!['Seistan' [‎24v] (48/782)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003bc/Mss Eur F111_352_0060.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'Seistan' [‎24v] (48/782)")
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.
every direction. Altogether there are three hamlets bearing the name of
Girwan or Girivvan. The three have a population of about 200 families The
revenue is paid direct to the chief of Bujnurd. There was a plentiful sup
ply of water from a spring, and the whole plain on which were several little
hamlets was green in every direction. Thence the road or track led up a
long steep ascent to a stony pass which went over the crest of the hill. This
pass is known as the Kotal-bGiriwan or the Kotal-i-Siahkhana. The pass is
passable for laden animals but not for wheeled traffic. Thence the track
lay down a steep descent to Siahkhana where there are some springs. Thence
the track passed through some bare rocky defiles where the springs lost
themselves. Further on the defiles became more open and a fresh supply
of water was met with, which ran down into the Isfarain plain. Notwith-
standmg that it. was early in May the day was intensely hot. Further on
the Isfarain plain was reached and the village of Charmaran was passed
It has about 100 families. After which the village of Khush was reSd
Ihis place consists of about 200 families with 4 shops including upper and
lower Khush. Ihe water-supply comes from Ruin and is plentiful It
has several gardens. Coming down the hills the Isfarain plain 'was seen to
e of immense extent, and on it many small villages could be descried in the
being'more advanced" ^ 7 ^ Buj ' mrd ’ the trees =* d ^tivation
traffif of anyllnd ! 115 fr ° m Ule hU1S ^ P;irt ° f the plaiu is °P cn for wheeled
Macgregor’s Gazetteer says that the plain of Isfarain is parched and
and in the extreme and could under no circumstances support a large
population. I do not think that this is altogether correct. There are manv
villages on the plain, while the presence of Armenian traders at Mianabad
is a proof that there is produce to export ior the llussian market In
ofit are ve^green^ 5 ^ " ParChed ^ ^ « spring parts
i . To ;S shta . n ’ about 6 miles. The road commenced across an uncultivated
plain. After about a mile the gardens and cultivation of Fariman were on
my left. Jhese were succeeded by those of Iratch fahmit inn r t \
I passed through the village of Burj with the village 1 of ^ *
left. There is plenty of wlter and the plain was grfen with eiiHit^ f 7
miles. The other villages passed during the march were i0n f ° r
Fariman ... 150 families.
Maragha
Palangdara
Kalatai-Saidabad
Sinan
Kuski
Buznuj
Burja
Kaftar Khan
Jush Kan
30
40
10
50
60
60
100
50
100
»
The ears were already beginning to form in the wheat. The hills on the
Tlie to?.*, b.d loi j “ d
^ abo . ut ba .’ f a “ iIe fr o>n H lay the ruins of Bilkis The citadel nf
this place is still well preserved although a complete ruin The Inti .
walls and towers remain, although rapidly to dust returning. Insidl the S
8
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' [24v] (48/782), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/352, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069721602.0x000033> [accessed 7 July 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