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‘Persia – especially Seistan’ [49v] (97/949)
The record is made up of 1 file (475 folios). It was created in 7 Nov 1901-23 Aug 1905. 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.
64
REPORT ON TRADE OF PERSIA.
Cotton is exported as received from the growers, imperfectly ginned and
dirty and has to be cleaned in Russia. Hand-worked machines were tried
in S>abzwar, but were found to break the fibre. A Russian firm is setting
up a ginning mill near Sabrwar. The plants are grown from local seed ;
it P is alleged that the dry climate requires acclimatised seed. The buyers
make advances to the growers, as in the wool trade ; sometimes five or s.x
months before delivery. The crop is gathered in by September, but is not
delivered, ginned and packed till the end of the year.
Trade Routes,
The route from Ashkabad vid Bajgir and Kuchan to Meshed is now a
carriage road, easily traversed by carriages in summer, but very difficult in
winter on account of snow on the Ashkabad-Kuchan section. The Kuchan-
Meshed section is not metalled, and must be deep in mud in wet weather.
Transport of merchandise is by fourgon and camel caravan.
The Post Office mails are carried by a contractor, who also runs a
passenger service between Ashkabad and Meshed (two days).
The shorter but much more difficult caravan track between Meshed and
Dushak on the Transcaspian Railway is also used for merchandise, but to a
less extent.
Direct trade with Seistan and Bunder Abbas usually follows the Kaf
Valley route, Herat and Afghan trade branching off at Kariz.
The Seistan route does not offer any advantage to trade between Great
Britain and Khorassan, direct freight to
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
enabling our mer
chandise to arrive in Meshed more quickly and at less cost via Bunder
Abbas. A great part of the trade with the south passes through Yezd.
Ispahan.
Chief products for export Opium, cotton, tombac, dried fruits and nuts,
gums, skins, madder root, manufactures of copper and brass, procelain,
carpets, cotton tissues, block prints.
Trade Usages, Credits,
In the piece goods trade it is a common condition of purchase that a
half or two-thirds of the value is payable at option of the purchaser in
approved bills on Teheran 49 days’ date at par ; on such bills a grace
of 15 days is accorded in Teheran.
The larger part of the piece goods trade is done by British firms. Usance
is the usual 21 or 22 months. Contracts are not expected to be discounted
before two months, and are usually paid under discount within three
months.
Of the wholesale dealers’ purchases one-fourth may go to the retail trade
in the town, on credit running, on an average, to four months ; the remaining
three-fourths, sent out into the surrounding districts, may run for six or
eight months.
A good deal of business is done by Persian traders in Ispahan on
commission for Persian traders in Shiraz or Bushire who have bought from
import houses in Bushire, and who draw from Shiraz on the Ispahan
consignee at 25 to 35 days’ sight, or get return of funds in produce or
sterling drafts.
Little business is done by Persians direct with Great Britain. In mer
chandise from British India, however, the business is larger, and is done on
indent to Persian agents in Bombay.
Trade Routes,
The caravan route from Bushire and Shiraz is most used, but is not safe
from highway robbery.
About this item
- Content
This part contains papers mostly relating to British interests in Persia [Iran] and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
It includes a copy of the Board of Trade Commercial Intelligence Committee ‘Report received from Mr. H. W. Maclean, the Special Commissioner appointed by the Commercial Intelligence Committee of the Board of Trade, on the conditions and prospects of British trade in Persia.’
A handwritten note at the front of the file, on folio 5, states ‘Spare copy of notes & correspondence of the “Helmand Control” file (with maps)’. Folio 110 consists of handwritten notes, including one dated 27 April 1904, which states ‘The secret Helmand papers have been printed up, and a set, with necessary maps, is submitted for H.E. the Viceroy to take to England.’ Much of the file concerns the question of controlling the water of the Helmand river and irrigating its whole delta, and the work of the Seistan Arbitration Commission to arbitrate between Persia and Afghanistan on the question of rights to the water of the Helmand in Seistan.
The file also includes reports by W A Johns on reconnaissances of potential railway routes made while he was attached to the Seistan Arbitration Commission, and other papers relating to railways and roads in Persia.
In addition, the file includes copies of the following Government of India Foreign Department Proceedings, which reproduce received Foreign Department correspondence on the following subjects: ‘Selection of a British naval base in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .’, November 1901, Nos. 74-83; ‘Visit of His Excellency the Viceroy to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. during November-December 1903.’, February 1904, Nos. 33-127; ‘Establishment of telegraphic communication with Henjam. Question of the selection of a naval base in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . Aggressive action of the Persians at Tamb and Abu Musa; their claim to the Islands.’, June 1904, Nos. 300-388; ‘Reports of the Commercial Mission to Persia.’, June 1905, Nos. 45-111; ‘Question of retaining flagstaffs erected in the neighbourhood of the Musandim Promontory’, August 1905, Nos. 288-307.’
The file also includes: brief handwritten notes written by Curzon on headed paper belonging to the Viceregal Lodge, Simla, relating to Seistan and to Lord Kitchener’s planned reforms for the reorganisation and redistribution of the Indian Army; and a printed copy of the report ‘A Note by Major H.L. [Herbert Lionel] Showers, C.I.E., on the present state of affairs in Kelat and a review of the system of Administration now being pursued.’
The file includes four maps: ‘Map of the Tail waters of Helmand River’ (13 July 1903), f 122; ‘Plan Shewing Proposed Routes for a Railway from Nushki to Afghan Frontier near Robat’ (10 April 1903), f 139; ‘Extract from Admiralty Chart No. 753. (Entrance to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ).’ (October 1901), f 219; and ‘Sketch of route Ram Hormuz to Fellahieh.’ (April 1904), f 230.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (475 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in no apparent order, apart from the Government of India Foreign Department Proceedings, folios 231 to 474, which are arranged in chronological order.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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‘Persia – especially Seistan’ [49v] (97/949), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/359/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100093227828.0x000062> [accessed 1 July 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F111/359/1
- Title
- ‘Persia – especially Seistan’
- Pages
- front, 2r:194v, 195v:196r, 197v:199v, 200v, 201v, 203r:272r, 273v:275v, 277r:405v, 408r:408v, 409v, 411r:413v, 414v:419v, 420v:424v, 425v:432v, 433v:435v, 436v, 437v:443v, 444v:471v, 473r:475v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence