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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.
j\l(ty 7th) 18 j 9 . To A-las, about 13 miles, lieavini, Bikrabad the road ran.
almost immediately through the village of Karizdara, about 30 families of
Baghairi Turks. There is a good water-supply here, and near the villao- e is a
number of gardens and a great extent of cultivation.
The villages of Dastgird Jahan (100 families), Ardin (60 families) and Char-
mnst (10 families) of Bairhairi Turks can be seen. The track then runs across
a valley and up the Bai lulls, which are crossed by the Mian Dasht Darah from
the top of which the Juwain plain can be seen, to the south. Mirza Ismail Khan
is the Sub-Governor of it under the Governor of Sabzawar. The path continues
down these hills until Alas is reached. This little isolated hamlet contains
only 8 families. 1 he morning was hot, afterwards there were thunderstorms,
the men with the advance tents bad collected hailstones some of which were
nearly the size of pigeons eggs. The mountain to the east of Alas is called
Kul-i-Yarmunja. The Baghairi valley runs at its western extremity into the
Juwain valley.
May 8th, 1859.—To Dahanai Shirin, about 12 miles. The tract lay down
to the Mangah plain along a dry watercourse. It then turned southwards.
Ihe plam here was very hare. I passed the deserted village of Kala-i-Lutf-
Ah Khan. After about G miles the village of Safiabad was reached, contain-
mg about 4,00 families of Baghairi Turks, and about three shops. Between Alas
and banabad there is no other cultivated place. Piece-goods, su^ar and
kerosme oil are imported into Safiabad from Sabzawar about 24 miles “distant
while cotton and wheat are exported via Shirwan, to which place a track
runs through the hills. Safiabad is remarkable as having no trees, but there is
much cultivation above and below it. Acts of oppression on the part of the
fvajd-ud-Saltanat, Governor of Bam and Safiabad, are much complained of
and some 50 men from Safiabad together with women from Bam had T
heard gone to Meshed to complain against him. Bam is about 12 miles
from Safiabad. Ihe ruin of Naoroz Tappa lies near Safiahad, and it is said
that belore the reign of iNadir Shah it was a flourishing town. Dahan-i-Shirin
lies about 3 miles from Safiabad close to the hills. This little village has onlv
about 30 families of Baghairi Turks, but is divided into two hamlets, with
a fort and gardens. The water-supply is good. There is the domed tomb of
ohahzada Humza here, said to be a descendant of the Imam Beza. The
morning was cool with heavy rain in the afternoon.
9lh May 1899.—To Maslikan about 12 miles. The road lay alon**
an open plain slightly cultivated with rain water cultivation. Plou^hin”
was going on. At a distance of about 5 miles the village of Dahan-i-Shur
containing about 30 houses is passed. It has no trees. It has 40 families
of Bayat Turks, i he _ water-supply is from a spring. Prom this place
the Sar-i-Vilayat division of the Nishabur district commences. Thence
the track runs southwards over a bare plain for about 7 miles to the village
Mashkan. Ibis village has only one small garden. A road from Sabzawar to
Kuclian passes through Mashkan. The former town is about 27 miles from
Mashkan and the latter 36 miles.
procurable ™ 11 ^ 10 ° famil!eS ° E Bayat TurI ' S ' Water from k anat. Supplies
Ihe mountain east of Maslikan is called Kuh-i-Danan or Kuh-i-Yang.
The road is good all the way. A heavy and general rain fell.
*899.—To Aladan, about 13 miles. The track ied over a nlain
with a little ram water cultivation. To the east of the road from MashlJn "
Madan the following villages lie • Mashkan to
Yancj
Deh-i-nao
Kbartu
Garmab
10
20
20
15
60
families.
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' [25v] (50/782), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/352, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069721602.0x000035> [accessed 4 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