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‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [241r] (489/617)
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.
t 26 ]
modation, supply ofloX^othTsto^ bet ^ pr °^ i011 » £ -eli; a^Z-'
w e iT^ 6Ven re( l uir c to appoint a seconrl Ttr;r a ^ d P™* 60 ^ 11 of the track.
Webb Ware of the excessive strain nnw i °® c . er ’ relieve Lieutenant
of an extensive district, in addition to thf^rw f ^° n ^ the admin i s tration
length. We hope by these measu^ ° f ? road ^00 miles in
escape the jealousy aroused bv a too on^ if y| n0SLen ^i9 us ^ pursued, to
Seistan, and to build un in that^ ^ ^ ei1 c ^ a ^ en S e °f rival ambitions in
political interest, which will find no^mea^alT^^ su 1 ^ )S !f antial commercial and
natural predisposition of the inhahitn ? 11 ^ m ^T 11 ^ We Relieve to be the
whether the anticipations l^at ha vp f Exp TT Ce alone caa info ^ ^
Nushki-Seistan trade route are ctZl framed the P ros P ects of the
necessary to take them into consideration.
79. We agree with Sir M. Durand in thinking that a British Consul
should be permanently appointed to Kerman. We have already sanctioned a
contribution of Its. 6,000 or £400 a year to the cost of this post • and we are
prepared to continue the payment of this sum. We believe that there are good
leasons for which Her Majesty’s Government may desire to continue the pay
ment of a similar moiety of the cost. But should their acceptance of the
increments proposed elsewhere, notably in the case of the Karun, be facilitated
by our assumption of the entire cost of the Kerman Consulate, we should
be prepared favourably to consider such a proposal; or, if it were preferred
to divide with them the cost of the Karun and Kerman Consulates combined!
Ihe financial result would in either case be approximately the same.
80. Sir M. Durand has suggested a British Vice-Consul, or a native
agent at Bampur. For the present we think that the latter will be the prefer
able alternative; and we are prepared to undertake the outlay, which will not
exceed about £300 per annum. The officer in question would be under the
orders of the British Consul at Kerman.
81. Finally we come to the southern sphere, including the coasts and ports
of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
. Your Lordship will have been prepared by what has
previously been said for the announcement of our willingness to submit to
some sacrifices for the defence of an interest, so substantially grounded, and so
conspicuously assailed. We are unable to agree with Sir M. Durand in the sug
gestion that any material reduction of expenditure can be effected at Bushire.
On the contrary we are disposed to think that, if the best men in our service
are to be attracted to that post, we may even require to add to its pecuniary
attractions. We agree with him, however, in thinking that the Resident at
Bushire should reside at Shiraz, and exercise his consular functions there during
the summer months. We understand from Colonel Meade that the cost of a
site for a house (no suitable building being available either for hire or purchase)
would be from £1,000 to £1,200, and of building and furnishing about £1,500.
We think that this expense might be borne in equal proportions by the Imperial
and Indian Governments; and we are prepared to undertake the annual outlay
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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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