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‘Seistan Persia & Seistan’ [256v] (520/617)
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
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t 24 ]
71 We will now proceed to apply the principles which have been
-s-Tf. ' -s&as ?£« Mi
Your Lordship, viz., t ,, eoncernin^ the increase of Consular and
own ™ws orpvo^osals on the other conce n^g ^ ^ to
tt^uestn tom “hroTminded anh ifberal point of view that we have no
desire to haLle with Her Majesty’s Government over shares of responsibility or
desn-e to na a ie ^ to our own charges tor the protection
of B^4 intoLrrpS, in th<f confident belief that Her Majesty’s Govern
ment will not be behindhand with a similar generosity. Our argument as to
t“e magnitude and significance of those interests and the reality of the dangers
with which they are availed would have been insincere, were we unprepared to
give to it a practical demonstration.
72 Lor the sake of clearness we will divide the country into different
spheres’, representing with sufficient accuracy the rough lines of demarcation
between British and Indian interest. In the northern and central sphere,
and in the western sphere, the responsibility of Her Majesty’s Government is m
our iudo-ment more directly involved. In the eastern sphere, and m the
southern or maritime sphere, we admit a corresponding preponderance of Indian
interest.
73. Commencing with the first named of these areas, we find that Sir M.
Durand recommends an improvement in the pay and status of Her Majesty’s
Consul-General at Tabriz. In so far as our judgment on the matter is desired,
it is in entire accord with the proposal. We are more doubtful about the
suggestion to appoint an additional Vice-Consul at Tabriz, with the intention
of posting him later on at Urumia; since we incline to the opinion that the
ultimate destiny of the Persian Nestorians has been irretrievably fixed by their
recent wholesale conversion to the Russian faith. We concur with Sir M.
Durand as to the desirability of reducing the Consulate at Resht to a Vice-
Consulate. We have before expressed our hearty concurrence with his pro
posals concerning the Consulate at Ispahan. These proposals without excep
tion concern in their financial aspect the British, and not the Indian, Exchequer.
74. In the western sphere Sir M. Durand advocates the appointment of
a British Vice-Consul at Kermanshah, subordinate to the Consul-General at
Tehran, and paid for by England, in place of the present
native agent
Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government.
, whose
modest allowance of £24 is drawn, for some unaccountable reason, from the
charges for the Meshed
Agency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
, i.e., from Indian funds. The figures of
British trade passing through Kermanshah from Baghdad to Tehran appear
to us amply to justify the proposed change. We are less confident about a
suggestion made by Sir M. Durand, originally in connection with this route,
but also with a wider application, namely, that we should depute an Indian
officer to examine the various possible routes for railways in Persia and to
make suggestions. Such a proceeding would, in our opinion, be both prema
ture and uncalled for. -We are very doubtful whether in her present state of
evolution Persia is prepared for railways. The recent renewal of the prohibi
tive agreement with Russia shows that the latter Power does not for the present
f te mt ^ d t ! iem t0 be lntro . du ced. Enquiries of the proposed character
Con4 fofthe^™ “if T^hT ° f 3
the lumen’ol anrl TnrKrm \ sal ary ot £800 (to be divided between
whose salary of £490 is defrayed Horn WriaUoIrffs 00 !! 111 f
(he abandonment at an early date oMlf f t r bources - ^ als0 contemplates
now paid in equal mofetely tt fwo Government!; 4*4 ^ £ T°
si rvice upon the Karun. Our nrevimis atH^ * to ^ essr f-. L yneh for their
P ous attitude on this subject will prepare
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’ [256v] (520/617), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/350, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100072740555.0x000079> [accessed 20 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