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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 [‎176r] (351/678)

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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G-eo.—Sykes—Second Eevise.
Kala-i'Mazinan. Tradition has it that Mazinan was a general of
Alexander the Great.
From this rich plain we proceeded to Birjand, as I wished to be
settled down before the month of Moharram; so, leaving the main camp
behind, we marched due west to Fork, which, lying at the entrance to
the Mainabad range, possesses a most romanticdooking stronghold
situated about 500 feet above the valley on an isolated spur.
The following day we passed through the important village of Dar
Mian, a corruption of Darra Mian, or “ in the middle of the valley,” and
steadily rose, passing numerous hamlets, until, at rather over 7000 feet,
we reached the watershed of this range of rolling hills, which are quite
unlike anything I had hitherto seen in Persia, and are uniform in
character right up to Kain. For miles we passed through tulips and
hyacinths, while, as the gardens were one mass of bloom and the
climate delightful, we certainly saw the district at its best.
Descending the western slope of the range, we looked across the valley
to the high Bakaran hills, under which many villages were nestling,
and on May Day we halted at Bujd, a Sunni village, the following
morning entering Birjand, when the Amir’s brother rode out to welcome
us. The town is situated on both sides of a wide bed, and covers a
curious range of small rounded hills running down the centre of the
valley. Its appearance is unpleasing, owing to the absence of the trees
and gardens that grace almost every village in Persia, while its single
kanat is salt, and all drinking-water is drawn from abambars that are
tilled by bringing down streams from the hills. Lying in a sterile
valley, Birjand draws most of its supplies from Sunnikhana, and
owes its population of 15,000 inhabitants to the fact that it is a
distributing centre for Western Afghanistan, as well as the seat of
government. The climate is cold and bleak in winter and hot in
summer, but close at hand are numerous hamlets in the Bakaran
range where it is always agreeably cool.
The Bagh-i-Zirishk, which, as its name implies, is full of barberry
bushes, was placed at my disposal, and three days after my arrival, I
received the visit of the Shaukat-ul-Mulk, Amir of Kain, who is almost
the last of the semi-independent chiefs of Persia. Of Arab descent,
and aged about forty-seven, my visitor gave me the impression of a
much older man, and his accounts of the days when Turkoman, Afghan,
and Baluch raids were in full swing made me marvel that there
was any population whatever left to harry, although no doubt return
forays prevented the evil from being overpowering. As may be supposed,
the Amir is rather behind the times, and he expressed surprise at the
opening of the Suez canal, while the idea of wireless telegraphy quite
upset him. He told me that he was a member of the Khuzal or Khuzaima
tribe which had originally come from Bahrein, and that in the family
circle they still spoke a patois of Arabic, which was also to be heard in
the Birjand bazar. As the elder brother of the Amir rules both Sistan,
Tabas, and Tun, the southern portion of Eastern Persia is entirely in
the hands of this family, which is however disunited, as is so often the
case in the East, the two Amirs being half-brothers.
May’and the beginning of June were spent at Birjand, during
which period we gained an insight into the very patriarchal form of
government, and also visited the surrounding country. As the weather
grew hot—-SI 0 being registered at 8 p.m. one night—we made inquiries
about hill stations, and finally fixed upon Duruksh, 40 miles to the
east-north-east, as it was said to be cool, and, besides lying in the
centre of an unexplored district, was also conveniently situated for
my consular work. In addition to this, it is the home of the Kain
carpet-weaving industry, and is fairly close to Tabas, so that the
cost of forage would not be excessive. Our first stage was Kahnish,
situated 15 miles to the east of Birjand on a nala draining into its
river, and the following day we crossed the northern continuation of
the Mainabad range by an easy pass, known as the Gudar-i-Sar-i-
Chah, from a large village of that name situated in a valley sloping
down to the Fakh Hud, which, draining a somewhat large district, and
passing through Tabas, discharges its flood-waters into the Dasht-i-
Naumid. I mention the fact as even the latest maps are most inaccurate
on this head. ,

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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 [‎176r] (351/678), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/358, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069731505.0x000098> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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