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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.
< 5
As far as Nushki, a distance of ninety-six miles, the track descends from
5,500' at Quetta to 3,050' at Nushki, which, under the fostering influences of
British rule, is rapidly developing into a small town. On this section ol the
route the question of water and supplies presents no great diliiculty, but
the road is hilly and the section is distinctly “ cold ” country.
West of Nushki, however, there is no village or hamlet until the end of
the iourney, or for nearly five hundred miles. As far as the 1 ersian frontier,
which is crossed at the Kacha Kuh, some iour hundied and forty miles from
Quetta, the route or rather this section of it runs through “ hot ” country, but
between Kacha Kuh and Robat, the altitude is again high.
The water-supply is small, and, in places, bad, although efforts are being
made to remedy this, while the camel grazing is most indifferent.
At Amir Chah, three hundred and fifty-nine miles from Quetta, many
caravans, perhaps a majority, break off and follow a more direct route through
Afghan territory, but it is to be feared that this state of affairs is only
temporary, as the Amir is anxious to take advantage of the trade, so it is
reported, and will impose the usual prohibitive dues.
To continue, the hills are quitted at the Koh-i-Malik Siah, and the foot
sore camels for the remainder of the journey can enjoy the soft ground, while
the camel grazing is fair. Water is, however, of indifferent quality and scanty,
and no supplies are procurable until cultivated Seistan be entered.
As regards safety, there is not much danger from raids until the route
approaches the district of Sarhad, known as “ the outlaws’ home,” the inhabi
tants of which district, headed by the notorious Jend Khan, raid in every
direction, and with such success that the road to Gwadur is closed, while all the
neighbouring routes suffer considerably. In the matter of imposts, I under
stand that Quetta is a free town, while the important step of abolishing all
road taxes has been taken, but, as yet, arrangements have not been made by
which re-exported goods can recover the dues paid at the port of entry. This
is a question to which I have drawn the attention of the Political Assistant
at Chageh. The usual 5 ^ is levied in Persia, and there have been attempts
at extortion reported, but nothing of importance has been proved.
Captain Webb Ware is endeavouring to remedy the ruinous effect of
want of supplies by placing merchants at the more important posts, who will
barter cloth for grain, which will, generally speaking, be brought from Afghan
territory. Granted, however, that this experiment be a success, caravans can
only purchase supplies at a high rate owing to the cost of transport, while
the Amir, at any time, may lay an embargo on the export of grain. The success
or failure of the route may be considered to depend upon supplies being
Report on the development of the Quetta-Seistan obtainable at reasonable rates, and this
trade route, 1897-98. j s rec0 gnized by Captain Webb
Ware, who writes as follows (page 23, section 16) :—
“ Ihe question of supply shops is a pressing one. Trade will naturally
not patronise a route along which supplies are unobtainable, and on which the
carriage of the necessaries of life absorbs a high percentage of the profits.”
From Nushki to Seistan would take a caravan some forty days, so that the
weight of forage alone would be 1201 b, allowing 31b per diem a minimum
ration.
hen it is considered that an average load is 3501b, it is evident that
more than a third of the loads must consist of forage, so that little or no profit
can be realized. I regret to say that, since my arrival in Seistan, everv merchant,
V 0 trl(X * tlle .Quetta route, declines to use it again, alleging the searchy
of supplies and grazing, with the consequent heavy mortality.
Let us now turn to the route from Bunder Abbas, which I have partly
travelled along and have crossed at several points. ^ ^
2
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