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‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [76r] (156/617)
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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9
tan authorities. The matter is not, I think, in reality, one o{ much difficulty If
revenue is taken from these tribes, moderate allowances for tribal service should
be granted to the chiefs and principal headmen. Whether Government reve
nue is or is not taken in the Nushki tract, it in no way affects the question of
taking Government^ revenue in the Chagai District. Government rights to
revenue there are indisputable, and the country generally may be treated as a
“ tabula rasa ” on which Government has now the opportunity of inscribing
with a free hand,_ any measures of administration it may wish, without infring
ing local or tribal rights. s
14. Before concluding these suggestions I should note the advisability
Necessity for making a good road to Nushki from on every ground of making a good road
Quetta ' . _ from Quetta to Nushki. The present camel
track is a very bad one, often very steep and sometimes passing through narrow
cuttings, which, in winter, are often closed by snow. A road would seldom if ever
be closed hy snow, and the.advantage to kafilas would be immense. The neces
sity for it is obvious in the interests of Government administration of the country
itself and in those of trade especially.
15. To sum up;—the objects to be aimed at in our dealings with the
c country south of the boundary line from
S “ mmary - the Sarlat to Persia are :—
The institution of direct dealings with the country in question in order (1) to
establish peace and security ; (2) to prevent future frontier troubles either from ag
gression from without or aggression from within; (3) to enable us, at a future time,
to make the best use of the important strategic position of Chagai; (4) to open up
and protect what promises to be a very extensive trade between India and Persia
and (5) to open up more direct relations with and acquire better information con
cerning Seistan and the neighbouring Persian frontier provinces. To attain these
objects the following measures are suggested.—
(1) the construction of a good road from Quetta to Nushki;
(2) the supersession of the merely nominal control of Kalat in the Nushki
district by direct British administration;
(3) the institution of direct British administration in the Chagai District
z.e., from the Nushki border to Persia;
(4) the formation in connection with (2) and (3) above of a regular Tahsil
at Chagai to administer both the Nushki and Chagai Districts.
The Tahsil to be added to the Quetta Pishin Districts. The ser
vices of an Additional Assistant
Political Agent
A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency.
to be granted, !
possible, to Baluchistan for the purpose of yearly visiting and looking
after this tract. The establishment to consist of a small revenue
establishment and a levy establishment consisting of the present
levy post at Nushki and 1 Jemadar, 2 Daffadars and 50 came sowars;
the 7 fatter to be employed both in the ordinary administrative work
of the Tahsil and in the protection of the
Kafila
A train of travellers; a caravan; or any large party of travellers.
routes south of
ot tne iaj an d Seistan. Moderate allowances
the boundary line from Persia ana ^eisiau. , , f the
for tribal service to be granted to the and he ad 1 th
various sections of the Sanjaram tribe and likewise to the
of the Rakhshani and Zagar Mingal tribes ;
(5) the taking of Government land revenue in the Chagai Distnc ,
if possible, in the Nushki District also;
i establishment of a small sowars (deluded
carefully selected moonshi, an y K ^ h . i . Ma i ik siah, or some
nei^S^e ^ gather months.
the total abolishment, or failing that the collection by Governmen
customs dues, on a revised scale, at Nushki. ied
, think that the above suggestions 1 ^PP r0 j''t ’ c ° excess i ve and,
out without any great difficulty. The expenditure .nvedved^,^ ^ ^ j
on the other hand, very small compared with P ^ for the contract
interests concerned. The approaching lapse ot P .
(6) the
(7)
I venture to
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’ [76r] (156/617), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/350, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100072740552.0x00009d> [accessed 26 July 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