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Notes Prepared for Reference during Curzon’s Tour of the Persian Gulf, and Other Papers on Persia and the Persian Gulf [‎174r] (347/678)

The record is made up of 1 file (337 folios). It was created in 4 Aug 1895-21 Nov 1903. It was written in English and French. 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. .

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16
Oeo.—Sykes—Second Revise,
Persia. The climate, according to universal testimony, has much im
proved of late years, and must have been somewhat try mg before as
we had a temperature of 92° during March, while m early Apn ■
flies by day and the mosquitoes by night rendered existence unpleasant
to man and beast alike. r
As the weather was growing hot, while not more than two-thirds o
Sistan had been travelled over, early in March we commenced our
second tour, stiiking the edge of the lake at a point due nortb^of
Nasratabad. We were now able to examine a different sectio
ho,mun, as for many miles the shallow brackish water was covered with
high bulrushes, rising to a uniform height of 10 feet a o\e our ( ,
Engaging rafts, we were poled down an open passage about the
width of a cairiage drive, and heard the notes of countless birds while
hawks of every species hovered above. The first bird that we bagged
was blue, with a red beak and rather long legs; it is termed a bM,
and is good eating. After that ducks of various sorts rose, offer n
ideal shots, but difficult to pick up in the thick jungle. My poler told
me that there were four hundred families of fowlers, or Saiads as they
were termed. They pay half a crown per family as a tax, together
with 3 lbs. of feathers, the collection of which is a great industry m
Sistan. Nets held apart by stakes are set, and as the birds feed across
them a concealed fowler pulls a string and takes the bird. 1 ne
Saiads appeal ed to be a class quite apart, and it is possible that they
are the original inhabitants of Sistan, as when Timur swept the pro
vince clean they could have concealed themselves m the hamun, where
pursuit would be impossible.
Further east, at Gazbar, which is the best centre for shooting, we
saw large flocks of geese, many of which we bagged by the simple plan
of firing a volley among them from a distance of some 400 yards, o^e
volley resulting in a bag of three geese. . ,
At Jalalabad we were on the bank of the Rud-i-Perian, and as the
flood had commenced, the crossing to Mian Kangi * was anxious work
The river which is divided into several branches, was flowing wuti
a swift current, and was nearly 4 feet deep, the main stream being a
quarter of a mile wide. We engaged several men to support the loads
on each side, and, to our great relief, only one camel fell which was
almost marvellous. Mian Kangi is of quite a different character from
the rest of Sistan, being covered by a dense tamarisk jungle, in which
the villages are mere clearings. We rode to the Tapa-i-filial the
frontier where the Helmand, until quite recently, discharged its waters,
and found a bare waterless desert, covered with the roots of perishing
reeds, and affording yet another example of what water means in these
dried-up lands. We marched south with the greatest difficulty, as tne
numerous canals were hardly practicable, the guides being up to t eir
chests in water. At Takht-i-Pul, and again at Karkusha, are old rums,
with splendid kiln-burnt bricks, 24 inches by 17 inches m size; but no
coins or seals were forthcoming,'although boih sites were said to have
been Keiani cities. , tt i i
We saw Nad-i-Ali, the Afghan frontier post, across the Helmand.
It is built on a conspicuous mound; its ancient name was apparently
Nokoij and it was only repeopled and renamed some sixty years ago
or less. Close by, to the south, are the ruins of Amiran, or Miran,
where Greek and other coies and seals are found after heavy rain.
At Milak the Rud-i-Perian flows in a single channel 300 yards
wide and for perhaps 50 yards swift and deep. Rafts were procured,
on which our gear—to use the comprehensive naval term—was stowed,
and the horses swam across, but not without difficulty. Each camel
had four gourds tied on to its back, and a swimmer towed the “ ship of
the desert ” in front, while a second man sat on its tail, presumably
to prevent a capsize. The oont, as Thomas Atkins terms it, was thus
towed across, not making, as far as could be seen, the slightest effort to
swin, but passively submitting, with an air of dignified melancholy.
Early in April the whole of Sistan had been surveyed, and prepara
tions were made for the move to the province of Kain. As there were
* Said to be the equivalent of Mesopotamia,
t Vide ‘ Eastern Persia,’ p. 299.

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Content

The file contains papers relating to Persia [Iran] and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , including a document entitled ‘Notes on current topics prepared for reference during his Excellency the Viceroy’s tour in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , November 1903.’ It also includes printed extracts of letters relating to the tour from Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Arnold Kemball, Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and Major Percy Zachariah Cox, Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Maskat [Muscat], dated August to October 1903.

In addition, the file includes the following papers:

  • Handwritten notes by George Nathaniel Curzon, Viceroy of India, including notes on Muscat, Koweit [Kuwait], and the Mekran [Makran] Coast
  • Memoranda concerning Koweit
  • A copy of a letter from Colonel Charles Edward Yate, Agent to the Governor-General and Chief Commissioner in Baluchistan, to the Secretary to the Government of India Foreign Department, forwarding the camp diary kept during his tour in Makran and Las Bela, from 1 December 1901 to 25 January 1902
  • A copy of a 'Report on a Journey from India to the Mediterranean via the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Baghdad and the Euphrates Valley, including a Visit to the Turkish Dependency of El Hasa' by Captain J A Douglas, Staff Captain, Intelligence Branch, Quarter Master General’s Department in India, 1897 (which includes three sketch maps: Mss Eur F111/358, f 138; Mss Eur F111/358, f 158; and Mss Eur F111/358, f 141).

Folios 232 to 338 largely consist of printed copies of correspondence between Sir (Henry) Mortimer Durand, HM Minister at Teheran [Tehran], and the Marquess of Salisbury (Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil), Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, dated 1895-1896, relating to Persia.

The file includes a copy of a Collective Letter addressed by the Turkish, British and French Consuls to the Valiahd regarding the Tabriz Riots, 5 August 1895, which is in French (folios 332).

Extent and format
1 file (337 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in roughly chronological order from the rear to the front 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 339; 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.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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Notes Prepared for Reference during Curzon’s Tour of the Persian Gulf, and Other Papers on Persia and the Persian Gulf [‎174r] (347/678), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/358, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069731505.0x000094> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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