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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.
3
trnck from this village to Ashkabad which is reached ia three days. The whole
valley is prosperous; cows, donkeys and ponies are to be met with at every
village.
On tl ie march I passed the village of Siah Dasht (about 40 families)
containing the tomb of Sultan Kasim, said to be a descendant of Imam Keza. I
also passed the village of Sih Gumbad containing about 50 families.
In the afternoon Mustafa Kuli Agha with his two sons and a Saiyid, the
brother-in-law of Mustafa Kuli, paid me a visit.
Mustafa Kuli, a cousin of the Shuja-ul-Dowlah (chief of Kuchan), is
head of three other villages besides Davin.
April SGlh, 1890 .—To Shirwan, about 10 miles. The morning was bril
liantly fine after a heavy storm on the previous day. I passed a large
expanse of wheat cultivation, and got a fine view of Shirwan, our destination,
from a rising ground over which the track passes called the Shntargardan.
From this point there is a fine view of the Shahjahan mountain. On the way
the following villages were passed : —
Allahabad about ... ... ... ... BO families.
Amirabad ... ... ... ... 30 „
Kishlak ... ... ... ... 50 „
Outside the town I w as met by the Knlantar of Shirwan with about 50
men. I entered by a fine gate. There is a large and high mud wall round the
town not at present in a good state of repair. A considerable stream of water
descends from the hills on the northern side, and on the banks is a line of
villages and gardens of which Shirwan is one. I saw r the black tents of several
Kurd encampments. Entering the gate follow'ed by a crow r d I rode through
a bazar with about 100 shops. In the centre of the town is a hill apparently
artificial, which was once the “ Ark ” (fortress), but is now ruined. I left
the town by a second gate and proceeded to my camp, hard by on the bank
of the nearly dry bed of the river about 50 yards wide. The w'ater of the
stream is all used for irrigation. On both banks of the stream bed are
vineyards and gardens. Each has a house, empty in spring, but wdien
the fruit is ripening, the town becomes empty and the garden houses are filled,
liaisins are chiefly grown for the Ashkabad market. A track runs along the
course of the water and then branches to Ashkabad and the direction of Kizil
Arvat. From this town the Russian sanitarium of Firuza is easily reached.
The whole valley is prosperous. The city w r all is in a fair state of preservation,
and could easily he repaired; hut, as the country is in a peaceful condition, it
will probably he allowed to fall down. Haji Khan is Naib of Shirwan, and he
pays the revenue to the Shuja-ul-Dowlah ; he has charge of other villages in ad
dition near Shirwan. Be was away when I was there. Shirwan has about
2,000 houses and 100 shops. The principal articles of import are Russian
piece-goods, sugar and kerosine oil. These come from Ashkabad via Kuchan.
Indigo, tea, muslin, spices and drugs are brought from Meshed by Persian
traders. There are five Armenian traders in Shirwan wdio deal in piece-goods,
etc., exporting raisins and wheat to Ashkabad. Maegregor’s Gazetteer says
that the town lies on the right bank of the stream, but I found it on the left
hank.
April 27th, 1839.—To Zuwaran, or Zuran, about 20 miles. There is a
short road through the hills, but it was desirable to explore a longer road
suitable for wheeled traffic. Leaving Shirwan, a small high backed bridge
is passed, after which the track lies up a valley in the direction of the
Shahjahan mountain. This valley w^as covered with cultivation. The villages
of Tanas war, Meshed-i-Arghi and Rakzaman were passed. They contain about
50 families each. At Meshed-i-Arghi is the tomb of Sultan Muhammad Reza,
said to he a descendant of Imam Reza.. Twelve families of Saiyids, descendants
of the saint, live near the tomb. Leaving this point the track ascends a kotal.
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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'Seistan' [22r] (43/782), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/352, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069721602.0x00002e> [accessed 27 June 2026]
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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