![‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [‎164r] (336/617)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003ba/Mss Eur F111_350_0338.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [‎164r] (336/617)")
‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [164r] (336/617)
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.
drills
advice
'§ the
delude
also a
e rsian
■ion of
our
revive
( 17 )
APPENDIX 1.
dj we
it the
sashig
tional
i and
>f the
i con-
irsian
iat is
^osely
l and
D.
Lieutenant-Colonel Picot to Sir M. Durand.
(Confidential.)
^ r ’ Tehran, August 31. 1895.
I HAVE the honour to transmit^ for your information^ a series of papers embodying
the result of an inquiry into Persian administration, and dealing with the question of
interior reform.
I have caiefully borne in mind the necessity of retaining, as far as that were possible,
those forms of government to which the people are already accustomed, and have
therefore brought forward proposals under the form of modification rather than radical
change.
Ihe difficulty really lies with the official classes, who are deeply interested in
maintaining the existing state of affairs, and in very many cases opposed to financial
reform.
These papers will, I venture to hope, prove of some value, Part I presenting a fairly
accurate picture of Persian official life, and Part II offering many suggestions for better
government.
I am, &c.
(Signed) H. PICOT, Lieutenant-Colonel,
Military AitachS.
Part I.— Notes on Persian Administration.
No. 1.
(Confidential.)
For the purposes of administration the land area of Persia may be divided into Appointments of
provinces, districts, ^belooks,” and villages under Governors-General, Governors, Governors in the
Deputies, and Khedkhodas, or village Headmen. provinces.
The Governors-General and the more important Governors purchase their appoint
ments at Tehran, where they are offered for sale to the highest bidders. These again
effect sales of the minor appointments, and so on down the whole length of the official
ladder. The appointments are generally for one year.
On the departure of the successful purchaser to the province, a Memorandum showing
the revenue and expenditure for the year is placed in his hands, no mention, however,
being made of the purchase-moneys.
The revenue is derived from direct and indirect taxation. Revenue.
The direct is that levied on land, forming the main portion of the revenue; the
indirect that from the customs, road taxes ( a rah dari”), octroi, special guild taxes, and
tribal taxes.
This direct and indirect form of taxation is what is known as the f *'asl” or real
revenue.
The basis of the land revenue is the village. There are in Persia two sorts of Direct taxation,
villages for purposes of taxation, viz., those owned by individual proprietors, and those
owned by the peasants. In the first case the proprietor is alone responsible for the
collection of the taxes; in the latter the Khedkhoda.
The tax is estimated roughly on the cultivated land, on the water supply, on cattle, and
heads. No regular system can be adduced, local circumstance, custom, and ancient right
being among the many factors.
Both cash and kind payments are made, the cash revenue being derived from such
cultivation as vines, rice, and comprising also poll and cattle tax.
The indirect taxation will be dealt with separately. indirect taxation.
Under the head of expenditure are included army expenditure, buildings, repairs, Expenditure,
remittances of taxation, salaries, and pensions.
As already stated, the direct and indirect taxation form what is known as the “asU or Additional taxation,
real revenue of the country, but in addition thereto is another tax called the “farh,” or
additional.
“ Farh ” may be termed an extra levy in cash, proportionate to the cash payments of the
“ asl” revenue. It ranges from ^ to 5 or 6 krans on every
toman
10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
of the “ asl” tax, and has
gradually taken root as part of the system of taxation, though it forms no part of the
revenue of the country at large.
[668] ' F
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [164r] (336/617), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/350, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100072740554.0x000089> [accessed 24 July 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100072740554.0x000089
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100072740554.0x000089">‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [‎164r] (336/617)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100072740554.0x000089"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003ba/Mss Eur F111_350_0338.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003ba/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
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