!['Seistan' [‎112v] (224/782)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003bc/Mss Eur F111_352_0242.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'Seistan' [‎112v] (224/782)")
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.
6
they were unable to procure these documents. It appears also from confidential
information given me by M. Molitor that, as a result of their applications to
Tehran or Meshed for the despatch of a Boundary Commissioner, an official
(the Yamin-i-Nizam) has been sent who is not authorised to undertake the
duty, nor is in possession of any maps or documents regarding the boundary. It
is not actually known, hut it is, perhaps, pardonable fc> assume that the map the
Yamin showed to the Akhundzada was supplied to him by M. Miller.
20 . I will not venture to discuss the merits of the respective claims of
the Persians and Afghans on the frontier. The question is one which, unless
the Afghans accept the Goldsmid award, will develop into some importance.
If the Afghan contention, that the obliteration of the old Helmund bed
renders the Goldsmid award null and void, be considered as admissible, then
I venture to think that it will be necessary to have the disputed portion of
country resurveyed, with a view to deciding whether the old bed is traceable or
not.
If it be dismissed, it will, I think, then be necessary to retrace the old
Helm and river bed, which now offers no very distinct natural landmark, and to
demarcate the Goldsmid boundary with pillars on the ground.
21. Copies of this report are under despatch to the Government of India
in the Foreign Department, and to the Hon’ble the Agent to the Governor-
General in Baluchistan.
Translation of a letter from Akhundzada Fakir Muhammad Khan, Governor of Chakansur,
to Yamin-i-Nizam, Officer in charge of the Seistan frontier.
After compliments .—I am in receipt of your kind letter, and greatly
rejoice to learn that you are in good health.
You have written to say that I have made an encroachment on the Persian
frontier, and that this is contrary to the principles of the laws of nations, and
that, as excitement has been caused in Seistan, you fear lest a skirmish should
take place which would be productive of annoyance between the two Muham
madan Powers, and that you (Persians) are not of a cowardly spirit and have
numerous excellent guns and rifles and brave soldiers.
Dear Sir, leaving encroachments on Persian frontier aside, the devoted
servants of the Khudadad (Afghan) Government have not even entered Persian
territory yet, according to the official maps which were made in former times
by capable servants of the two Muhammadan Governments in conjunction with
the arbitrators of foreign Governments who came to Seistan. After the institu
tion of enquiries, and the ascertainment of facts, the boundary line was
distinctly shown in the maps. One map was given to the Persian Commis
sioners, and the other was entrusted to the Afghan Commissioners. Of these
maps you have one, whilst the other is in the possession of the servants of the
Khudadad Government. Prom both these maps the boundary line is clear and
apparent.
By the grace of God, extremely friendly relations exist between the two
high Islamic Powers, and enmity will never be thought of.
It would be well if we interviewed each other, and if you kindly fixed a
rendezvous.
Telegram, No. 25 , dated the 1 st August 1902 .
From—His Britannic Majesty^s Charge d J Affaires, Tehran,
To—The Foreign Secretary, Simla.
Please refer to correspondence regarding the Persian-Afghan boundary
dispute. The Mushir-ed-Dowleh complains that Eakir Muhammad, Akhund
zada, with an armed force, has occupied several Persian villages, and asks that
orders may be sent to prevent such encroachments pending a settlement of
boundary line. This telegram was sent to the Poreign Office, London, and
repeated to the Poreign Secretary, India.
Farjign Office Preas—No. 775—4-8.02—44.
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' [112v] (224/782), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/352, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069721604.0x00001b> [accessed 23 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100069721604.0x00001b
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_100069721604.0x00001b">'Seistan' [‎112v] (224/782)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100069721604.0x00001b"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003bc/Mss Eur F111_352_0242.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
- 112v
- Author
- Government of Afghanistan
- Usage terms
- The copyright status is unknown. Please contact [email protected] with any information you have regarding this item.