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‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [18r] (40/617)
The record is made up of 2 volumes (301 folios). It was created in 22 Jun 1896-3 Mar 1900. 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
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1
/S,
No. 7661, dated Quetta, the 2Sth November 1897 (Confidential).
From H^S^^Iarnbs, Es q ., I.C.S., C.S.I., Agent to the Governor-General in Bain.
. To—The Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department.
With reference to Foreign Department letter No. 176-F daforl ok+i
J“ y ’ 1 V 'f tUe hono . ur submit > f «>- ‘ b e information of the Government of
India, a copy of a report by Lieutenant Webb. Ware, Political Assistant fh •
on the results obtained by the measures sanctioned last year for the’nolitfcal
control and protection of the country between Nushki and aeistan and P nf t «f 1
trade route by which it is traversed. I much regret the delay which has taken
place in the submission of this report, which, it will be seen, is dated the ISth
July It was sent by Mr. Webb-Ware to the Sind Government Press to bt
printed, but owing to the pressure of work connected with the plague it could
not be put m hand for some weeks, and it only reached me a few days ago *
2. Lieutenant Webb-Ware’s report is very full and interesting, Jnd I think
the Government of India will agree that he has carried out the work entrusted to
him with much zeal, tact and ability. Although the number of levfes allowed
for the purpose was not large for a road over 460 miles long, he has neverthe
less succeeded m opening and protecting the trade route, and in establishing
British control throughout the Sinjerani district, and he has also done much tf
introduce better order into the Khan’s district of Nushki, The scheme which
the Government of India had in view has been well and successfully sfarted
and though trade operations were unfortunately hampered for sonm time bv
the restrictions found necessary in Seistan on account of the plague in Indm
the route bids fair to be popular, and has already been traversed by several
caravans. Including the local traffic between Nushki and Quetta, the total
value of the export and import trade from February to August has already
attamed the very respectable figure of Bs. 2,96,892. As the route becomes
better known, and as that portion of it which lies between Amir Chab and
Koh-i-Malik Slab becomes better protected from the occasional raids of the
Damanis and other Baluch tribes on the Persian side of the border, there is
every reason to hope that trade will considerably increase. It certainly ono-ht
to increase if the route can be made reasonably safe and easy, for, with the excep
tion of the route through Kashmir and Leh to Yarkand, it is now the only free
trade route by land from the
North-West Frontier
Region of British India bordering Afghanistan.
of India to the countries
beyond. The heavy duties levied by the Amir have done much to discourage
trade with and through Afghanistan, and it is not impossible that the new
route may in time revive much of the trade which used to pass through Herat
and Kandahar to Meshed. It may also attract a considerable portion of the
trade which now goes by sea to Bandar Abbas and thence into Eastern Persia.
3, I have not much to add to what Mr. Webb-Ware has written, and
until he has done another cold season 5 s work in the country, it will per
haps he advisable to defer making any specific recommendations for the
future either in regard to Nushki or the administration of the Sinjerani
country, more especially as the Government of India have decided for
financial reasons to limit Mr. Webb-Ware’s tour during the coming cold
weather. But there are a few points on which it is desirable to say a few
words. First, in regard to Nushki, I am afraid there is very little doubt
that the Nushki district will never be properly kept in order or properlv
developed so long as it remains in the hands of the Khan of Kalat. The Khan
takes no interest whatever in the district, and, without our assistance he is quite
unable either to keep the peace between the various sections of the Rakshani
and Mengal tribes, or to prevent raids from or across the border. He is also
averse to spending any money either in providing proper district establish
ments or in developing cultivation. Consequently, if he is left to himself, he
is never likely to obtain more revenue from the district than the few thousand
rupees
Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
which his Naib is at present able to collect. The lands round Nushki
are very fertile, especially the (i
dak
System of postal communication used in Moghul India and later by the East India Company.
