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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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PERSIA AND APlAJSIA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[July 13.]
Section 4.
No. 1.
Sir A. Hardinge to the Marquess of Lansdoivne .— (Received July 13.)
(No. 83.)
My Lord, Gulahek, June 4, 1903.
I HAVE the honour to transmit herewith a despatch which Major Douglas,
Military Attache, has addressed to me, giving notes on his recent journey to Tehran
through Seistan, Khorassan, and Trans-Caspia.
I have, &c.
(Signed) ARTHUR, H. HARDINGE.
Inclosure in No. 1.
Major Douglas to Sir A. Hardinge.
(No. 1 . Confidential.)
Sir, Gulahek, June 4, 1903.
I HAVE the honour to inclose some notes on the following subjects from informa
tion collected during my journey from Seistan to Tehran :—
1 . The road from Seistan to Meshed.
2. The road from Meshed to Askabad.
3. Persian troops at Meshed.
4. The Trans-Caspian Railway.
I also sent direct from Meshed to the Intelligence Branch in India a detailed
description of my route from Seistan for incorporation in “ Routes in Persia.”
During my stay in Askabad I called on the Governor, General Ussakovsky, whom
1 found extremely civil and pleasant; but my time there was so short that I had no
opportunity of seeing anything of the troops, the majority of whom had already moved
out of the town into their summer quarters.
From my knowledge of Russian methods 1 had rather expected to find that their
renewed demand for direct relations with Afghanistan had been accompanied by some
sort of military display in Central Asia.
So far, however, as I could ascertain from inquiries, there have been no unusual
movements of troops during the present year, though there is little doubt that the
fortified posts at Kushk, and other places on the Afghan frontier, are being steadily
armed and strengthened, and made suitable for employment as bases in case of
hostilities.
In spite of rumours to the contrary that were current at Meshed, the recent dis
turbances in that town do not appear to have called forth any noticeable military
preparations in Askabad. .
I have, &c.
(Signed) J. A. DOUGLAS, Major,
Military Attache. - -
Notes on the Route from Meshed to Seistan, via Turbat-i-Sheikh lam, Sangun, Ahingaran,
and Duruh.
[Note. —The route by which I travelled is almost the same as that traversed
by Captain Smyth last year, the only difference being that I went direct from Gisha to
Duruh, whereas he diverged here to Asparun, and that by avoiding the villages of
Ahingaran and Bamrud I shortened the distance by a few miles. It must be remembered
that this year was an exceptionally bad one as regards supplies, and it was only with the
greatest difficulty that I could get grain for three animals and food for four men, so that
in this respect I have seen the country at its worst. On the other hand, I left Seistan
at the end of March, after an exceptionally wet and severe winter, and as regards the
[2057 4] ’ b
| J
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