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'Seistan' [‎60r] (119/782)

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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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1
The Overland Trade Route between India and Persia.
To complete this route and make it fit for caravan traffic, out of the total
length of 1,090 miles between Quetta and Meshed, only one comparatively short
stretch of 314 miles in the centre requires working up.
On our side the road is fairly good from Quetta to Amir Chah, 363 miles,
and on the Persian side from Meshed to Neh, a further distance of 413 miles,
a total of 776 out of the whole.
Of the remaining 314 miles between Amir Chah and Neh, 161 miles are in
Persian territory and 153 in British.
2. Taking the British section first, the stages are as follows :—
Amir Chah. Miles.
Zeh ... ... ... ... ... 2C
Darana Kuh ... ... ... ... ... ig
Saindak ... ... ... ... ... 26
Kirtaka ... ... ... ... ... 22
Kacha ... ... ... ... ..
Ziarat-i-Piran ... ... ... ... ... 26
Robat-i Koh-i Malik Siah ... ... ... ... 26
Total ... 153
3. Amir Chah already has a Levy Post and Thana and possesses wells of
excellent, water.
No supplies are procurable, and efforts should be made to establish a village
of Baluch settlers.
This place is visited by all caravans whether from Neh, Seistan, Sarhad, or
the Helmund, and all require supplies.
4. I may here mention that the caravans proceeding from Quetta to Seistan
(and vice versa) strike off from the British route here, and make their way direct
through Afghan territory along the southern shore of the Gaud-i-Zirreh and up
the Shelag to Sehkoha.
At present the Amir has no posts in these parts, and the caravans thus get
across without interference. The saving in distance is great—no less than 107
miles ; the British route via Koh-i-Malik Siah to Sehkoha being 242 miles, and
the direct cut only 135.
The loss to us of the Seistan boundary line having been prolonged to Koh-i-
Malik Siah is great. Sir Mortimer Durand, after the settlement of the Durand
treaty, so fully recognized this that he telegraphed from Tehran, urging that
the Amir should not be allowed to get outside the road up the Shelag and recom
mending that the triangle up to Koh-i-Malik Siah should be obtained from the
Amir in exchange for any concession given to him elsewhere.
I hope, if opportunity offers, that this may still be done.
5. Zeh has no water. A well of sweet water is said to have existed here in
former days; and if this could be traced and re-opened, all difficulty would cease
So far the wells sunk have only produced salt water.
6. Darana Kuh has a well, but the water is salt. A fresh well is necessary
• here also. 7

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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' [‎60r] (119/782), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/352, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069721602.0x00007a> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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