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'Seistan' [‎29r] (57/782)

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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. .

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17
Abbasabad
tff
40
families.
Kosainabad
...
• tt
20
*>
Adakabad ...
...
• ••
40
Bujmiran ...
...
• ••
60
»
Ardkish
• ••
...
30
a
Firuzi
• ••
• ••
20

Charburji
• • •
...
... 30
a
Abdullabad
40
a
Burj
...
...
30
a
Daulatabad
20
>i
Kharan
• ••
• •0
... 100
>t
Kadamgah has 200 families of Saiyids, who were brought here from Madina
by Shah Khuda Banda. They pay no revenue or sheep tax to the Persian
Government and have been, they say, exempted from the time of Shah Abbas.
There is a fine garden at this place with (for Persia) some handsome pine and
other trees. There is a caravan-sarai, also a post house. Outside the garden is
a shady spot occupied chiefly by pilgrims. Entrance to the garden is gained
by an arched gate. There is a tank of excellent water inside. The garden
is densely shaded. At the end of a short avenue is a domed mosque now
under repairs.
There is a black stone set in a wall of the dome bearing foot marks which
are said to be of the Imam Reza. The stone is held sacred especially by Shias,
who come for the pilgrimage in large numbers.
Many stories are told about the stone, but they differ from each other.
The walls were covered in parts with fine tiles. The tiles from the dome had
gone, but much of the rest is in a fair state of repair.
The Kadamgah fort is perched on an eminence overlooking the tomb and
garden. The village lies partly inside and partly outside. There is a water-
supply from the hill.
Opposite this fort, on a hill, there is a fortress now ruined which in former
times was the original site of the village of Kadamgah, but it is said that about
200 years ago, it was ransacked by the Uzbegs who seized a large number of
Saiyid families and deported them to Bokhara where their descendants are
still said to be found. The stream of water which runs from the Kuh-i-Darrud
and the water of a kanat are both included in the endowment of the shrine
at Kadamgah.
The road from Nishabur to Kadamgah is fit for wheeled traffic. Supplies
are procurable.
16th May 18^.—Kadamgah. Halt. I found Kadamgah very windy.
17th May 1899. —Kadamgah. Halt.
18th May 1899.—Fakhr-i-Baud, about 16 miles. At a distance of about
4'miles from Kadamgah I reached the village of Baghshan, which has 60
families and several gardens. It has water from a kanat as well as from a
spring. At Baghshan is the tomb of Sultan Saiyid Habib, said to be a
descendent of the Imam Reza.
Further on is Mushan with 100 families, and aside from the road under
the foot of a hill is Dizbad which is the last village on the Meshed side of
the Nishabur district. At a little distance from Dizbad is Kala-i-Kuri with
20 families, and further on is Kalata-i-Shurabi which has only 2 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
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'Seistan' [‎29r] (57/782), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/352, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/universal-viewer/81055/vdc_100069721602.0x00003c> [accessed 20 June 2026]

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