![‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [‎65v] (135/617)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003ba/Mss Eur F111_350_0137.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [‎65v] (135/617)")
‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [65v] (135/617)
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.
i 1 * 4 - /"if irrmrovin 0 * tllG Ccir^'Vclll
and, with the ohjec whkhn vou consider
routes between Persia and Ba ^chistan you c
that it would be worth while to incur so
penditure m proteennS ’ h district under a
political control of the Uia p j
ii o r i n ffi„ er and by maintaining levy posts aim g
tti oad fo guard it Lm Afghan incursions on h
one side and on the other from the exactions which
the Nao’sherwanis of Kharan will
to levy upon it, unless British author.ty . P
sented throughout its whole length.
6. You explain that to secure adequate protection,
the whole of the road from Nushki to the Peisian
border, and the political arrangements in the
country through which it passes, should be placed
under a British officer, and this can only be done
by adding a Political Assistant to the staid ot the
frovomor General s Assent in Baluchistan.
7. The total cost of these arrangements is
estimated to amount to about Bs. 24,550 a year..
This outlay includes an increased allowance ol
Bs. 350 a month to
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.
Ali Khan, Sinjerani,
who has been re-instated in Chageh, from which
he was expelled hy the Afghans in 1886. In
return for this increased allowance he would he
expected to maintain a few levies for the protection
of the frontier beyond Chageh and towards the
Helmand.
8. Por the opening up and maintenance of this
important trade route, and for the protection of
the newly demarcated frontier, you ask sanction to
the addition of a Political Assistant of the 3rd
Class to your Excellency’s Political Department,
and to the other charges named, within the total
indicated. Your Excellency is of opinion that the
control of this new tract of country cannot be
effectually exercised in any other way or at a smaller
cost, hut if yon are permitted to incur the ex
penditure you have named, yon think that it will
he possible not only to ensure the protection of the
kafila
A train of travellers; a caravan; or any large party of travellers.
route, but also to establish peace and order
along the whole of this portion of the Afghan
border.
9. A perusal of Captain McMahon’s report has
led me to concur in the opinion which your Excel
lency’s Government have formed, that the effective
control of this country could not he exercised
otherwise than by the
agency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
which yon have
suggested. Further, the time appears to me to be
exceptionally favourable for encouraging traders to
make use of this route between India and Eastern
Persia. I understand that the transit trade between
these countries via Afghanistan has almost ceased,
m consequence of the crushing imposts levied on
caravans by the Afghan Government, and that the
Afghan traders are eager to take advantage of this
new route.
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’ [65v] (135/617), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/350, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100072740552.0x000088> [accessed 13 August 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100072740552.0x000088
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_100072740552.0x000088">‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [‎65v] (135/617)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100072740552.0x000088"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003ba/Mss Eur F111_350_0137.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