.
No. 2 , dated Seistan, the 17th January 1^99.
From—C aptain P. Molesworth Sykes,
To—The Right Hon’bi/e Marquis op Salisbury, K.G., Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs.
Upon reaching the first village of inhabited Seistan, on 9th January,
I sent my Persian Secretary, with the exequatur and other credentials to
Nasratabad, the capital, while our party halted.
Upon visiting Mir Masum Khan, who is a grandson of the famous Mir
Alum Khan, Amir of Kain, such excellent arrangements were made that, not
only the Governor’s servants came out to meet us, but the Governor himself
headed them.
Under the present circumstances, the result was most satisfactory by
Persian etiquette ; this is the highest honour that can be paid, so that it pre
cludes the representative of Russia from being received with higher distinc
tion than myself.
I had been joined by an escort of fourteen sowars on the frontier and
upon receiving information of the success achieved by my Secretary Nasrulla
Khan, to whom, in my opinion, the greatest credit is due, we marched across
the level plain, attended by an official sent down to receive us, to the village
of Chilling, where we halted for the night.
Owing to the numerous irrigation channels, which, if deep, were generally
innocent of bridges, our baggage suffered considerably : many camels falling
into the waiter with their loads.
Nothing broke the intense evenness of the plain, except the Kuh-i-Khaja,
a low flat-topped hill that, in the British empire would assuredly be termed
“ table mountain.”
The second day, about six miles from the capital, a tent was erected
while a halt was made, to allow of uniform being donned.
The cavalcade, headed by two Turkomans, who had brought down a post
and followed by the cavalry escort, arranged to the best advantage, was first
met by four led horses, the servant in charge naively apologizing for their
scanty number by saying that the Sartip himself had all his servants with him
on horseback.
Three miles from Nasratabad a body of a hundred horsemen, headed by
Mir Masum Khan, rode forward and, after shaking hands and introducin''-
Mr. Wood, of the Indo-European Telegraph Department, and the Native
Officer, the united party proceeded to our camp where the garrison, one
hundred and fifty strong and armed with antiquated fire-locks, was drawn up
in line, a weird fanfare being sounded by the band.
The Governor, after remaining for half an hour took his leave, and we
were able to settle down in camp.
The next day I returned the visit and rode to the west gate, after enter
ing which, we turned to the right, skirted the collection of dilapidated
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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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