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‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [194r] (395/617)
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.
MINUTE by the VICEEOY on SEISTAN, dated September 4th, 1899.
I propose, in this Minute, to examine the present aspect of the Seistan
question in relation to our general policy towards Persia, and to the attitude of
Kussia in Persia. In my book on Persia, I wrote a chapter on Seistan (Vol. I,
Chap.. IX) which contained as full an account of that district, its history, 9
inhabitants, features, and commercial and political significance, as was then
(1892) procurable. I also discussed the political ambitions of Russia in con-
nection with Seistan (Vol. I, pages 201, 216-218, 235-244; Yol. II, pages 597-
598,605), and the question of a possible Seistan Railway from India in the
future (Yol I, pages 237-214, 628-629). I ventured further to make certain
recommendations, namely, that we should establish Consular or other rejiresent-
ation (a) at Yezd, (b) at Kerman, (c) in Seistan, (d) at Bunder Abbas; (<?) that
the Kerman-Meshed trade route should be improved; (/) that a British trade
route should be opened from Quetta to Seistan; (g) that the question of
railway extension in the direction of Seistan should be considered. Of these
recommendations, I am glad to say that, during the interval that has since
elapsed, (a), (5), (<?), (<?) and (f ) have'already been carried into execution.
In the despatch with which this Minute is enclosed, {d) is recommended by the
Government of India. I propose shortly to discuss the present aspect of {g).
The references which have been given will dispense me from recapitulating
the elementary facts about Seistan; and I may commence with an account of
what has happened during the past 7 years, leading up to a description of
the status quo.
2. Seistan was in 1892 a beluk or sub-division of the district of Kain
(capital Birjand) which is a part of the province of Khorasan (capital Meshed).
The Government of Kain has for long been in the hereditary possession of a
powerful family of Arab origin, wdiose head bears the title of Amir of Kain,
and -who, until the centralising tendencies of recent years, exercised an
authority almost independent of that of the Shah. Mir Alam Khan, who had
filled the post for over a quarter of a century, died in 1891. Eor reasons
into which it is not necessary to enter, the younger of his two sons, Ismail Khan,
known as the Shaukat-ul-Mulk (now about 50 years of age), succeeded him as
Governor of Kain at Birjand. The elder son, Ali Akbar Khan, known as the
Hashmat-ul-Mulk, became Governor of Tabbas and Seistan,—posts which he only
retains by the process, familiar in Persia, of the annual payment of a large
sum in cash to the Shah. The third son, Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, now just
grown up, was made Sartip or Commandant of the Kain forces. The Shaukat-
ul-Mulk and he have generally, but perhaps erroneously, been believed to incline
towards Russia, whose aim has been to get Seistan, now to some extent separated
from Kain, re-incorporated in it, and absorbed as an ordinary administrative
district in the province of Khorasan. Such an amalgamation would emphasize
the dependence of Seistan upon Meshed, from which it is now in some measure
separate.
3. Meanwhile the elder brother, or Hashmat-ul-Mulk, has not himself
resided in Seistan, but has deputed one of his sons, Mir Masum Khan, a fat
and lethargic youth of about 18, to act as Deputy Governor at Nasirabad, under
the tutelage of his mother, a lady with considerable powbrs of intrigue. This
son is supposed to intrigue with the uncle at Birjand and is not on the best of
terms with his father, who in 1898 sent an elder son, named Muhammad Reza
Khan, to supersede him as Deputy Governor. Upon Mir Masum Khan declin-
in 0, to go, the quarrel was patched up; and he still acts for his father in Seistan.
Thus the local situation is that of Russia endeavouring to increase her hold upon
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’ [194r] (395/617), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/350, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100072740554.0x0000c4> [accessed 16 June 2024]
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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