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‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [115v] (235/617)
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 am to request that you will move the Secretary of State for India to refer the
matter to the Indian Government for their opinion as to the desirability of creat
ing Consular Agencies at the places named^ to be paid from Indian funds.
Lord George Hamilton said in his despatch—
“I trust that the suggestion of appointing Consular Agents at points along
the trade route between Quetta and Meshed, may receive the attentive consideration
of Your Excellency^ Government. It appears to me a measure desirable from
many points of view, and especially in connection with the facilities which might be
afforded by that route for the transport of arms and ammunition between the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
and Baluchistan.”
On the 31st March we sent home, with Secret despatch No. 58 (Frontier), papers relating
to the development of trade between Baluchistan and Persia, and to the control of the desert
tract between Nushki and Koh-i-Malik Siah. The despatch concluded by referring to the
suggestion as to appointing Consular Agents at central points between Seistan and Meshed
and promised a report in due course.
5. The history of the Kerman Consulate is briefly this :—In 1892, Lord Kimberley had
c ..I? iw v. i qoq xr kco declared himself unable, “considering the large
share already borne by India of the cost of
Diplomatic and Consular representation in Persia,” to acquiesce in a proposal, put forward by the
Foreign Office at the instance of Sir F. Lascelles, to create, “ at the entire charge of the Indian
Government,” a single Vice-Consulship for Yezd and Kerman. In 1893 Captain (then Lieute
nant) Sykes was permitted to proceed “ on leave ” to Kerman upon an invitation which
he had received from the Farman Farma, who was then Governor-General of Kerman.
Lieutenant Sykes subsequently went to Tehran and England, and about the end of 1894, he
returned to Kerman as Consul. He received no pay, but the Foreign Office gave him an office
allowance of £250 a year. The Government of India declined to contribute. His appointment
was for two years. He returned to England about a year ago, and came out to the Persian
Gulf last autumn on a mission connected with the measures taken to check the arms trade.
He has now, as shown above, gone back to Kerman as Consul at the joint charge of the
Home and Indian Governments.
Proposals for opening up the trade route from Nushki to Seistan were made in Secret
Secret P., October 1896, Nos. 160-165. despatch No. 170 (Frontier), dated the 16th
n September 1896, upon information obtained by
Captain McMahon, while demarcating the Afghan-Baluch boundary in that direction. The
Secretary of State telegraphed his sanction to the proposals on the 21st October 1896, and
Secret F., January 1897, Nos. 388-410. followed this up with a despatch, Secret No. 46,
“TViot-o Q r . dated the 23rd October 1896, in which he said—
will sprim- up pr ° per eilc0Qra Sement, a large and lucrative trade
&na nfvILw *r a • an . d ? uetta > * * * * the time appears to me excep-
Perst I nnHerrf u a<IerS t0 make use o£ this route betwe “ India and Eastern
consequence of tte erufhW . trad \ be ! wee “ entries via Afghanistan has almost ceased,
the Afghan traders are eager toTe ^vln^oTSnew i.^ 11 G ° Ver “ ment ' and tha ‘
6. Mr. Curzon has drawn* a vivid picture of Persian misrule in Persian Baluchistan, and
9 Persia, Vol. II, page 264. disorder tliere is no new thing 1 . In November
Tehran nntprl “ ■nionv,;^’ • r x- i 1896, Colonel Picot, the Military Attache at
unsettle stlYf We ? " Gd£ ““ Cbarbar " £
discontent prevailino- InAnriliao? m* ir^r S1 ^ e receive(i several reports of the
prevailing,, in April 1897, Mr. Hardmge, our Charge d'Affaires at Tehran, reported
External A, June 1897, Nos. 96-ios. that a nsmg appeared to have already taken
ments, was being sent Irnm TpIvt-ot, tt place, and that a new Governor, with re-inforce-
—- - “ ^ “SLet ^
Secret E., September 1897, Nos. 139-187. - In Ju ly> Mr. Hardinge reported no improve-
taken to punish those concerned in ATr r ment had taken place. The operations under-
telegraph line near the coast but k. f r”"?' appear . to bave loured safety for our
attained, and according to our latest news?! 01 ^? ° '"j?• ’ S P robab b b / 110 means
lask and Charbar must be retained\ilf the ^utum? 111161 DUrand thmks the ts at
re.pJi ° £ Ind;a sb » a >d
S poney to be followed, ,f afiarrs in Persian Baluchistan come to a crisis,"
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’ [115v] (235/617), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/350, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100072740554.0x000024> [accessed 9 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