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‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [93v] (191/617)
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.
** perfect K
lomSte againstlhe troops, interference with the people of the country,
Iwt^ on occasions, etc., etc. The only result of thus quarrell.ng .s to raise
a cloud of accusations and denials-accusations impossible to prove, denials im-
possible to refute.
Ibe admiristration is hopelessly weakened and the dissatisfaction extreme^
25. For this state of things there is only one remedy. A British officer
must live in Makran, look after the troops and settle their grievances.
06 If it is decided to keep one there, it would be as well to utilise his
services politically, and it would not he necessary to keep sueh an expensive
Official as the Nazim in Kej. The present pay of the Military Adviser would
he sufficient He would he well able to hold his own with the Kalat State
troops at his back, and the only difficulty would be the expense of the arrange-
ment as pointed out above.
27. There is one method of slightly decreasing this deficit, and that is. to
insist on the Gitchkis who share the revenues hearing their share of the cost
of the administration. This is a perfectly legitimate measure, but the pro
bable result in practice would he that the Gitchkis would cease to exert them
selves in, even if they did not actively oppose, the collection of revenue and
our receipts would fall off.
28. If a prosperous and well-governed Makran is worth the deficit of
Es. 55 , 000 , it would be perfectly simple to induce the Khan to consent to
the proposal.
29. With a system of levies which could he maintained for about Us.
30,000, I see no reason why our principal objects should not be attained. I
conceive these to be—
(a) a peaceful Ealuch border,
(b) the safety of the telegraph line between Ormara and Gwadur,
(c) the safety of British officers and survey parties who are required
to move about the country.
I would leave the revenue to be collected by the Khan’s officials accord
ing to the traditions of the country. The revenue returns will of course fall
off, hut the Khan will not lose, as his outlay will he Its. 30,000 as against the
lowest estimate of Rs. 55,000 noted above. Against this expenditure of Its.
30,000 he can setoff whatever revenue his Naibs can collect—probably at least
Rs. 15,000.
Provided the Naosherwanis are bound down to some such agreement as has
already been referred to in my telegram No. 31, dated 28th February 1898, of
which a proposed draft forms Appendix Y, the border could he controlled by
a strong Bezenjo thana in Hand.
The safety of the telegraph line would he insured by the subsidies already
granted, if there are no causes of irritation at work in the country, as, for
instance, the recent levy of revenue from all alike.
British officials and survey parties will have to he escorted by regular
troops at least for some time to come.
30. This would be a return to the old Baluch form of Government, the
only a Iteration being the provision of a certain number of levies who would be
regularly paid by the Political Adviser much on the system in which the
Jhallawan subsidies are disbursed.
•i. • . 11 ; e , ie l S i reas0I1 i s ^ a ^ e the country should be any worse than
itismthe Jhallawan nils or Kharan and the spread of civilization is bound
o come grac ua y, and, in my opinion, tar more surely than if British methods
are hastily torced upon a people ill-fitted for their reception
26 *
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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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