![‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [‎61r] (126/617)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003ba/Mss Eur F111_350_0128.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [‎61r] (126/617)")
‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [61r] (126/617)
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.
No. 9086, dated Quetta, the 15th December 1896.
! r ° ra - H ; S * BAllNES, EsC1 *’ A ^ ent t0 tbe Governor-General in Baluchistan,
o The Secretary to the Government of India; Foreign Department.
dated 1 the receipt of your letter No. 2961F.
4.1 r ,. , ctober 18J6, on the subject of the arrangements to be made
Koh hMalik C Siah! n and proteCtiori of th ?
kafila
A train of travellers; a caravan; or any large party of travellers.
route fr om Nushki to
2 ‘ A ^ r - Wep ; ) Ware, the officer appointed for the control of the road
assumed charge ot his duties as directed on the 15th November, and I have lost
no time m discussing with him the details of the arrangements to be made
Although the sum allotted by the Government of India for the entertainment
of the necessary establishments, viz., Es. 28,200 (per annum) is small, I find
for so long a line of road as that from tbe Nushki frontier to the Persian
border, it will, I think, be sufficient at any rate for the present and as a begin-
mng. It is, however, only sufficient for the pay and contingent expenses of
the establishments to be entertained, and I have been compelled in my telegram
No. 447, dated tbe 24th November 1896. marked in the margin to ask for a further
„ . grant of Rs. 6,500 to cover the initial
expenditure required for starting the scheme. This request was sanctioned in
your telegram No. 134 of the 2nd instant, and Mr. Webb Ware is now engaged
in purchasing the necessary riding camels and equipment. I hope that he will
start for Nushki before the end of this month.
3. In paragraph 2 of the letter under reply, it is stated that a special
grant, at the rate of Rs. 28,200 a year, or Rs. 2,350 a month, will be sanctioned
for the unexpired portion of the year, i.e., from the 15th November to the
31st March. Of the monthly grant, a sum of about Rs. 2,250 will ultimately be
absorbed in the pay of establishments, whose pay for March will he drawn after
the 1st April, and about Rs. 100 a month will be for contingent expenditure.
I therefore calculate that the grant at my disposal for the remainder of the
year is Rs. 8,325*. Under the authority
given in your letter, I am sanctioning
Lieutenant Webb Ware’s office establish
ment, and also a small force of 3 or 4
native officers and 25 sowars who will he
enlisted in Quetta and who, with 10
sepoys
Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank.
from one of the native regiments
in Quetta, will form Lieutenant Webb Ware’s escort across the desert.
Lieutenant Webb Ware will be advanced the whole of the grant available up
to the end of the year, out of which he will pay his sanctioned establishment
monthly and also his contingent and tour expenses. He will also be instructed
to entertain, as he goes along within the limits of the grant allotted, the
remainder of the levies required for the posts which he will establish at differ
ent places on the route. It is not possible to say at present what these posts
will consist of, and the details cannot therefore be sanctioned in advance. It
is probable that in many places it will be sufficient to entertain local footmen
only, with a couple of camel sowars at each post for the purpose of communi
cation from one post to another. At Koh-i-Malik Siah Mr. Webb Ware will
leave a
Munshi
A term used in the Middle East, Persia and South Asia to refer to a secretary, assistant or amanuensis. Munshis were employed in the British administration in the Gulf.
with a few sowars.
Munshis
A term used in the Middle East, Persia and South Asia to refer to a secretary, assistant or amanuensis. Munshis were employed in the British administration in the Gulf.
will also be placed at one or two
other places en route, and as he returns Mr. Webb Ware will probably leave
a few sowars from his personal escort at each of the principal stations. "When
all the posts are established, complete lists will be sent to me, and provided
the monthly grant is not exceeded, a formal proposition statement of all the
establishment will be drawn up and sanctioned, and a copy sent to the
Government of India for information. This appears to me to be the only
satisfactory way in which, under the special circumstances of the case, the
necessary arrangements can be made at such a distance from the neaiest
treasury; All Mr. Webb Ware’s bills both for establishment and contingencies
will come through my office for examination and countersignature, and he will
not be permitted to exceed the sanctioned grant. Owing to the nature of the
country and the scantiness of the establishment available, the levy posts will
necessarily be very far apart, but I think that with good management they
should prove sufficient for the purpose for which they are entertained.
* Hs. 2,250 x =
„ 100 x 4 5 =
Total
Rs.
7,875
450
8,325
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [61r] (126/617), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/350, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100072740552.0x00007f> [accessed 23 July 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100072740552.0x00007f
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100072740552.0x00007f">‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [‎61r] (126/617)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100072740552.0x00007f"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003ba/Mss Eur F111_350_0128.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003ba/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
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