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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 [‎229r] (457/678)

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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27
T/( f
Tho azir, Khan Bahadur Ahmad A'ar Khan, was unable to be present
owing to illness.
We ro( le from the landing place at Dam to the bungalow, which had
been prepared for us. Here the escort of 100 men of the 12t,h
Infantry from Pislun were drawn
took leave.
up,
men ot the Bombay
and after inspecting them the Jam
Tuesday, 7th^ January 7P02.—Sonmiani. Halt.—The population of
Sonmiam vdlage is said to be about 300 families, of which 150 are Banias,
15 Khojahs and the remainder Koli ftshermen. The houses are all of mud
wi win s a s acmg the sea on the roof. Scindi is the language spoken.
Water is procured from shallow wells. It is sweet but muddy. The sea traffic
as diminished owing to the silting up of the former harbour, and most of the
communication with Karachi is now by land.
The Banias say that the imports and exports still amount to the value of
something like eight and four lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees respectively. The village possesses one
JJangi, or sea-going boat, and 40 Batels, or fishing boats.
The customs dues are collected by the State officials direct, so what they
amount to is unknown, but the rates levied are said to vary from 6 to 11 per
cent, ad valorem, different articles being charged for at different rates.
^ Wednesday , 8th January 1902. —Shaikh Raj, 19 miles by the road following
the telegraph to the east of the Siranda Lake—7 miles out are some tombs. They
lie north and south and are presumably Muhammadan. They are built in two
or three layers of carved sandstone, but there is no inscription on them, and Moula
Bakhsh, who visited them, is of opinion that they are not above ground tombs.
He thinks that the body was buried in the ground, and the superstructure was
puiely ornamental. The lower layer has perforated stone sides and could not
so, Moula Bakhsh thinks, have been built to contain the body. The two
upper layers now open at the ends are filled with sand, but were not meant,
he thinks, for coffins.
W e struck off the main road and went across country to the west of the
Siranda Lake where some boats, called “oris,” had been sent out for us. The
lake was very shallow and full of pelicans, flamingoes and wild fowl, but it was
impossible to take up places and get the birds driven. The extent was too vast.
The water was very shallow and full of creeks and backwaters hidden in tama
risk jungle, and the boats were of comparatively little use.
9th January 1902. —Shaikh Raj. Halt.—Shaikh Raj contains only five
or six houses ; of these only two are at present occupied by a Khojah and his
dependants. . The people apparently all live scattered about in huts built of
tamarisk twiggs. Water procurable from shallow wells in the bed of a nullah;
the 'water is muddy and brackish.
Friday, 10th January 1902. —Uthal, 12 miles.-—The road for the first half
passes through sandy barren country, after that there is a good deal of cultiva
tion all in fields surrounded by embankments to catch rain water. At the
10th mile is the shrine of Tajanturel, JPir of the Khojahs of Las Bela. The
building consists of a room containing a bedstead and a picture of Hayrafc
Abbas and is. surrounded by houses occupied only at the annual festival.
Uthal contains some 210 houses, of which half belong to Hindus, 25 to
Khoja.hs and the remainder to other Muhammadans. The Hindus here gave
us a display of fireworks, the same as the Hindus did at Sonmiani. Water
good from wells.
Saturday, 11th January -ZP<9£.—Wayara, 19 miles.—Cultivation extended
for some five miles out. At the 2nd mile some old mud ruins mark the site
of an ancient fort called Kalikot. The road ran through sandy cactus covered
country all the way till the Sukkan nullah was crossed at the 18th mile.
Wayara contains eight or nine huts inhabited by Shaikhs. Water good
from wells about 75 feet in depth. All the cultivators live in huts in their
fields.
12lh January 1902. —Pir Tihara, 9 miles.—Road through jungle of
kangar trees and cactus bushes all the way from the Wayara nullah close to
camp till we came to the large cemetery known as Tihara Pir. There are
hundreds of graves which have been covered with small round stones and in

About this item

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 [‎229r] (457/678), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/358, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100069731506.0x00003a> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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