” or alluvial plain through which the
floods of the Lora pass on their way to the Chagai Hamun, and if Bunds to
547 F. D.
About this item
- Content
The volumes contain papers relating to Persia [Iran], including Seistan, and the tract of land south of the Baluch-Afghan boundary between Nushki and Persia, which had become British territory following the demarcation of the Afghan-Baluch border.
The papers largely consist of printed copies of correspondence between the Governor General of India in Council (Government of India Foreign Department) and the Secretary of State for India (Lord George Francis Hamilton), and enclosed correspondence and papers.
Letters from the Governor General of India in Council to the Secretary of State for India include:
- Number 170, 16 September 1896, relating to the opening up of a trade route between Nushki and the Persian frontier, crossing the tract of British territory south of the Baluch-Afghan boundary, and the protection of the newly-demarcated frontier, with enclosed memorandum by Captain Arthur Henry McMahon, British Commissioner, Baluch-Afghan Boundary Commission, containing his proposals for the management and administration of the tract and for the protection of the trade route
- Number 58, 31 March 1898, concerning the trade route between Baluchistan and Persia, including the suggestion that Consular Agents should be appointed at central points along it between Seistan and Meshed, with enclosures including a report by Lieutenant Frank Webb-Ware, Political Assistant at Chagai, on his visit to Seistan at the beginning of 1896, and the measures introduced for the development of trade between Baluchistan and Persia (which includes a blueprint map, Mss Eur F111/350, f 33)
- Number 163, 15 September 1898, forwarding copies of papers regarding the situation in Makran and Panjgur, following recent ‘disturbances’ in Makran.
The file also includes:
- Copies of Government of India Foreign Department papers numbered 40-58 relating to the Kerman Consulate and British interests in Southern Persia, including correspondence between the Government of India Foreign Department and the Secretary of State for India
- A letter from the Secretary of State for India to the Governor General of India in Council, with enclosed despatch from Sir (Henry) Mortimer Durand, HM Minister at Tehran, to the Foreign Office, dated 12 February 1899, in which he gives his opinion on suggestions for the appointment of additional consular officers in Persia (this includes a map titled ‘Skeleton Map of Telegraph Lines in Persia.’ Mss Eur F111/350, f 187)
- A letter from Durand to the Secretary to the Foreign Department of the Government of India, 24 February 1899, enclosing a copy of his memorandum (with appendices) drawn up in 1895 on the situation in Persia, and the steps he proposed should be taken to improve the British position there
- Copies of a draft despatch from the Governor General of India in Council, 2 September 1899, regarding relations between Great Britain and Persia, including improving the British Political and Consular service in Persia, and the extent of the share of responsibility for Persia that should be devolved upon the Government of India, followed by printed comments upon the draft
- Copies of a minute by George Nathaniel Curzon, Viceroy of India, on Seistan, dated 4 September 1899, including the question of a railway connection between India and Seistan
- Handwritten pencil notes by Curzon relating to Persia and the ‘Seistan Question’.
In addition to the two maps noted above, the file also includes the following maps: map of the area south of the border between Afghanistan and Baluchistan (Mss Eur F111/350, f 300); map of the area west of the border between Persia and Afghanistan (Mss Eur F111/350, f 301); and ‘Route Plan of Robat Nala’ (Mss Eur F111/350, f 302).
- Extent and format
- 2 volumes (301 folios)
- Arrangement
Most of volume A is arranged in reverse chronological order from the front to the rear of the volume (from folios 6 to 76); volume B is arranged is rough chronological order from the front to the rear of the volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: this file consists of two physical volumes. The foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover of volume one (ff 1-150) and terminates at the inside back cover of volume two (ff 151-304); 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 in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [18r] (40/617), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/350, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100072740552.0x000029> [accessed 23 April 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F111/350
- Title
- ‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’
- Pages
- front , back , spine, edge , head , tail, front-i, 2r:32v, 34r:62v, 64r:84r, 86r, 89r:93v, 96r:96v, 99v:100v, 101v:128v, 129v:149v, back-i, front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 152r:186v, 188r:189r, 190r:299v, 303r:304v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence