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‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [25r] (54/617)
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.
shadowy; revenue has been collected only at the point of the sword ; water
the private property of the Khan, has been seized upon and divided; the allow
ances which the Zagah Mengal
Sardar
Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
has hitherto received from the Khan
have been discontinued. The various factions, Mengal and Rakhshani, have
quarrelled and fought, and quarrelled again, just as pleased themselves. And
as to whether the Mengal and Rakhshani cultivated their fields in peace, or
put their numerous feuds to the issue of the sword, appears to have interested
the Khan but little. This is a matter for comment. It is evident that in
proportion as these inter-tribal feuds became more acute, so more lands were
thrown out of cultivation and revenue diminished. The key to the problem
is to he found in the policy of the Khan’s Naib, who, fully recognising the
precarious nature of his master’s tenure in Ntjshki, has been the foremost
in fostering these same inter-tribal feuds and quarrels, with the deliberate
object of keeping the various factions apart and preventing any combined
action, which would first be directed towards his own overthrow. Had not
last year s Boundary Commission taken place, the Khan would have been
compelled in the immediate future either to take decisive action to re-establish
his fast waning authority on a solid basis or be satisfied to see Nushki slip
from his rule for ever.
9. The revenue the Khan enjoys is derived from two sources, viz .—
(o) Land revenue at the rate of -i^th on all produce, excluding that of
Sardar
Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
Muhammad Ali Khan Zagar Mengal, and his
“ following.”
(6) Two sheep annually from each
Toman
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
in the name of “ Mehmani.”
As to the actual amount of revenue so raised, it is difficult for me to offer
an opinion, as there are no records to which I have access. On arrival at
Nushki, I was told by the Naib’s Assistant that it amounted to merely “ thora
tukra mithi” or nothing, whereas the Naib, on my return a few months later,
placed it as high as Rs. 5,000. According to my latest researches, I believe that
the amount realized last year, and paid to the Khan, was Rs. 4,700, and this
figure may be taken as fairly accurate.
10. We are now confronted with the problem as to what is to he our
future policy towards Nushki. With the conclusion of last year’s Boundary
Commission, under which no less than 80 miles of Nushki bordering on
Afghanistan have been carefully demarcated, the only excuse we ever
possessed for holding aloof has been swept aside. To maintain our policy of
indifference longer is impracticable. As Capt. McMahon, when Boundary
Commissioner, very truly pointed out, the presence of a number of irresponsible
Chiefs on the frontier, answerable to no one, is calculated to keep us conti
nually embroiled with the Amir, and to be a source of continual weakness, if
not of actual danger.
11. Krom what I have just said, I think no one will question that
the district must be administered in future under the supervision of a British
officer. Shadowy and precarious as I have shown the Khan’s authority to be,
and likely at no distant date, had the old regime continued, to have been
summarily extinguished, still G-overnment is averse, and rightly so, to permit
ting the cession of any integral portion of a Native State to British adminis
tration. Thus, only two courses appear open—
{a) Either to take over, under an amicable arrangement with the Khan
* the administration of Nushki, judicial and fiscal, giving the Khan
in exchange a fixed amount of, say, Rs. 15,000, or close on four
times’ the value of the revenue which he has of late years enjoyed. 5
(5) Or to call on the Khan to administer the country on lines that
promise some hope of success. And an essential feature of such an
administration—as on it would hinge the entire success of the plan—
would be the appointment of a capable, trustworthy official, with
some small experience of British methods of collecting revenue and
administration, and answerable in all matters relative to revenue
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’ [25r] (54/617), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/350, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100072740552.0x000037> [accessed 10 August 2026]
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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