!['Seistan' [‎203r] (405/782)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003bc/Mss Eur F111_352_0423.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'Seistan' [‎203r] (405/782)")
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.
ama
■■■■■■
*0
NOTES ON PERSIAN SEISTAN.
+V>a winter wind* cause a temperature of 26 ° or 2S° to be more cold
fnVect than the low temperatures in the hills to the north. Englishmen,
1 . travelled from Meshed in December and January of an exceptionally
Wh0 Mintlr stated that they had not felt the bitter cold, e.ther m Meshed
S or in the tills daring their jonrney south, that they had exper.enoed
81,1 Th^ V o n old n g S at t p?ay havoc amongst the ill-fed and poorly-clad Seistanis,
m \ 7 :UtZ poshteens to serve out to
It would be auvisa ^ ^ likely to be employed on night
Poshteens. duty#
The Bad-i-zamistan, like the Bad-i-sad-o-bist-roz, also blows invariably
Ihe J 5 aa i zamisu , £rom nearly dne norfch . a „d is less persistent
Bad-i-zamistan, or winter wind. than the ] atter> lasting usually for either
three or seven days at a stretch, followed by another spell after a few days
^^The 1 * summer gales, although they undoubtedly render the climate more
The summer gate., 8 health J y and prevent the malaria which
Bad-i-sad-o-bist-roa. effect on would otherwise arise from the bi oa expanse
health. 0 f shallow swamp, which almost surrounds
Seistan in the hot weather, is very trying to Europeans, who have lived or
an Vh^ h a 8 lt me ho;iing ofThe^wind day and night, out,rely preventing an
it does, outdoor recreation, undoubtedly has an effect u P on
was noticeable among the Europeans, and even many natives of India, wUo
had spent more than one summer in Seistan. ^nvpmher and
Spring and autumn. ^ heaviest gales do not blow, but even then
there are frequent days when the wind would be considered violent e sew ere
thS Th a e ~ gales, and to a "^velVaL^tot^dTih
Wind as a factor in military i n the event of military operations in Seistan.
operations. Th invariably blow, as already stated, trom
practically dne north, from an attack from which diction w^a.e ^
is considerable, and would he
much increased if men were posted behind eart '^ 0I w i d g cre en to a certain
The dust caused by the -^ain^gVom Ihe north, and
Screening effect of dust. mechanical means of increasing i mi 0
perhaps he employed with effect. o)ose dist anees,
Signalling stations would have ta be taken^p ^ the ind aDd
Effect on signalling. dus t making it impossible to see for more
than a few miles. It is improbable that flags could be employed for sig
nalling during the summer gales. fn keeD troops under
It would be a matter of -n^abta difficulty
Effect of wind on tents. cially in the western parts of k.eistan,
the wind is strongest, owing to its violence carrying away the tents*_
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
'Seistan' [203r] (405/782), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/352, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069721605.0x000008> [accessed 22 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100069721605.0x000008
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100069721605.0x000008">'Seistan' [‎203r] (405/782)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100069721605.0x000008"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003bc/Mss Eur F111_352_0423.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003bc/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
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