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'Seistan' [‎147v] (294/782)

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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. .

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2
Ins son Abdulla Jan. He failed to find it, but found and brought m the body
of the’ mher lost Ghilzai camel-man, Khudadad, Miam. I he body was
untouched by birds or animals, and, curious to relate, had been dned into a
marvellous state of preservation by the fierce dry heat of the de *® rt . P T y .
returned yesterday. They found all the bodies except that of Abdulla Jan,
and brought them to the Ziarat of Amiran, where they were properly interred.
13« t December, Camp Milok.-I'ae Yamin-i-Nizam has received a tele-
o-ram from Tehran in reply to references made by him and the Karguzar,
informing him that he is now sole Persian Commissioner. This is a great
triumph for him over the Karguzar, who will now doubtless endeavour to pick
all the holes he can in his whilom colleague’s management of affairs and
general character.
Owing to the dense tamarisk jungle all round our camp, we have had
repeated attempts made night after night by thieves on our camp, bo rar they
have failed to score, while we have managed to capture two of them.
14//i December, Camp Milok. —We marched to-day to Deh Dost Muham
mad. The whole country of Miankangi is dense jungle, and a road had to be
cut for our march. I did the march nearly into Deh Dost Muhammad by boat,
in order to inspect the Nad Ali branch of the Helmand and various canals.
The Nad Ali channel up to above Burj-i-As, where it divides into several large
canals, is even at this time of year a largish river. It is about the size and
volume of the Thames at Richmond.
Bv taking the river route I find I missed a curious incident which
occurred on the land route at Pukak. A large triumphal arch was found
erected at that village over the road, and the road gaily decorated with flags and
coloured cloths. This was the work of one Abdul Latif, a Peshawari trader
settled in Pukak. With the aid of Mr. Dobbs he recently won a case against
the Customs Department and feels elated thereat. When we first came to
Pukak last March, he hardly dared to recognise us. The Yamin, who passed
through the Arch to-day, must have thought times had changed. Sir Pred.
Goldsmid in 1872 w^as not allowed to enter this or other neighbouring villages.
\Uh December, Camp Deh Dost Muhammad. —The incoming dak System of postal communication used in Moghul India and later by the East India Company. sowar In the East India Company army and later Indian Army, an ordinary native cavalryman or mounted cavalryman.
was attacked by thieves last night between Milok and Pukak. His dak System of postal communication used in Moghul India and later by the East India Company. bag
luckily w T as not taken, but he lost his horse and boots. Miankangi is full of
thieves. The Hashmat-ubMulk and the Akhundzada have suppressed all their
own gangs, but there are still a large number of private and independent
freebooters at large. The dense jungle on the border of the two countries is
a safe refuge for outlaws from both sides. I have warned the Yamin-i-Nizam
that, if we have any more trouble from thieves, we may have to take unpleasant
steps. I have asked Captain Ramsay to warn the Hashmat-ul-Mulk in a
similar sense. I have asked the Yamin to send two sowars with our dak System of postal communication used in Moghul India and later by the East India Company.
men.
16/& December, Camp Deh Dost Muhammad. —I received a letter
from Mr. Moore, dated Gurg, 8th December. He reports that he has been
successful in finding an ample supply of water at various places in the 35 miles
betw een Nasratabad-lspe and Gurg, and at Gurg itself. This is very satisfac
tory. Some men I sent to Parrah returned to-day, and report that two regi
ments and six guns are on their w ? ay to Herat from Kandahar, but no reinforce
ments have come to Parrah (vide diary entry of 25th November 1903). They
say there are rumours in Parrah of recent fighting between General Ghaus-ud-din
Khan and Russians, in winch many have been killed on both sides. These
rumours are so persistent that the Parrah people are inclined to believe them.
The Yamin-i-Nizam came and paid me a long friendly visit this afternoon.
He has followed with great interest the accounts given in the “Pioneer” (which
I send him every day to read) of His Excellency the Viceroy’s tour in the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and especially the speeches made at various places. He seems
very gratified by the references made therein to Persia. He understands the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. question w r ell, as he has served in many parts of the Gulf, and at
one time w as appointed Governor of the Gulf Ports, but did not take up the
appointment. He expressed great indignation and regret at the hitch which
prevented His Exc3llency the Viceroy landing at Bushire, and severely criticised

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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
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'Seistan' [‎147v] (294/782), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/352, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069721604.0x000061> [accessed 30 April 2024]

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