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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.
( Confidential.)
List of Kerman officials, 8fc.
There are only two factions in Kerman :—
(1) That of the Zahir-ud-Dowla, a relation of Fateh Ali Shah, and a
former Governor-General of Kerman, &c,: to this belong the Sirkar Agha
(the head of the powerful Sheikhi sect) and most of the Khans.
(2) That of the
Vakil
Elected representative or attorney, acting in legal matters such as contracting marriage, inheritance, or business; a high-ranking legal official; could also refer to a custodian or administrator.
-ul-Mulk, also a former Governor-General of
Kerman and the father of the Adhus-Saltana.
I. His Excellency the Ala-ul-Mulk, Governor-General of Kerman
and Persian Baluchistan; a Tabrizi Turk and a Saiyid ; speaks French fluently ;
is in habits, tastes and manners, a European; was Ambassador at Constanti
nople when the Shah was accused of kissing the Sultan’s hand; is not much
liked by some influential persons near the Shah; is not strong enough to rule
Persians. He has been over a large portion of Europe and likes Europeans
generally. He fears the Russians, likes the English, but reserves his admiration
for the Germans.
II. The Said-us-Saltana, Deputy Governor, nephew and son-in-law of the
Ala-ul-Mulk, a general favourite with Persians, does most of the work;
bright and capable ; has never been out of Persia, does not like the Russians;
likes the English. I think he is trying for the Governorshij) of Shiraz.
III. The Karguzar, Mirza Sadik Khan-i-Sartip. He is a Tahrizi Turk
and hanger-on of the Ala-ul-Mulk; he speaks a certain amount of French and
German, besides Eastern and Western Turkish. He was some time in Con
stantinople with the Ala-ul-Mulk. At present he is a friendly nonentity.
IV. The Dabir-us-Sal tana,
Wazir
Minister.
; brother of the Said-us-Saltana;
a nice hoy hut brainless. Is not thought much of hy the Persians. Very
stingy.
V. The Adl-us-Saltana, Brigadier-General, &c.; much respected on
account of his father, the
Vakil
Elected representative or attorney, acting in legal matters such as contracting marriage, inheritance, or business; a high-ranking legal official; could also refer to a custodian or administrator.
-ul-Mulk ; has acted as Governor and managed
the Post Office (his accounts still show an enormous deficiency) ; is landlord of
the Consulate; is in charge of some small nomad tribe or tribes and can
consequently command camels; a very nice man to have even money dealings
with—except that he is apathetic and hopelessly in debt.
Has lost a certain amount of money over the carpets sent to India and
the well-boring experiments, but is too good natured to nourish resentment.
Has a lot of gentlemanly feeling. Has two sons that are learning English.
The Adbus-Saltana is really the Chief Khan in Kerman.
VI. The Adl-us-Sultan {Muhammad Reza Khan), half-brother of above.
Dishonest; has swindled his own brother.
Has just been turned out of the Governorship of Rudbar. Is a bit, if
not a good deal, of a scoundrel.
VII. Rustam Khan, half-brother of the Adl-us-Saltana; has just been
appointed Governor of Rudbar.
VIII. Muhammad Mahdi Khan, half-brother of the Adl-us-Saltana ; at
present a hanger-on of the Ala-ul-Mulk.
IX. Haji Muhammad Khan, uncle of the Adl-us-Saltana. His father,
who hoped to make him Prime Minister of Persia, spent a fortune on his
education in Paris. A miserable old man shunned by his relatives.
X. The Muhtashim-ud-Doula, half-brother of above. A sort of agent
to the Zill-us-Sultan (eldest son of late Shah) and Governor of Ispahan. A
cad: might be useful. It was through him that the title of
Nawab
An honorific title; an official acting as a provincial deputy ruler in South Asia; or a significant Muslim landowner in nineteenth century India.
was
obtained for Mirza Nassrulla Khan of the Kerman Consulate.
XI. Vali Khan, half-brother of above. Governor of Bam.
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' [297r] (593/782), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/352, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069721605.0x0000c4> [accessed 1 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