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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.
v
Diary No 7 of Major G. Chenevix-Trencli f jyk!t -f 1 l^rajesty’s Consul for
Seistan, for the period 26th May to 10th June 1900.
My preceding diaries have taken the form of a narrative, rather than a
journal of daily events in Seistan. This was purposely done, as, believing I was
to be here only for one month, I was anxious to convey not alone the course of
daily events, but also my first impressions of this country with an account of its
poutics and its people in connection with its commercial and strategical value.
As I have now been ordered to prolong my stay here until relieved, I have
become, i understand, merely the first of a series of British officers, who will for
the future represent British interests in the province of Seistan.
The form therefore of my diary will be a detailed account of the actual daily
events occurring here under dates given. In addition there will be under head
ing “ General remarks a continuous report of the trend of events here, outside
my own particular province. I he narrative of various subjects under general re
marks will be continued in each diary so as to form a progress report of the poli
tics and events of Seistan and even of Khorasan, in so far as they affect British
influence both here and in the more interior portion of Persia.
Diary of daily events.
26th May. —Mr. Miller, the Russian Vice-Consul, dined with me.
27 th May. —Sunday,
28th May. —Mr. Miller came over to my camp in the evening. The heat
and loneliness of Seistan seemed to oppress him He has several small troubles,
such as the desertion of his labourers employed on his house building which
apparently weigh heavily on his mind.
2gth May .—I sent Mr. Miller a formal invitation to dinner on the 2nd
June, the date I had fixed for celebrating the birthday of Her Majesty the
Queen. J J
30 th Received my weekly post from Meshed. The post contained
a copy of foreign Office telegram calling for a report on the alleged aggressions
ot the Persians on their eastern border, bounded as it is by the course of the
Helmund, which in this part marks the division of territory between Afghanistan
ana i crsia*
A full report with map of the country and border under dispute
been sent with my diary No. 6 for period 15th May to 25th May.
sent to the Consul-General at Meshed to that effect.
had already
A reply was
The same post brought me a letter of introduction from Colonel Temnle
for one Saiyad Hosain Khan, who was shortly going to visit Seistan in connec
tion with collection of customs under the orders of Mr. Kastaigue (Belgian)
Director of Customs for Khorasan. v ^
3, st May. 'Paid an evening visit to Mr. Miller. He was pleased with the
improvements and additions he had made to his house, which he said he had ac
comphshed with so much obstruction and trouble.
istjnne.—x paid a private visit to the Amir Hashmat-ul Mulk It was
my first visit since my return on recall. He was as usual very friendly and cor-
diah I explained to him that it was our custom to celebrate’the anniversary of
the Queen s birthday with all the show and ceremony which circumstances
admit, and said that, after receiving in the morning official visits from the Russian
Vice-Consul and I concluded from him, I pronosed havino- o USblai ]
sports.,, the evening followed by fireworks. S ^mkhana and
I had heard before that, as this month was still a month of mourning for the
murder of Imam Husain, fireworks and the galloping of horses was not approved of.
A
;
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