!['Seistan' [‎91v] (182/782)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003bc/Mss Eur F111_352_0200.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'Seistan' [‎91v] (182/782)")
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.
t^ore than express a hope that the Hashmat-ul-Mulk would be leniently deilt
with. I am glad that he took no stronger action under the altered attitude of
the Mestophi towards me. Colonel Temple said that there were no grounds in
Mushed for thinking the Russians had in any w’ay encouraged these demands,
which I am glad to hear.
I received by the same post a letter from Ghulam Jilani, the Hospital Assis
tant, together with one frem the Sartip Mir Mansum Khan. The Sartip writes to
say he hopes I will do for him what he has explained to Ghulam Jilani and
which Ghulam Jilani has written in his letter. »
The Sartip makes a formal request that I will use my influence with the
Hashmat-ul-Mulk to bring about a complete reconciliation between him and the
Sardars Said Khan and Jehan Khan with his father, the Hashmat-ul-Mulk.
This I think shows that the Sartip has great confidence in my influence
over the Hashmat-ul-Mulk and is significant as showing the inclination of the
Sartip and the two sardars who being in the pay and under the influence of the
Shaukat-ul-Mulk might be supposed to have leanings towards Russia. Ghulam
Jilani further reports that the sartip has received a letter from the Mustophi
telling him he will support his (the Sartip’s) claim to Seistan against his father,
the Hashmat-ul-Mulk, I conclude in the event of the latter refusing to come to
terms.
As Ghulam Jilani is attending the Sartip for his eyes and is, he says, on
very friendly terms, his report may be true.
I shall send an answer to the Sartip assuring him of friendly feelings, but I
shall not hold out a hope of any direct interference in what is after all the
private affair of the Amir.
There is every chance of the Sartip returning to Seistan, and I am confident
that I shall make friends with him as 1 have been able to do with his father and
his brorher.
23rd June .—Paid a visit to Haji Ismail Mujtahid. Although the Russian
Vice-Consul had paid a formal visit on arrival here to the mullah, 1 have not paid
any great deference to the mullahs of Seistan since I came, preferring rather
that they should know more about me from the people before meeting me.
My visit to the head Mujtahid was a great pleasure to me. I found him to be a
very fine old man. He spoke clearly and with much power and intelligence. He
asked whether w r e were going to have a railway here. I said the railway certainly
had a knack of following in the wake of the sahib. He extolled the fertility of
Seistan and said he know of a village now deserted and dry where several maunds
of rose leaves were collected for otto of rose. He then proceeded to give me a
lecture on his faith and expressed astonishment that the English people so fair in
their dealings should not be followers of Prophet. He asked how many times I
said my prayers every day and how it was that I could speak Persian so easily ;
to what part of Persia I had been, etc.
The visit was a success and I hope I have secured another important friend
in Seistan.
General Remarks.
Spread of British influence in Seistan.
The progress of British influence continues to be satisfactory. The conduct of
the escort consisting of Pathans from the Bannudistrict has been good. They
appear to get on well with the Persians who freely wander in their lines sellina
them eggs, melons, etc. tS
The rationing of the men and horses which at first was attended with a
little difficulty now gives no troub e. The Seistani lands his bhusa and grain
in camp and sells it at moderate rateu. I have never had a complaint since I
have been here for non-payment of supplies. The price of everything has
come down considerably since we came here, showing greater confidence in us
,4
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' [91v] (182/782), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/352, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069721602.0x0000b9> [accessed 26 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