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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
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1
D. No. 86 -F.
No. 87 -A., dated Meshed, the 31 st May 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 my letter No. 50 -A., dated the 22 nd April 1899 , I have
the honour to forward a copy of letter No. 6 , dated 18 th April 1899 , from Captain
P, M. Sykes to the address of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
2 . Towards the close of his letter, Captain Sykes says that “ our Baluchis
tan chiefs could never, if properly controlled, intrigue with a Russian Agent in
Seistan." As to this I cannot agree with Captain Sykes. I would point out
that
Sirdars
Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
, in all parts of the country, have constant disputes with their neigh
bours, and that when these disputes are settled one party is almost always dis
contented, and prone to appeal to any one who would be likely to espouse his
cause. I think it would be extremely difficult to prevent this if there were a Rus
sian Agent in Seistan.
3 . Captain Sykes observes : “ it rather strikes me that perhaps Russia has
found out that there is no trade and has'therefore delayed sending a represen
tative." I doubt this view of the matter being correct. The Russian Consulate-
General is, I believe, well informed in all particulars ; and they have means of
creating trade through Armenians. These persons are to be found in most parts
of Khorassan, where they engage in trade and purchase the products of the coun
try and send them to Trans-Caspia where they are carried to their destination by
the Trans-Caspian railway. I have also heard it stated that some of these Arme
nians are helped with respect to the necessary funds by advances from the
Government. Should the Russian Government decide on a railway through
Khorassan from Trans-Caspia, I believe a Russian Consular officer would have his
time fully occupied.
No. 6 -Political, dated 18 th April 1899 .
From—C aptain P. Molesworth Sykes,
To—-The Right Honourable the Marquess of Salisbury, K. G.
In the following despatch I propose to summarize my impressions of Seistan,
as I am proceeding to Birjand, after a stay of three months in the district, during
which I have travelled all over it, besides spending nearly a month at Nasratabad,
the seat of Government.
My first visit to this fortified village, for it does not deserve the appellation
of town, was limited to four days, as I had to march back southwards to meet the
Political Assistant, Chagai ; but I was able to see, in spite of the splendid recep
tion accorded to us, that there was great ignorance not unmingled with suspicion,
as to our objects.
To combat this state of affairs, I asked the Governor to supply me with an
official during my tour, who would, I knew, watch my actions most closely and
report them, which was what I desired, and, 1 think that it is partly owing to this
that all classes have finally become so remarkably friendly.
After meeting Captain Webb Ware, I travelled north-west to the Kuh-i-Khoja
and thence marched by short stages across Seistan to the Helmund, where the
dam, a weak construction of tamarisk boughs, was inspected.
Thence we returned to Nasratabad, thereby completing the tour of southern
Seistan, which was surveyed at the same time.
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