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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
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Seistan Mission Diary for the period ending the 28th April
1903.
23rd April 1903 .—Leaving the main camp at Khwaja Ahmad, I started
with a small camp for the Seistan capital en route for Siah Koh. Captains
Webb Ware and Ramsay and Messrs. Ward and Tate accompanied me. We
crossed the Rod-i-Seistan hy boat at Burj-i-Sarband, and stayed the night at
Jalai about 20 miles. It rained more or less all day, and, owing to flooded
country, the going was bad. Jalai is only four miles from the city, but a short
march to-morrow is desirable, as we have to make a ceremonial arrival at
10-30 A.M.
2 dth April .—We made a punctual start this morning, and proceeded in
* I have complied strictly with the sanction given btate to the Capital. I WUS accompanied
escort was increased on the road by the
addition of Major Benn’s escort who met and joined us.
About two miles from the city we were met by a large official “ istikbal ”
consisting of the Governor’s two sons, Sartips Mir Masum Khan and Muham
mad Raza Khan,
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, some 150 sowars, and some led horses.
These conducted us in ceremony round Hussainabad, past the Russian Con
sulate and Nasratabad Fort to the British Consulate. Between Nasratabad and
the British Consulate we rode through a double line of Persian infantry with
their band. The British Consulate buildings were gorgeously decorated with
flags. Major Benn received us at the Consulate, and entertained the reception
party and ourselves with light refreshments after which the former took their
leave. All our party have been accommodated in the British Consulate house
and compound. During the morning the Hashmat-ul-Mulk sent over Mehmani
and presents to the value of some 7 to 8,000 Krans, chiefly in the form of food-
supplies.
In the afternoon the Governor himself came and paid a formal visit. This
visit appears to have been the cause of considerable discussion. The recognised
Persian custom is that a big official is called on on arrival by all Persian officials,
but not the Governor, who has to be called upon first. In the case of the
Mission, the Governor had willingly agreed to pay the first visit, notwithstand
ing efforts on the part of Mr. Miller to prevent it. He was to have come to call
on me alone, but at the last moment, at the instigation apparently of Mr. Miller
and against the Governor’s wish, the Karguzar and the Yamin-i-Nizam insisted
on coming with him. The object was, as far as I can gather, to make the
Governor at the last moment abandon his visit; but as he did not do so, the
fact of the Karguzar and the Yamin-i-Nizam coming in his train only
increased the importance of his visit, a result which was apparently not
intended. The Hnshmat-ul-Mulk was very friendly. He is a pleasant mannered,
old gentleman with a keen sense of humour. He gives one an impression of
being more honest and straightforward than the Persian officials we have as
yet met.
Heavy rain fell in the afternoon and night.
Nasj'atabadJ 25th April .—I returned the Hashmat-ul-Mulk’s visit this
+ I use the addresi Nasratabad as such appears morning, accompanied by Major Benn
the custom with us. The Persians and Seistanis
talk only of this place as the city (Shahr-i*SeisUn).
Hussainabad, Nasratabad, and the old ruined Nasir-
abad are merely small villages grouped closely
together. Nasratabad differs from the others only
in having a wall and moat round it. Just opposite
to, and a few yards from, Nasratabad, while at the
same time touching Hussainabad, is the British
Consulate known as Trenchabad.
and the officers and Native staff of the
Mission. The Governor’s house, wdiich is
inside the Nasratabad fort, was reached
by narrow dirty lanes full of stagnant
water, A more dilapidated and squalid
set of mud hovels than the Governor’s
palace I have never seen anywdiere.
A. H. McMahon;
Yesterday’s rain had brought down the building on one side of his courtyard,
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