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‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [134v] (273/617)
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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decision to the contrary. We desire to adhere to the policy of avoiding
as far as possible, any extension of our responsibilities m that direction; but
recent events have shown that we may be called upon to intervene m Makran,
and disorder across the border would undoubtedly prove a serious factor in the
Question. The history of the late disturbances in Makran, with our views as to
the situation there, will shortly be placed before Xour Lordship in a separate
despatch.
3 As regards our commercial interests in Persia we are under a dis
advantage in respect that we receive from the Diplomatic and Consular Officers
no general report on the trade of the country, such as we have of the tiade ol
China, Java, &c. The information we possess does not indicate a very exten
sive trade. We incline to the opinion that the hopes entertained of the future
success of the new route from Quetta to Seistan may. in course of time be
realised; hut we consider that premature activity is likely to prevent or post
pone that result. Lord Dufferin’s Government entertained apprehensions that
activity in the direction of Seistan might lead to a forward move on the part
of E/ussia, and we drew attention to the same subject in our despatch of the
24th July 1894; we entirely concur in the opinion held by the majority of
the Governor-General’s Council in 1887 on the subject of railway extension ;
and the information supplied to Your Lordship since the issue of your Eevenue
Despatch No. 209, dated the 2nd December 1897, will probably enable you to
agree that the appointment of Consular Agents in Seistan is not rendered
urgently advisable by considerations connected with possible trade in 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. The desirability of
arranging for such Agents has, however, been recently pressed on the attention
of the° Viceroy by representatives of the tea interest in the Kangra Valley.
Our returns of trade show that in 1887-88 the Indian tea exported to Persia was
i Ann lbs., or little more than one-fifth of the
amount of foreign tea imported into Persia.
The figures for the last five years are
quoted in the margin. The unfortunate
check to the trade in Indian tea in
1896-97 is to be ascribed to conditions
prevailing in India, and, in particular, to
the dislocation of trade caused by the
plague. The total trade by the Quetta-Seistan route did not reach 1|
lakhs
One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
of
rupees
Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
in the year 1896 ; in 1897 it exceeded 5
lakhs
One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
, and in the first four
months of 1898 it was Es. 3,11,000. Improved conditions for trade in Persia
* Vide letter from the Bombay Government which WOllld doubtlcSS be beneficial to Indian
was forwarded with the Secret Despatch from Lord interests by developing Outlets for Vam
Lansdowne s Governroent No. 49 (External), dated -i-ij-i i ^
the ist March 1893 . and cloth manufactured m Bombay A
only slightly
in excess
of 260,000
Foreign tea.
Indian tea.
lbs.
lbs.
1893-94
3,306,020
... 2,497,525
1894-95
3,961,397
... 3,172,806
1895-96
2,252,814
... 3,188,099
1896-97
2,387,319
,.. 1,993,823
1897-98
1,259,871
... 1,464,394
4. Various matters connected with our trading interests in Persia were
discussed in Sir Mortimer Durand’s Confidential despatch to the Poreign Office
No. 51, dated the 14th August 1896. We could not provide escorts of Indian
troops for Consular Officers in Persia, and we share Sir Mortimer’s apprehensions
that action on our part might lead to countermoves by Eussia. On the other
hand, serious disorder in Persia might afford Eussia a legitimate or plausible
ground for interference, while better rule on the Perso-Baluch border—which
might perhaps be facilitated by the appointment of a British Consular Officer
at some such point as Bampur—should re-act beneficially on our side of the
frontier and assist us in confining to the narrowest possible limits our responsi
bilities in Baluch-Makran. The recent arrangem'ent whereby receivers of the
Imperial Bank of Persia were to encash all customs duties at Bushire and
Kerman shah and to have also the right to see that the duties are duly levied
appears likely, if established, to prove an important step towards developing the
natural resources of Persia and increasing British influence. We have also
noticed with satisfaction the completion of the formalities in respect to the
agreement between the Bakhtiari Chiefs and Messrs. Lynch for the construc
tion of a road from Ahwaz to Ispahan.
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’ [134v] (273/617), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/350, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100072740554.0x00004a> [accessed 10 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