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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.
Report on the possibility and cost of constructing a telegraph line from Quetta
to Ladis and Koh-uMalik Siah by H. A. Armstrong, Assistant Superin
tendent of Telegraphs.
1. The following is a report on the possibility and cost of constructing a
Telegraph line from Quetta to Ladis and Koh-i-Malik Siah. Ihe accompanying
estimates of the cost are in 4 parts :—
Part I. From Quetta to Amir Chah, 359 miles.
Part II.—From Amir Chah to Ladis, 85 miles.
Part III.—From Amir Chah to Koh-i-Malik Siah, 116 miles.
Part IV.—From Koh-i-Malik Siah to Ladis, 76 miles.
These estimates have been prepared in accordance with the directions con
tained in letter No. 1587, dated the 28th October 1898, from the Director General
of Telegraphs to the Superintendent, Sind and Baluchistan Division, and sup
plemented afterwards by directions conveyed in telegrams of 88 words dated
34 th March 1899, and 57 words dated 1st April 1899, from the Superintendent,
Sind and Baluchistan Division, to me.
The total cost of the line for whatever route is selected on can be obtained
by adding together the totals of cost in the different Parts I, II, III, IV plus the
cost for buildings as estimated for in Statements I and II attached.
2. The proposed routes for the line are traced in red ink in the accompany
ing maps, the westerly tracts verging on the Persian frontier 6hewn on these are
sketchy, and should not be relied on for accuracy ; the country has recently
been resurveyed, and fresh maps will no doubt be published at an early date.
30. In estimate Part I the line recommended will follow closely the trade
route from Quetta to Koh-i-Malik Siah. Statement
Estimate Part I. jjj attac j iec i ^\\\ g\ ve particulars of the various halt
ing places, with the water and other supplies obtainable at them.
This route from Quetta leads along the main road as far as Samanguli, 6^
miles ; from here a well defined track leads off to the left, and bends in a south
westerly direction round the lower slopes of Chihiltan mountain; at the 16th
mile is Girdi Talab or sometimes called Girdi Bagh, the first halting place; here
there is an abundant supply of good water from an open karez ; Bhusa can be
procured in small quantities from the few inhabitants who live in a small hamlet
close by. from Girdi Talab the track ascends for about 6 miles through an
open valley with low hills on either side, then descends gradually for 8 miles;
at the 34th mile is Kanak village ; here the country opens out into a broad plain,
u r ell cultivated, supplies are procurable from banias in the village, there is an
excellent spring of water from a rock outside a small ancient tort. The inhabi
tants of Kanak are mostly Raisanis, altogether about 3,000 in number. . From
Kanak the track leads on in a south south-west direction over a cultivated plain, and
at the 37th mile passes the small village Soru to the west; at the 39 ^ mile crosses
the Shorarud river, about 80 yards in width, with high banks ; the water in this
is usually about 2 feet deep, and slightly salt. At the 42nd mile the track enters
the Khurd Barack Pass, and continues on for 2 or 3 miles through a small range
of hills ; this pass presents no difficulties but is practicable for baggage animals
only; from here the track continues on over more or less broken stony ground
for 7 miles, and then leads through the Shared valley. At the 58th mile is the
small village Kurdagap, consisting of a number of mud huts ; here ordinary supplies
are obtainable in small quantities and water is plentiful and good in an open karez.
From Kurdagap the track leads south-west for 2 miles to the foot of a
range of hills, and ascends a small kotal, the highest point of which is not more
than 200 feet above the -plain; it then descends with a gentle slope for 2 miles
and continues on over undulating stony ground. At the 52nd mile, there are some
small springs of water under the ieitbank of a nala whose width varies from 100
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' [42r] (83/782), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/352, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069721602.0x000056> [accessed 23 June 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