!['Seistan' [‎107r] (213/782)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003bc/Mss Eur F111_352_0231.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'Seistan' [‎107r] (213/782)")
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.
1
Meshed Confidential Diary No. 35 for week ending 30th August
1501.
From Krasnovodsk I hear that six heavy guns have reached that place
from Russia, and have been for the present detained there.
I have received the following information from a traveller who has just
returned from the direction of Panjdeh Much of it is known, but his description
of the Kushk railway and the post at Shaikh Junaid may be of use.
The present railway line between Merve and Shaikh Junaid passes by the
following route.
Starting from Merve the line follows the right bank of the river through
Yulatan, Sultan Bund, Charvakh, Imambaba, Urush, Doshan, crossing the river
at PuM-khishti, and going on to Shaikh Junaid.
In the latter place the Russians have built a large fort, the circumference of
which is about 20 miles.
Ammunition and railway materials in large quantities have been stored inside
the fort.
There are underground fortifications. The walls of the fort are 10 to 12
yards thick. These w^alls are faced with masonry two yards thick, the inter
vening space is filled with earth beaten hard.
Shaikh Junaid is the terminus of the line and actually not a yard of railway
extends be}ond, though all materials for the prolongation of the line are stored
up in Shaikh Junaid.
The bit of country lying between Pul-i-khishti and Takhta Bazaar was
surveyed seven months ago wuth a view of connecting these two points by railway
but through want of funds the project had been postponed. This line has been
surveyed up to the Russo-Afghan frontier to a place called Killa Nao.
Two projects, however, are said to engage the immediate attention of the
Russian Government.
1. A railway line along the right bank of the Tajend river from Tajend to
Sarakhs, vide my report in appendix to diary for week ending 16th August;
2nd, a line from Shaikh Junaid to Chahil Dukhteran, one of these lines it is said
is to be prolonged to Seistan !
These projects were to be discussed during the visit of General Karopatkin
to Sarakhs.
*
From Tajend in the direction of Sarakhs 4 or 5 miles of good road had been
levelled. It was reported that either a macadamised road was going to be made
or else a railway.
My informant of the above news said that he Heard nothing about Russian
canal schemes but much talk about railway projects.
The Rais-ul-Tajar {vide my diary for week ending 28th June) together with
the Mihmarbashi or head architect in Meshed, made a recent tour in the
Caucasus. On their return journey to Askhabad they heard a great deal about
projected Russian railway lines towards Persia. They saw railway materials all
along the line collected in some quantities especially at the Arnao station near
Askhabad.
They saw everywhere signs of road construction towards the Persian
frontier. From Arnao station to Kalta-Chenar the road had been completed
They even report the construction of a road to Durbadam in the direction
of Kuchan.
At Durbadam they saw Russian engineers busy surveying and marking out
roads with pegs. ^
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
'Seistan' [107r] (213/782), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/352, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069721604.0x000010> [accessed 30 April 2024]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100069721604.0x000010
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100069721604.0x000010">'Seistan' [‎107r] (213/782)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100069721604.0x000010"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003bc/Mss Eur F111_352_0231.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003bc/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
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