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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.
4
into India, in Persian, tried me rather high, and I doubt if he was the wiser
though he said he was. These questions were probably the outcome of
Mr. Miller’s conversations.
At Milak I crossed the river. All the Tutins (reed boats) which had been
made ready for the liussian Consul had been cut up. As I had, however, with
me Saiyid Khan, one of the most influential Baluchis, I soon found more, and
the episode w r as put down to ct Shaitani” on the part of Pasancl Khan, Baluchi,
the Bussian Vice-Consul’s Baluch adherent.
These small signs of Bussian influence mean very little and Mr. Miller,
though he undoubtedly is doing his best to acquire more influence, has as yet
been in no way successful.
I do not, however, approve of his having any influence at all over
Baluchis, and am determined to prevent it. I have written separately asking
to be supplied with 5 Baluch sowars from Quetta who could go among the
Baluchis here, speak their language and extol British rule. My letter also
contains other suggestions for attracting and retaining these Baluch border men.
I found the Persians through the whole Mian Kangi district very afraid of
the Afghans, who they said constantly robbed their ponies and raided them.
I am glad I avoided going too close to the border, or asking too many questions
about the border, as I found my visit did raise some suspicion among the
Afghans on the border and any contretemps would have been bad.
On the whole my tour was, I hope, useful. I was able to make friends
with several influential men, who have since been in here to see me and who
will keep me informed of what is going on.
I found
Munshi
A term used in the Middle East, Persia and South Asia to refer to a secretary, assistant or amanuensis. Munshis were employed in the British administration in the Gulf.
Ahmad Din and Shahzada Ahmad Mir of the escort very
useful in making friends with the people. The latter being a Sadozai Afghan
is always useful when I have any dealings with Afghans.
My remaining in Seistan wall have an excellent effect.
I find on my return that great pressure is being brought to bear on the
Amir Hashmat-ul-Mulk to pay the higher equivalent in cash for his grain dues
to the Wall of Meshed.
The extra pressure on the Amir is having the effect of making him screw
the people more, and the local Chiefs ,are showing signs of objecting and of
causing friction.
The Amir shows still greater hostility to Mr. Miller to whom, as I have
said, he attributes his troubles.
The Amir has made all the workmen building additions to Mr. Miller’s
house leave, and Mr. Miller who was dining with me last night complained of
it and said he had so much difficulty in these matters.
He looks with envy on my small building in course of erection and is
astonished that I have no trouble at all. Mr. Miller has now reported the
Hashmat-ul-Mulk to Meshed. The whole game is merely to get him ousted
and a Bussian nominee in here.
I am writing to Colonel Temple to ask him to try and get the Mustophi
Khalik Khan, the emissary sent by the Wali from Meshed here, to screw the
Amir, removed. I can easily supply stories to his discredit. If we could o-et
him away, the Amir would be able to rule in peace again and continue doing
what we want. °
I have just heard from Saiyid Khan, Baluchi, that he has completed a °ood
thana with fortified towers at Girdi between this and Bobat, and that he has
sunk wells at two places on the same section of the road where they were much
wanted, and is building shelters near them similar to those on the Nushki-
Bobat section. The Amir here knew we were building these places, but offered
no opposition. With these the road wall be completed as regards shelter and
thanas to Nasratabad. I will report more fully about them when all are
completed.
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