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‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [24r] (52/617)
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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
3
APPENDIX I.
Administration and local Trade of Nushki, Cliagai, and
Western Smjerani country.
i
u.ov uos euu urauo etna uuministration aspect of each tinder its
heading.
own separate
These divisions would be—
(a) JN itshki, or the country east of Chagai, bounded on the north and
east by the lately demarcated frontier, and on the south by the
Sarlat Range. j
(b) Chagai, or the country directly west of Nttshki, and contained
between pillars clvii and clxxvi of the Baluch-Afghan boundary
on the north, the Haskoh Kammaran Malik Sarindag hills on the
south, and on the west by a straight line drawn from pillar clxxvi
through Lal Khan to the Goukok hill near Galachah.
(c) Western Sinjerani country, or that tract west of the line just
drawn and enclosed between the Baluch-Afghan and Balucs-
Bersian frontiers.
1. riie Nhshki district to all intents and purposes is inhabited by onlv
two tribes, the Zagar Mengal and Rakhshani. Of these, the former,
if we include the nomad members, outnumbers the latter in the proportion
of seven to one.
In former times, the whole of Nushki undoubtedly belonged to the
Rakshani, with its rich arable lands and pasturage, and this they retained till
conquered by the Mengals. The fact that the' proprietorship of the land is
chiefly in the hands of the Rakshani affords sufficient evidence that the
Mengal yoke pressed hut lightly on the Rakhshani. Beyond being stripped
of a lew lands and the right to levy a tax on passing merchandise, they were left
pretty much to themselves. The explanation of this appears to he in the fact that
the Mengals, by inclination, were essentially a pastoral race and, as large num
bers do to the present day, preferred bartering their surplus stock for grain to
engaging in the uncongenial toils of cultivation. To come down to more
modern times, the Mengals are divided into two great branches—the Babin i
and Nozai, each of these branches in turn being sub-divided as follows, viz.,
the Badini into the Bajarzai, Tarasizai and Amirzai ; and the Nozai into
the Mahmtjdzat, Mandai, Ahmebzai, Baranzai ; and each of these sub
divisions is again still further divided into from six to eight
Tomans
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
. All the
Nozai branch, and the Tarasi5i sub-division of the Badini branch of the
Mengals, are migratory ; that is to say, that, while owning extensive lands in the
Dak
System of postal communication used in Moghul India and later by the East India Company.
, on the southern side of the frontier, they pass the major portion of the
year—and in years of drought, the entire year—pasturing their flocks in
Afghan Eegistan. "While none dispute the Sardarship of Muhammab Alj
Khan, Bajarzai Mengal, yet, since the Baluch-Afghan Boundary Commission
finished their labours last year and many of the leading migratory Mengals
visited Kabul, they have not shown themselves so ready to acknowledge the
Sardar’s sw r ay as of old.
2. The order of precedence of the branches into which the Rakshani are
divided is as follows : the Babini, Jamalbini, and Manbai. The latter branch
is of little account, as the Babini and Jamalbini, long years ago, combined
to crush them and strip them of their possessions, and thus it came about that
the Manbai Chief, Baloch Khan, was reduced to his present impoverished
condition,
B. The Babini and Jamalbini, having overthrown the common enemy,
straightway turned their attention to one another. Por over thirty years
have these two clans been struggling for the supremacy, fortune sometimes
favouring one side, sometimes the other. By hereditary right, Alam Khan,
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’ [24r] (52/617), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/350, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100072740552.0x000035> [accessed 24 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