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‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [234r] (475/617)
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.
[ 19 ]
predicated line, Th^rthere woSTe^u^end^o^R 8 * nd S ? Uth of t,le
engagement” that nr politicafinfltefe” h^H f ^“erhap^ en^fmm
on the opposite side of the But theti u f ercised , ^ either P»t”
arriving at any such understanding; since it woulThroT^tt dlffleu J* ies ia
remove the British reoreseotntivpa ouv be out of ^estion to
■whose functions necSlT WoT™ thf of &t Tabriz ’ or at Meshed .
58 There are however, difficulties and drawbacks in the case of such an
understanding which it would he impolitic to ignore. We have already hinted
at one of their number. The facts with reference to Seistan which have been
mentioned by the Viceroy m his Minute, by Sir M. Durand, and also in tZ
despatch, indicate the absolute necessity of including that district within the
Bntish sphere. Nevertheless Seistan is physically and administratively a part
ot the province of Khorasan, from which it is severed by no clear line of
division, the Governorship of Seistan being vested in a member of the old
ruling family of Kain, the two existing heads of which are brothers, residino'
respectively at Tabbas and Birjand. It also seems exceedingly doubtful to us
whether Russia would, .by any such agreement as we are discussing, forego her
designs, upon Seistan itself, and still more her chances of reaching the eastern
extremity of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
. Nor again is it clear that she would be willing
to cancel the engagement with regard to railway construction, which she has
recently renewed with the Persian Government, and to hand over the southern
half of Persia to possible railway exploitation by British
agency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
, in return for
a monopoly of similar exploitation (which may he said to be already at her
disposal) in the northern half. These, however, are considerations which could
only he decided by the attitude of Russia herself, were she approached on
the subject by Her Majesty’s Government. We indicate them merely for
the purpose of showing that we are far from confident that the suggestion, if put
forward, w T ill meet with a favourable reception.
59. A more serious drawback, from the point of view of British interests,
is the fact that the capital of Persia would lie in the northern or Russian sphere j
and that Russian influence there, already predominant, could hardly fail to
become supreme. The situation that has recently arisen in China would present
itself with ten-fold gravity and emphasis. A desire would not merely be inti
mated to connect the capital with the Russian railway system : hut a line itself
would, we may imagine, at once be made to Tehran, while corresponding lines
would in all probability be constructed from the Russian frontier in Georgia to
Tabriz, and in Trans-Caspia to Meshed. With the three great cities of Northern
Persia thus permanently linked with the Russian system, the power of
pressure exercised by the Russian Government, which is already considerable,
would be positively overwhelming. The Shah would tend more and more to
become a Russian puppet, and Northern Persia a Russian proconsulate. We
should look with great anxiety, in such a case, upon the fate of such institutions
as the Imperial Bank of Persia, and the Indo-European Telegraph Department,
whose head-quarters are in Tehran. We should fear a marked diminution of
influence on the part of Her Majesty’s representative at the capital; and we
do not conceal our anticipations that in the long run such a partition might
involve the permanent break up of the Persian kingdom, and, it it did no
ultimately lead to rival Russian and British Protectorates m the north and
south, might at any rate result in the selection of another capital, and m the
rule of more than one native prince in Persia.
60. Neither will it be overlooked by Her Majesty’s G overnment that,
while any such arrangement with Russia might preclude tiiat lower from
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’ [234r] (475/617), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/350, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100072740555.0x00004c> [accessed 27 July 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