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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.
and the greater part of its officials so that to leave its ruler in the toils of
Russian fntrigues would appear to be an inadmissible course especially as all
orientals are changeable to a degree.”
In despatch No. 6 • Captain Sykes observed that “ Russia would in my
r . 0 humble opinion be wasting money if an
• ,8th Apni ,859. official was appointed for Seistan only. If,
however, he were to receive his exequator for Chain (Birjand) as well as for the
. Seistan delta province f he could perhaps be of
greater value to Russia.” In conclusion I
would venture to repeat that at present there is little or no Consular work at
Nasratabad, not a single case of any importance having been brought before
me, and it rather strikes me that perhaps Russia has found out that there is
no trade and has therefore delayed sending a representative. As matters now
stand, if a suitable agent be established and the post be continued, an occasional
visit from a Political Officer is all that is required, especially as I can now trust
any small case that may occur to the good offices of the Deputy Governor.
In despatch No. 7 { Captain Sykes said : “ I do not see any reason to alter
_ . .. q my opinion that merely an occasional visit
J Dated 31st May 1899. , J U • i /-me £ ‘ C D
by a Political Officer of experience of Persia
is necessary unless Russia found a Consular post in these districts.”
6 In the meantime M. de Stroeff, the Dragoman of the Russian Consulate
General at Meshed, left for Birjand on a mission to the Shaukat-ul-Mulk, on the
11th of May 1899, with presents to the extentofTumans 7,000 for the Shaukat-ul-
0 Mulk from the Russian Government. It
eegram, ae 19 a y , 99. was anticipated § that the establishment of
a Russian Consulate might be entrusted to him. It was also reported that a
senior officer had been chosen for the post, and that he might reach Meshed
about June 10th. Nothing further has, however, been heard of him up to date.
M. de Stroeff stayed only a short time in Birjand and then returned to Meshed.
In reporting on his Mission Captain Sykes wrote :
“ I would venture to express mv final opinion that at present if we can avoid
having a Consul for Kain and Seistan (the post should include Tun and Tabas
as being under the Governor of Seistan) it would be advisable to do so, as both
our position and commercial interests can be guarded by an occasional tour
from Meshed where there is both a Consul and a Consul General.” Whether the
Russian Government will establish a Consulate in Seistan or Kain it is impossible
to say; but if they intend to do so, I do not understand why they did not send
the presents for the Shaukat-ul-Mulk with the new Consul. Their having sent
the gifts and withdrawn the officer who took them, points to the conclusion that
a Russian Consulate will not be established thereat present.
7. Early in June plague broke out in Bushire. In consequence of this,
pilgrims started from that place for Meshed, and information was received that
Russian doctors had been sent to Shiraz and Kirman. In view of these occur
rences and of the fact that Captain Sykes was opposed to the establishment of a
Consulate in Seistan which might compel the Russians to establish one to
counterbalance it, I urged || that a Medi
cal Officer would be preferable to a Consu
lar Officer both for the political work in Seistan and Kain and for medical duties ;
I also recommended that he should have two subordinates under him for plague
observation posts. One Hospital Assistant is with Captain Sykes now, and a
second is on his way to Seistan ; with a Controlling Medical Officer in Birjand in
summer and Seistan in winter plague observation posts could be easily established.
(Sd.) H. M. TEMPLE, Lieut.-Col,
Agent to the Governor-General of India,
and Her Britannic Majesty's Consul-General
for Khorassan and Seistan.
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