Skip to item: of 782
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

'Seistan' [‎9r] (17/782)

This item is part of

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.

Apply page layout

Balu. F.
P. No. 50 F.
No. 40 A., dated Meshed, the 23rd March 1899.
From— Lieutenant-Colonel H. M. Temple, Agent to the Governor-General of
India and Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul-General for Khorassan and
Seistan,
To—The Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department.
In continuation of letter No. 23 A., dated 10 th February 1899, I have the
honour to forward a copy of letter No. 4, dated 14th February 1899, from
Captain Sykes to the address of Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs, sent under flying seal Letters which could be freely opened before reaching their destination. .
2 . In this letter Captain Sykes compares the respective advantages of
trade routes into South-East Persia. Although the Seistan route has certain dis
advantages, political and military considerations point to the necessity for
maintaining it in as efficient a condition as possible.
No. 4 (Political), dated Seistan, the 14th February 1899.
From —Captain P. M. Sykes,
To—Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
In the following despatch, I propose to compare the Quetta-Seistan trade
route with the one running from Bunder
Abbas to Seistan.
One enclosure.
There is, indeed, a third route, namely, that from Gwadur via Jalk, which,
for some distance, runs through British Baluchistan, as a reference to the
attached sketch will show. This route, if rendered safe, might form an even
better line of approach from the sea than the present route from Bunder Abbas,
and I hope that I may, at some future date, be permitted both to take up the
question and erect the boundary pillars along the frontier, but, at the present
time, the Persian port absorbs the entire traffic.
In describing one caravan route as being better than another in a country
where camel transport alone is used, chief among the points to be considered,
when the question of distance is disposed of, is the presence or absence of water
with its quantity and quality, the abundance or scarcity of good camel grazino-,
the existence along the route of villages where barley flour, or cotton seed for
the camel and bread for its driver may be procured, the roughness and difficulties
of the road, and, finally, whether the journey throughout lies in “ hot” or “ cold”
country, to use the Persian expression.
In addition to these points the security of the country to be traversed
as well as the various imposts and dues, have to be carefully weighed before*
arriving at a decision.
I propose, in the first instance, to describe the Quetta-Seistan route, a por
tion of which I have traversed, while for the long stretch from Quetta to the
Persian frontier, thanks to the Assistant Political Officer at Chageh, I have been
able to collect the following particulars, which are sufficient for the purpose.
From Quotta to Robat, 497 miles. Using this route, the distance from Quetta
From Robat to Sehkuha, 90 miles. t O the last British post at Bobat is W
hundred and ninety-seven miles, according to the list of stages supplied to me
and the distance on to Sehkuha, the first important village in Seistan, is ninety
miles, the total thus aggregating five
hundred and eighty-seven miles.
From Qaetta to Seistnn, 587 miles.
1

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

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

'Seistan' [‎9r] (17/782), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/352, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069721602.0x000014> [accessed 28 March 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100069721602.0x000014">'Seistan' [&lrm;9r] (17/782)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100069721602.0x000014">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003bc/Mss Eur F111_352_0019.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003bc/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image