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‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [102r] (208/617)
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.
From
No. 1131 E.-A.
To
Sie WILLIAM CUNINGHAM, k.c.s.i.,
Secretary to the Government of India,
Colonel HENRY WYLIE, c.s.i.,
Officiating Agent to the Governor-General
in Baluchistan.
Foreign Dept.
cuAiijA, ine <nci August 1898.
Sir,
I am directed to reply to your letters, as marked in the margin
No. 3389 dated the 17 th May 1898. concerning affairs in Makran. In these
938 z 2,st July letters and their enclosures you have giveu
a sketch of the condition of Makran previous to the late rising, an account
of the causes which led to the disturbance and recommendations for the
future.
2 . To deal first with recent arrangements in Makran and the causes of
the disturbances, it seems to the Government of India that Dewan Udho Dass,
the Khan of Kalat’s ISazim, went much further in getting into his own hands
the entire administration of the country than the Khan ever proposed, or the
Government of India, in lending his services to the Khan, ever intended.
When His Highness asked for the services of Dewan Udho Dass, it was in
order that he might superintend the work of the Khan’s Naibs of Kej, Panjgur
and Kolwa, who were ordered to work under him. These Naibs were not
responsible for the whole administration, which is, on the contrary, supposed
to be conducted by the tribal Sardars, and which can in no other way be
carried on in accordance with Brahui custom. The Nazim seems not only
to have laid aside the Khan’s Naibs, but to have called upon the leading
men of Kej to pay revenue, although they had been formerly charged by the
Naibs with the duty of collecting it; and he also seems to have usurped
the authority of the Sardars themselves. It is not to be wondered at that, in
these circumstances, he incurred a measure of unpopularity great enough in
itself to cause a rising of the people against him.
3. The disturbances are said also to have been due to discontent aroused
by two decisions given by the Agent to the G overnor-General of the day against
Mir Baluch Khan, Naosherwani, and Mehrab Khan, Gitchki, besides the mal
contents gained confidence from the general feeling of unrest on the bordei,
and from a belief that the British were soon to be driven into the sea.
4. The complete manner in which local disturbers of the peace were routed
by the small body of troops under the able leadership of Lieutenant-Colonel
R. 0. G. Mayne, Commanding the 30th Regiment of Bombay Native
Infantry, must ha^e dispelled this last illusion. The other causes of discontent
cannot, however, fail to be associated, m the minds of the Sardars and tr be
men of Makran, with successive acts of interference by the Butish power.
S As von are aware, the Government of India, after very careful con-
ddin ofSTwhol.
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’ [102r] (208/617), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/350, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100072740554.0x000009> [accessed 21 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