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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.
i
Diary No. 8 of Major G. Chenevix Trench, Her Britannic Majesty’s
Consul for Seistan for period nth June to 25th June 1900.
nth June .—I started the 12 riding camels, which I had bought for my depu
tation, to Quetta. These camels were no longer of any use to me here, as Seistan
itself is a country over which the camel travels with difficulty on account of the
numerous water canals. The camels too suffer during the summer here from the
swarms of mosquitoes. The Seistanis remove all their camels from the fiat coun
try to surrounding hills and elsewhere during the spring and early summer and
not a single camel can be hired.
These camels, which I have sent back to Quetta, are Government property,
and should arrive there in time to be of use to the officer who will relieve me and
so save Government having to buy others.
Called on the Mustophi, Khalik Khan, to return his visit to me. My visit
was private and confidential. He assured me of his great intimacy with the Wali
Rukn-ud-Doulah at Meshed and even the Shah, and said he was in their confidence
and had before been used on missions to report on the state of various provinces.
A full report of my conversation with him will be found under general
remarks.
In the evening the head Mujtahid, Haji Ismail, a man of great influence
here, sent his servant to ask after my health. This overture from the head
Mullah was significant as I have not since I have been here paid much attention
to the Mullah element, but now that they begin to pay me respect I will encourage
their advances. I said that on return from my tour I would be glad to come
and visit him at whatever time was convenient.
Received a visit from
Nawab
An honorific title; an official acting as a provincial deputy ruler in South Asia; or a significant Muslim landowner in nineteenth century India.
Hossain Bakhsh, who with a
party numbering 56 had come from Multan and was going to Meshed. He had
left his party of followers, women and children, at Hussainabad, 16 miles from
here, and had come to see me alone. He is an Honorary Magistrate at Multan
and since he. was accompanied by so large a number of people, I was interested to
hear his opinion of the route and how he had fared. I think he put the road to
rather a severe test. I found that he and nearly all the party had chosen this the
hottest time of the year to travel, that none had ridden horses or camels. All
had sat in kajawas on the camels, and as there were too many of the party to
be accommodated by the small shelter huts, they had camped at each place in
the sun, women and children alike.
I.cannot say that the
Nawab
An honorific title; an official acting as a provincial deputy ruler in South Asia; or a significant Muslim landowner in nineteenth century India.
was enthusiastic on the comforts of the road.
He said nearly ail the wells hao had water and even complained of unevenness of
the road, which, he said, made travelling in kajawas dangerous ! He hoped, he
said, the Government would make a smoother road and showed me a lon^ report
he had written on the defects. r
I w ? as glad to hear from him that he had found no trouble about supplies
since he had entered Seistan ; he said he might as well be in India, that every one'
helped him and were most friendly.
As I was leaving in the evening for Daulatabad near Hussainabad on tour I
said I would see him and his part) there.
Left Nusratabad for Daulatabad.
13th June.—kl Daulatabad I paid a visit to
Sardar
Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
Purdil Khan Sarbandi.
This
sardar
Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
plays a striking part in Seistan politics, his friendly feelings towards
all sahibs has often been brought to notice. In conversation he spoke much of
his admiration for Sir 0 . St. John, whom he met when he was with his uncle, Taj
Muhammad, in Kandhar. .His expression of loyalty towards the English and
of contempt for the “ Kajars ” is almost embarrassing as he emphasises his
British inclination by enlarging in open
Darbar
A public or private audience held by a high-ranking British colonial representative (e.g. Viceroy, Governor-General, or member of the British royal family).
on the disqualifications of Mr.
Miller and expresses his resentment that the Russians are represented in Seistan
at all.
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