!['Seistan' [‎116r] (231/782)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003bc/Mss Eur F111_352_0249.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'Seistan' [‎116r] (231/782)")
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.
Supplies.
From Meshed to Turbat-i-Sheikh Jam supplies are, as a nde,
Turbat no supplies could be obtained in any quant.tyt.il Sangun ' va3 . r ^, ed b f c 5 ol ™eted’
from this and’the other villages in the Kkaf valley a large amount could be^cted^
After leaving Sangun, Mijnabad and the two small villages near . if • v
supplies, and the same may be said of Bamrud; but nothing would be obtain ^ y
Quantity before reaching the Sunnikhana district (110 m.les). Here, Gaz.k, labas,
llastgini and the other villages could furnish sufficient for a consideiable for •
Between Dastgird and Bandan (110 miles) Duruh is the only pl»oe where anything
is procurable; but though it is a fairly large village the area ol , cul ‘ 1 ™, t | in P any
tivelv small and it is doubtful whether supplies would ever be forthcon S '
quantity Bandan and the villages near it could only furnish a very limited amount.
From thence there is nothing till Seistan is reached.
Fodder and Grazing.
As far as Sangun (200 miles) the country is covered with abundant grazing m the
spring ; a great deal of lucerne is also grown, and there would be no di cu y m ee
a large number of animals. Later in the year, when the grass is drie up, o ^
horses could probably be obtained, but camel-grazing is very scarce. J
there is scarcely any grass, and that only in the early spring ; so tha _ oc er or
would have to be collected from the villages. Camel-grazing, on the other hand,
abun ^ a he t amount of grain and iodder procurable along the road would, of course, depend
a good deal on the season of the year. r Ihe early spring- end of March and Apul
offers many advantages : the country is green, there is more water, ie grazing
better, and the standing crops could, if necessary, be cut for , p • ^
hand, the crops are not harvested till the end of June or July, and the so &
dried fodder (“ bhoosa,” &c.) is consequently at its lowest.
Summary.
From the above it will be seen that to march anything but a small pwe Mong this
route would not be altogether an easy task. There are two stretches °f > 10 ™*'ese a oh,
where, unless collected and stored beforehand, a considerable quantity of supp
food for men and grain and fodder for horses-would have to be carried. V\ ater, too,
would be a difficulty in some parts, especially between Duruh and beistan.
Notes on the Road from Meshed to Askabad.
This is a made road and carries a constant and fairly heavy traffic, consisting of
carriages fourgons, and pack animals. The total distance from Meshed to Askabad is
176 miles Carriages can be hired in either Meshed or Askabad, and with tour
horses thev do the journey in from four to six days, according to the state ot the load,
the same horses going right through. There is no fixed rate of '" r c^ ut a car " a g e ca “
usually be obtained at from 25 to 35
tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
and a fourgon for a little less, there are
caravanserais at all the principal places along the route.
Meshed to Kuchan.
Aq far as Kuchan (98 miles) the road is practically level, the soil is mostly soft and
r 1 ctrmpq the country is thickly populated, and tor the first <0 miles or so the
iree from stones the “^^“Vhe road is unmetalled, and when first made was
probably a very fair track, bridged where necessary and drained by a ditch on each side
thromdiout Judging by its present state, nothing has been done to keep it in repair since
theTime tt was*first made, and several of the bridges have fallen in. Wherever there is
the Hitches alone the sides of the road are used for purposes of irrigation and
^pSted to overflow Ml over it, In addition to this the Persians have a habit ol
[2057 n —v]
Persians have a habit oi
B 2
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' [116r] (231/782), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/352, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069721604.0x000022> [accessed 9 August 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