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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.
\
Khornsan.
D. Mo. iia-F.
No. 23-A., dated Meshed, the 18th February 1899.
From— -Lieutenant-Colonel H. M. Temple, Agent to the Governor-General of
~ a • - - - - 7 n _
India, and Her Britannic Majesty^ Consul-General for Khorasan and
Seistan,
To—The Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department.
In continuation of my letter No. 19-A., dated the 11th February 1S99,
I have the honour to forward a copy of despatch (sent to me
under flying seal
Letters which could be freely opened before reaching their destination.
)
No. 3, dated 1st February 1899, from Captain Sykes, to the address of Her
Majesty’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs on the subject of Seistan.
2. Captain Sykes is of opinion that the effect of Captain Webb-Ware’s
visit would “have been much enhanced had he been permitted to march with
bis whole party to Nasratabad instead of coming to the outskirts of Seistan
with only a few levies.” Captain Sykes further observes—“ The larger the
parties are that visit Seistan and the more frequently they appear, the greater
the political effect will be.”
With reference to this, I would observe that the question was dealt with
in paragraph 3 of your letter No. 3740-F., dated the 8 th November 1898, to
the address of the Agent to the Governor-General in Baluchistan, in which it
was said that “the party accompanying Lieutenant Webb-Ware is a large one,
and that exaggerated reports both regarding its size and proceedings are sure
to be made to the Russian authorities in Khorasan by their Agents in Seistan.”
There is no doubt that in Persia, where correct information can only be obtained
with great difficulty, unwelcome reports are apt to be presented in an inordi
nately exaggerated form.
3. Captain Sykes says that he discussed with Captain Webb-Ware “the
importance from the Indian point of view that Seistan and Kerman should be
under the same Consul.” With reference to this, I would beg to point out that
the view of Captain Sykes is contrary to the opinion of Colonel Yate who visited
Seistan, and in his Report No. 10 (Camp), dated Camp Jalalabad (Seistan), the
11th March 1891, recommended a Consul for Kerman and Bandar Abbas and
an Assistant to the Agent to the Governor*General for Kain and Seistan.
Between Kirman and Seistan there is a great desert known as the Dasht-i-Lut,
which more effectually separates Seistan from Kirman than the sea would.
Nor is the view expressed by Captain Sykes that taken by the Native authori
ties. Seistan is under the Governor-General for Khorasan, while Kirman is
entirely separate. It appears to me that Captain Sykes’ arguments with
respect to this point are very weak. There is no doubt a possibility that the
raiding parties he refers to might escape from one district into another, but
precisely the same argument is applicable to all districts wherever situated,
and, as all districts must end somewhere, it would not be easy to find a more
effective natural barrier than the Dasht-bLut.
4. Captain Sykes mentions two points which he says hear out his
“opinion that only the occasional visit of aPolitical Officer is required.”
This question was referred to in my letter No. 19-A., dated the 11th February
1899. With respect to Purdil Khan, Captain Sykes says, “if the authorities
thought fit, he could he deprived of the villages at present in his charge.”
With respect to this point, no information has reached me beyond that now
given. Captain Sykes points out that there are sixty thousand cultivators
whose wants appear to be extremely circumscribed. Even if, as Captain
Sykes says, the Seistanis do not want candles or oil, it may be hoped that they
have surplus produce to dispose of, and that there might he a sale amongst
them of articles required for clothing which could he supplied by British
traders.
5. In his last paragraph Captain Sykes says that the strategic value of
Seistan will continue “as long as access to the Helmund he barred, or until
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
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- 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