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‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [251v] (510/617)
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.
• x x fUp Ppr^ian Gulf, either political or comraercial,
41. French ' n ;e f* e F ”tant; and the Gulf lies so far out
are so small; hei own vessels or men-of-war, that we are unable to
of the track of '' er ^fin anv othe° feht than i an attempt to cause
construe these pioce = possible rival, and to lend an independent assistance
tworhle and annoyance to a P 0881 " 6 ^bstantia! confirmation of these views
derived from a study of recent French action at
"a
trouble and annoyance
to the plans of a European
our
he
Xr^lthough French trade is infinitesimal, and a French man-of-
hl; been in the "habit of paying a passing visit on an average only once
nas ueeu - Governmell t have nevertheless during the past six
to obtain, under the guise of coaling facilities, a
war nas ueuu m
in the year, the Erench
months been endeavouring
position which would provide them with an independent pied a terre n the
neighbourhood of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
. This policy has been foreshadowed by the
utjiguuu xa x^ A n Vinwc nwmno* a llfiffianeft to the Sultan
free grant of the Erench flag to Arab dhows, owning
allegiance to the Snltan
of M 8 aTkaVandis^facilitated by the influence over the latter petty potentate
that has been acquired by the Erench Vice-Consul whose anti-Bntish inclina
tions and intrigues are so well known to Her Majesty s Government as to
require no recapitulation here. Confirmation of our suspicions regarding a
Eranco-Bussian entente in Persia and in the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
is further afforded
by a telegram, dated June 7th, *1899, from Sir M. Durand to Colonel Meade,
which has already been communicated both to Your Lordship and to the
Foreign Office, and in which Her Majesty’s Minister at Tehran remarks : “ You
may he quite certain thnt Russia and 1 ranee aie woiking in unison
42. It should he noted that in the recent papers, with copies of which _we
have been favoured by Her Majesty’s Government, we have found a repudiation
of Erench ambitions in the quarter under discussion, no less explicit than that
which we have already quoted from the lips of Count Mouravieff. On July 19th,
1899, M. Cambon said to Lord Salisbury that “ France had no political
aspiration whatever in the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
; that she did not desire any kind of
fortification or settlement or political privileges, or anything beyond the
maintenance of those rights already insured to her by treaty We have been
gratified to read this assurance, by which we hope that succeeding French
ministries may hold themselves hound. But we regret that it has not been
communicated, not merely to Her Majesty’s Government, but also to the
French Agents in those regions, who do not appear to he equally acquainted
with the views of the Government that they serve.
43. In recent years Germany has begun to display a positive and an
increasing interest in Persia and also in the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
. This interest has
been the historical, and perhaps the natural, sequel of a commercial policy
that has for some time aimed at securing the control of the principal railways
in the Turkish dominions in Asia Minor, and of a political ambition, that more
recently still, would appear to aim at the protection of the Ottoman Empire,
alike in Europe and Asia. The obvious corollary to a system of German
railways in Asia Minor, would he similar railroads to the Persian border and
through Mesopotamia to the Persiau Gulf. Already, as Sir M. Durand has in
formed the Eoreign Office, the Germans have procured a concession for the
construction of a road from Khanikin, on the Turko-Persian frontier, to Tehran,
and have apparently only abstained from pressing for a railroad in the same
quarter, because of the violent opposition with which the Russian Minister met
the proposal at Tehran. The second son of the Shah, Prince Malik Mansur,
as een spending several months in 1898-99 in Germany, where his education
and proclivities are reported as having acquired a marked philo-Teutonic tinge.
German military instructors have been proffered for the reorganisation of the
ir P n 0l0n p tl0I1S tbe Turko ;German railways to Baghdad and to
rnvprJ Slan + U ia r 6 een . anc ^ are discussed; and the German
TeWr^hfp v G end ® av ^ ri fff f 0 procure an interest in the overland Turkish
- ^ P ao * n t le Gulf itself a German Consulate was established in
to safeguard the interests of six German subjects in the entire
1897 at Bushire,
ss&ftzf&r
ic were sent out from Germany appear to have been a
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’ [251v] (510/617), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/350, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100072740555.0x00006f> [accessed 16 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