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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.
4^ HOTBS ON FEE8IAN SEISTAN.
POLITICAL.
The political situation has changed greatly during the last few years, that
is since the arrival of British and Russian Political officers on the scene, and
Seistan has now become, comparatively speaking, a civilised country, where
a knowledge of French is as necessary as a knowledge of Persian. The
change in the political situation has necessitated the despatch of Persian
officials from Tehran, with the result that the authority of the Central
Government is now the chief factor to be reckoned with. The change has
consequently not been for the better from the point of view of British
interests.
The Amir Hashmat-ul-Mulk and the Chief Sardars, who previously exercised
great authority and influence locally, have now lost most of their powers
which will in all probability continue to decrease in the course of the next
few years.
At the present time the situation is such that when the Amir and his
younger but legitimate son, Mir Ma’asum, are in Seistan the Nahrui and
Sinjarani Sardars, Said Khan and Khan Jan Khan, become influential, while
with the departure of the Amir and Mir Ma’asum and the advent of
Mohammed Reza, the Amir’s elder but illegitimate son,
Sardar
Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
Purdil Khan,
the Sarbandi Chief, whose daughter Mohammed Reza has married, becomes
an important figure.
However, the day of all these local chiefs is passed, and in the course of
conversation with intelligent Seistanis, at the time of the arrival of the
Boundary Commission, I found they all considered that the local Government
and men of local influence and standing, were of no importance compared
with the Persian officials, who had arrived with Teheran influence at their
backs.
•The main bulk of the population, whether Seistanis or Baluchis—and it 10
difficult to distinguish the one from the other—»have no martial spirit, arc
ill-armed when armed at all, and, in the event of a disturbance, could neither
protect themselves nor afford real help to others. Moreover, the poorer classes
openly avow their wish that either the Russians or ourselves, no matter
which, would take possession of Seistan and relieve them from the oppression
of the present Governor, the Hashmat-ul-Mulk. From a military point of
view, the latter, the tribal chiefs, and indeed the whole population may be
disregarded.
SEISTANI DIALECT.
The Seistani is far more closely allied to the Persian spoken in Afghanis*
tan, than to that of Persia, the terminations of many of the words being
clipped or contracted, especially in the case of verbal terminations.
Many of the words in the vocabulary that follows are merely the
contractions everywhere used by uneducated people, c y., birazdah for biradah
zadab, meaning a brother’s son,” but the Seistanis are slow at understanding
words not pronounced exactly as they have always heard them pronounced,
and sc they have been included. The chief difficulty for anyone, who has
previously studied modern Persian, in talking to Seistanis, is that the latter
only understand one word for each thing or idea, and until that particular
word is employed, they do not grasp what is meant, though they themselves
may use the same word, with a closely allied meaning, a moment later.
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' [223r] (445/782), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/352, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069721605.0x000030> [accessed 2 July 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