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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.
1
/
I
B. F.
Diary No. 107-F.
No. 103, dated Meshed, the 24th June 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. 88 -A., dated the 31st May 1899, I have
the honour to forward a copy of Despatch No. 8 , Political, dated the 1 st June
1899, from Captain Sykes to the address of the Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs.
2. In the concluding paragraph of this despatch Captain Sykes says, “ I
would venture to express my final opinion that, at present, if we can avoid having
a Consul for Kain and Seistan (the post should, if founded, include Tun and Tabas,
as being under the Governor of Seistan), it would be advisable to do so.” As
plague has now broken out at Bushire, I venture to think that a medical officer
would be preferable to a Consul in Seistan. So far the Russian Government
have not appointed a Consul though it was rumoured they would do so. It
may be that they will not appoint one if, as recommended by Captain Sykes, the
post should not be maintained by us. If, however, this post is maintained the
Russian Government would probably be obliged to appoint a Consul as a
counterbalance. The plague which has appeared in the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
may
remain there for years. It is not unlikely that the Russian Government may
endeavour to establish quarantine in Southern Khorassan to prevent plague
from entering Russian territory. They do not desire quarantine on the
northern border of Khorassan, because if they closed the boundary between
Persia and Trans Caspia, they might have much difficulty in supplying their
troops in Trans Caspia. Supplies for these troops are drawn from "Northern
Khorassan. If the Russians establish quarantine through their doctors in
Southern Khorassan they will gain a preponderating advantage in Khorassan
and Seistan. I would therefore beg to recommend that a medical officer should
be sent in place of Captain Sykes and that this officer should be the Assistant
of the Consul-General at Meshed. The political work which is now performed
by Captain Sykes could be disposed of by this medical officer.
3. Should the post of Consul in Seistan be maintained, Captain Sykes is of
opinion that “ if the Russian Consul be independent of Meshed, so ought his
British colleague to be.” With regard to this, I would observe that there is no
adequate reason in my opinion why an independent Consulate should be estab
lished is Seistan. WTietherthe Russian Government will establish a Consulate
in Seistan at all, and, if so, whether, it will be independent or not, remains to be
seen. I would venture to hope that this Consulate-General may remain intact
as it is, and would very strongly deprecate any change being made, such as the
formation of an independent Consulate in the southern portion of it. As it
is the Consulate-General comprises the same area as the Persian Governor-
Generalship. The native Government has found that as a matter of experience
it is convenient to place Khorassan and Seistan under one administration.
4. If it he decided to send the medical officer I have proposed instead of
a consular officer to Seistan, it would, I think, be necessary to place tw'o
subordinates under him for the establishment of plague observation posts.
These subordinates might also be placed in charge of the postal arrangements
between Birjand and the frontier of Baluchistan.
No. 8 -Political, dated Birjand, the 1st June 1899.
From— Captain P. Molesworth Sykes,
To—The Right Honourable the Marquess of Salisbury, K. G.
In continuation of my No. 7 of thellth May 1899, I now have much
pleasure in being able to report a most satisfactory state of affairs.
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