!['Seistan' [‎259r] (517/782)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003bc/Mss Eur F111_352_0537.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'Seistan' [‎259r] (517/782)")
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.
27
M
A village of 100 poorly-built houses, in the Mahal-i-Sharaki, situated on a
small bill on the ri<rht bank of the Zahak or Rud-i-Shahr. The Katkhuda is
Mir Shir uncle of the Kalantar of Iskel. The village, close to which is a
ford over’the Zahak, at all times passable by camels, is built in two parts.
ifcsowrew.—Eight ploughs of arable land, 5 horses, 150 cows, 250 sheep
and goats, 11 camels, and 30 donkeys.
margon.— , ,. t 4 t
A small village of 30 wattle and daub huts, which is the head-quarters of
the Mahal-i-Margon in the west of Miankangi. Its water-supply is
obtained from the canal, which feeds the Mahals of Pulgi and Margon.
Resources .—Four ploughs of cultivated land, 1 horse, 30 cattle, 45 sheep
and goats, and 10 donkeys.
, Is a pleasantly situated village of 80 poorly built houses, on the banks of
the old Halmand in the south of Miankangi. The village is built
on rising ground surrounded by tamarisk jungle, and the water of the
neighbouring canals only reaches the land near the village during flood
time, no wheat or barley is grown, but a large quantity of u sabzbar” only,
that is, cotton, onium, vegetables, etc. # _ , x *
There is a “ Tappaor small hill, about half a mile to the west of the
village, on which are the remains of old mill or tower, from which a good
view can be obtained. The village is a pleasant camping ground for a
small party.
Resources .—Five ploughs of cultivated land, 10 horses, 100 cows, 25
sheep and goats and 40 donkeys.
MIRAN HAJI.— . t v. u
A village of 25 poor huts lying in the valley which runs from Shahras to
Sehkoha in the south of Sheb-i-Ab. There'is excellent camel grazing near
the village, which belongs to the Mahal of sehkoha.
Resources.—-'Three ploughs of cultivated land, and a few cattle and
sheep and donkeys.
MOHAMMEDABAD—
Ts a village of 150 well bnilt houses in the Sheb-i-Ab district, situated on
the left bank of the Rnd-i-Sheb-i-Ab. About half a mile to the north is a
small “ Tappa M on which is the shrine of “ Kwajah >} from which a fair view
is obtained. On the south side of the village, which is considerably
cleaner and better kept than most in Seistan, and has a few good fruit
gardens, there is an excellent camping ground on the banks of a small
canal, which irrigates the cultivation belonging to Mobammedabad. Bie
main track leading from Nasratabad to Sehkoha passes through the village,
at the north end of which is a ford through the Rud-i-Sheb-i-Ab, which is
apparently always practicable for camels.
Resources.—Twenty ploughs of arable land, 7 horses, 40 cattle, 500 sheep
and goats, and 60 donkeys.
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' [259r] (517/782), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/352, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069721605.0x000078> [accessed 22 June 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