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‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [142v] (289/617)
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.
My opinion upon all the suggestions above mentioned is as follows : —
(a) In the first place we should have an officer in Seistan, and perhaps
native Agents
Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government.
at some points between Seistan and Meshed.
(b) The Kerman Consulate should be made permanent, and perhaps a
British Vice-Consul or
native Agent
Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government.
should be sent to Bampur.
(c) The Resident in Bushire should spend the summer in Shiraz, and
any necessary expense for a house and other details should be
incurred.
(d) We should raise the pay of the Consul at Ispahan and improve his
position.
(e) We should appoint a Consul for the Karun and Arabistan, with
head-quarters at Ahwaz, Shuster or Mohammerah. It may be
necessary to put under him one or two
native Agents
Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government.
.
(/) We should replace the
native Agent
Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government.
at Kermanshah by a British
Vice-Consul.
(g) If the Government of India agree, I am inclined to think that
should have a Vice-Consul in Bunder Abbas, with charge of the
trade throughout South-Eastern Persia. Also, if the Government
of India wish it, there can be no objection on the part of this
Legation to the appointment of a British officer to Bahrein.
(h) Finally we should perhaps place a British Vice-Consul in Urumia
or thereabouts, and we should improve the position of the Consul-
General at Tabriz.
The grounds for these recommendations are apparent from all I have
written before.
(a) With regard to the first recommendation, the importance of Seistan
has long been recognised, and the recent reports of Messrs. Webb
Ware and Brazier-Creagh seem to put the matter beyond a doubt.
M e must keep Seistan in our zone. It is too valuable, and would
be too dangerous in Russian hands, for us to let the Russians
continue unchecked their efforts to close it to us and our trade.
The necessity for having
native Agents
Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government.
in neighbouring districts
is not, I think, so. clear. I have no great belief in the
agency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
or what Surgeon-Major Creagh calls “ crafty, diplomatic natives,’’
unless they are very closely supervised. They often do more
harm than good. But CajDtain Sykes will be able to advise after
spending some months in Seistan.
(b) It seems to me beyond dispute that a Consulate in Kerman is
becoming yearly more necessary. We must maintain a thorough
hold on 1 ersian Baluchistan, in the interests of our adjoining
protectorate and of our trade. Kerman is the capital of this
jmge and important province, and the head-quarters of the
Governor-General, and a trade centre of some consequence. I
am inclined to think that, if we have a British officer in Kerman,
we do not want another at Bampur. For the present at least I
should, tiy to do without, although we might send a
native Agent
Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government.
there if the Consul thinks we can get a man who will not stir up
mischief among the border tribes. i
(c) Shiraz is a place of great importance, both commercially and as the
capital of Ears, and the residence of the Governor-General. Our
Consul-General for Ears should know something of the province
and its ruler, over whom he should endeavour to establish a
personal influence. Our interests in Shiraz should not be left to
the present
native Agent
Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government.
, who, according to all the accounts I
receive, does very little good and some harm. I feel some doubt
whether Resident m Bushire, who has a great deal of work to do
m the Eersian Gulf, is not over-weigh ted by the charge of Ears
10
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’ [142v] (289/617), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/350, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100072740554.0x00005a> [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