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'SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS AND MEASURES OF THE VICEROYALTY OF HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON OF KEDLESTON, VICEROY AND GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA IN THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT. I. JANUARY 1899-APRIL 1904. II. DECEMBER 1904-NOVEMBER 1905. VOLUME IV. PERSIA AND THE PERSIAN GULF.' [‎97v] (199/386)

The record is made up of 1 volume (189 folios). It was created in 1907. 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. .

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90
in 1897. The main impediments were the total lack of supplies, other thati
those specially imported, on the road between Nushki and the Seistan frontier, and
the illegal extortion of the Persian toll collectors (many of them in Russian pay)
in Persian territory. Notwithstanding he thought that the Quetta-Seistan route
would eventually beat the Bunder Abbas route to Meshed, because mertdian-
dise carried by the latter had necessarily to change hands several times in transit
because a longer time was inquired for the journey thereby and because the road
was less secure than one running uninterruptedly, through British territory.
In the year 1899, the same officer’s second annual report testified to a
continual improvement both in the amenities of the route, and in the trade
returns, which increased by Us. 6,38>000 since 1897. A new bazaar was
laid out in Nushki, which has developed into a small town, the prosperous
future of which became certain, when, in 1899, the district of Nushki
was permanently taken oyer by the Government of India. Throughout
1899 a weekly dak System of postal communication used in Moghul India and later by the East India Company. was maintained from Quetta to the Seistan frontier, in cor
respondence with a bi-weekly Persian dak System of postal communication used in Moghul India and later by the East India Company. thence, v/d Nasratabad and Birjand
to Meshed. Alterations and short cuts in the route reduced the distance from
Nushki to Meshed to 954 miles, as compared with 9G6 miles from Bunder
Abbas to the same destination.
8. An independent light was thrown upon Seistan in the same period by
the visit of Captain Sykes, who was despatched thither as Consul at the end of
1898 in consequence of the appointment of a Bussian Consul to Nasratabad;
Captain Sykes, who had been for some time Her Majesty’s Consul at Kerman,
was not hopeful of the prospects of the Quetta-Seistan route, as compared with
the old trans-Persian road, hut he agreed with the opinion of all previous
travellers in Seistan that it was essential that British interests^ commercial and
political, should he sustained in that quarter by an energetic and liberal main
tenance of the line of communication with India, though he considered that, for
their support in Seistan itself, it would be sufficient to rely upon Indian Native
Agents, unless a more active course were imposed by Bussian initiative.
9Mt will thus be seen that Seistan was, by virtue of its positionand its features^
an object of much interest both to Russia and Great Britain. Situated at the
point of junction of the frontiers of Persia, Afghanistan, and Baluchistan, its
future affected the destinies of all three countries. Lying alaiost midway
between Meshed and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , no advance could be made from
Khorasan to the sea except through Seistan. Its position upon the exposed
flank of Afghanistan would render its occupation of great value to any Power
contemplating either a move against that country, or an advance upon
Kandahar. It cannot be denied that the Kandahar-Herat line could not be
held with safety by India, nor the valley of the Ilelmand defended, were a
hostile Power m possession of Seistan. Furthermore, the grain-producing
capabilities of the district, which could he revived by scientific employment of
t ie waters of the Helmand, render Seistan of much value as a possible
granary, either to a Power engaged upon a forward advance, or to a Power 4
interested m commercial and industrial expansion.
10* The force of these circumstances compelled the Government of India to
display concern in Seistan, but, with unconscious inconsistency, they at
intervals affected to repudiate it, and as recently as August 10th/1898, the
Government of India, writing to the Secretary of State, referred to the appre-
enuons of Lord Dufferin s Government in 1887, that “ activity in the direction
o eistan might lead to a forwaid move on the part of Russia and gave it as
xeir opinion that “ premature activity was likely to prevent or postpone the
luture success of the new route from Quetta to Seistan. ”
,, , Lo ^ Curzon was unable to understand either the force of this logic ot?
the consistency of this conduct. The abstention of the Government of India
rom disp aving any interest in Seistan did not for one moment affect the designs
or retaid the advance of R-uSsia in that direction; Russian news-writers were
es a ished in the district before anything more than a casual visit hod been
rn a °^ G f r } ai) d the Russians were already at work extending
leir rans-Caspian Railway Irorn Mery to the Kushk post, before the caravan
route from Quetta in the direction of Seistan was decided upon.
i 12. Similarly it was impossible to comprehend how the trade route having
cen de iberately opened, any activity in developing it could either ba premature

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Content

Printed at the GC [Government Central] Press, Simla.

The volume is divided into three parts: Part I (folios 5-47) containing an introduction; Part II (folios 48-125) containing a detailed account; and Part III (folios 126-188) containing despatches and correspondence connected with Part I Chapter IV ('The Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ', folios 28-47).

Part I gives an overview of policy and events in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. region during Curzon's period as Viceroy [1899-1905], with sections on British policy in Persia; the maintenance and extension of British interests; Seistan [Sīstān]; and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . Part II contains more detailed accounts of selected topics, including sections on British policy in Persia, customs and finance, quarantine, administration, communications, and British and Russian activity in Seistan. The despatches and correspondence in Part III include correspondence from the Government of India in the Foreign Department, the Secretary of State for India, and the Viceroy; addresses and speeches by Curzon; and notes of interviews between Curzon and local rulers.

Mss Eur F111/531-534 consist of four identical printed and bound volumes. However, the four volumes each show a small number of different manuscript annotations and corrections.

This volume contains manuscript additions on folios 8, 11-12, 14, 42 (a sixteen word note concerning the use by the Shaikh of Koweit [Kuwait] of a distinctive colour [flag] for Kuwait shipping), and 62-66.

Extent and format
1 volume (189 folios)
Arrangement

The volume contains a list of Parts I-III on folio 4; a table of contents of Part I on folio 6; a table of contents of Part II on folio 49; and a table of contents of Part III on folios 127-129, which gives a reference to the paragraph of Part I Chapter IV that the despatch or correspondence is intended to illustrate.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 191; 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. Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

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English in Latin script
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'SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS AND MEASURES OF THE VICEROYALTY OF HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON OF KEDLESTON, VICEROY AND GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA IN THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT. I. JANUARY 1899-APRIL 1904. II. DECEMBER 1904-NOVEMBER 1905. VOLUME IV. PERSIA AND THE PERSIAN GULF.' [‎97v] (199/386), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/534, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100070118029.0x0000c8> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100070118029.0x0000c8">'SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS AND MEASURES OF THE VICEROYALTY OF HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON OF KEDLESTON, VICEROY AND GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA IN THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT. I. JANUARY 1899-APRIL 1904. II. DECEMBER 1904-NOVEMBER 1905. VOLUME IV. PERSIA AND THE PERSIAN GULF.' [&lrm;97v] (199/386)</a>
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