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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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
NOTES ON PERSIAN SEISTAN.
V3
19-
Along the main tracks in Seistan, there are fords through all the
canals which are too wide to be bridged by
I, ° rd8 ‘ local methods. The absence however of
stone and gravel, and the soft nature of the soil, which becomes very slippery
when wet, would make it preferable to bridge all but the smaller water-cuts,
if any considerable amount of traffic was required to pass.
Except to the east of a line drawn from Shahristan Hill to
Jelalabad, no fuel is to be found. The fuel
Puoi • for other districts is carried from Miankangi
on donkeys, and in the western districts is an expensive commodity in winter.
Consisting as it does of roots and small branches of tamarisk, a large amount
would be necessary for military purposes
Tamarisk wood is heavy and does not float, so that some arrangement would
have to be made with skins or otherwise to float it down the river or canals.
Fater.—The water of the Halmand resembles that of the Nile, in that it
contains fertilising properties, though in a
Water for drmkmg purposes. ml , c h lesser degree. It consequently would
not be so injurious to the health of British troops, except during the time of the
first flood. Then, especially after a low Halmand, the river brings down a
large amount of filth of all sorts, besides alluvial deposit, and would probably
cause dysentery and kindred complaints.
The water of the canals in Seistan is seldom really clear owing to the
constant minor irrigation operations, and to the traffic passing through the
numerous fords.
Filters. —It would probably prove advantageous to make arrangements
for filtering water for British troops, as was
]Pilte^B • done in the Soudan in 1 S 98 .
Wells.—Water can be found practically throughout Seistan at a depth of
from 5 ' to 15 ' below the surface of the
ground, and wells can be quickly dug owing
to the softness of the soil. The well-water however is nearly always muddy.
V
CLIMATE.
A description of the climate of Seistan resolves itself into an account o ^
the local winds, which are almost incessant, of extraordinary violence and
uniformity as regards direction.
Both the summer and winter gales blow practically from the north alwayg^^/
and their regularity may be gauged from the fact that all the trees slant U
a considerable angle towards the south, while no opening is ever made on th^ -
north side of a house in Seistan.
In the summer time one usually sees everyone walking, heeling over
against the wind, as on board ship in a storm, while the shrill and piercing
voices of the inhabitants, who invariably shout to each other from quite
close even on a still day, are undoubtedly due to the difficulty experienced ia
making themselves heard while the “ Bad-i-sad-o-bist-roz” blows.
This name, which is applied to the summer gales, is calculated to give
anyone, who has not been in Seistan for any
gides! i ’ 8adH> ’ bist ’ ^oz, or Bummer length of time, the impression that the gales
only last for 120 days. The summer wind^j
however, which usually continues from early in June to mid-October, is
succeeded after about six weeks by the not much less formidable “ Bad-i-
zamistan ” or “ winter wind”.
As the summer gales temper the heat and make a temperature of 105 °
quite bearable indoors without a punkah or other artificial means of cooling the
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