‘Persia – especially Seistan’ [‎68r] (134/949)

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l”ped U lnd is n, then h f rdly H C f an h 00 ™ 6 Until the preSent System has be ® n ^lydeve-
p d and is then found to be in some respect insufficient or unsatisfactory I
Will only mention here that should taxation be resorted to the measure cJn bl
based quite fairly on the fact that the tribes all hold grants of land from the
Khan on a service tenure under which they furnished when called unnn m
so, troops to the Khan's army. Well, troops are now never furnished and nor
have they been for a great many years, but the terms of the original grants have
never been cancelled. I may also say that in an indirect way weare llreadv
axing the tribesmen by levying court fees on petitions and civil suits. ^
38. It was doubtless in view of the Khan’s responsibility that certain funds
t h ion e of b the sfa t t a e ned Th r ° m b 'h t0 the im P rovement and administra
tion of the State. Thus we have the fund known as the Khan’s Fund which is
mainly recruited from the interest obtained for the 4-1 lacs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees found in Kalat on
With^Td 0 ? of t . he . late Khan and invested for the State in Government paper
With regard to this interest money there are, apart from the Khan’s obligatmn
to bear the cost of administering the Brahuis, two further arguments justifying
our disposing of it, m., ( ■ ) that the Khan as a good Moslem cannot touch
money obtained as mterest and (2) that the 43 'acs never belonged to the
present Khan. They were part of the hoard accumulated by the late Khan and
they now belong to the State as a whole and must be used for the benefit of the
State, f he interest money however was not sufficient forall requirements and
some years ago the Khan made over to us the Rs. 55,000 per annum he receives
or the Bolan Pass and Quetta quit rents. The original object with which this
sum was given us was the maintenance of the Mekran Camel Corps and, although
we still pay out of it some Rs. 40,000 a year to the Nazim for the levies etc. that
took the place of the camel corps on its disbandment, it would be fair to restore
the Item to the Khan if it can be managed, especially now that the Mekran
Levy Corps having been raised there will be a considerable reduction in the
number of the Nazim s levies. Without this extra sum however the Khan’s fund
would be unable to meet the present expenditure, leave alone the increased
expenditure involved in the proposed improvements. But this need cause no
difficulty if the two points I wish to make, , the Khan’s liability and our ri*ht
to devote the interest money to the use of the State at large, are conceded.
We give the Khan a subsidy of one lac One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees a year to assist him in his administra
tion. Under the circumstances of the case could we not reasonably ask the Khan
to expend this lac One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees or a portion of it on the arrangements we find ourselves obli-
ged to make on his account ? Or another solution would be to ask the Khan
to meet out of this lac One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees or otherwise the charges about Rs. 50,000 per annum
tor the maintenance of the ex-Khan and his household and at the same time to
let the mabats bear the cost of the Political Adviser and his establishment
about Rs. 30,000 per annum. These large items are now debited, but hardlv
fairly so, to the Khan’s Fund. Relieved of such burdens the interest money
would suffice for all administrative purposes, and there could never be the least
objection to its ueing fully and permanently devoted to such purposes. Even
Without the great increases in his revenue effected under the niabat scheme
the Khan would be very little worse off than at present. He would receive
back his Rs. 15,000 per annum and disburse sums aggregating some Rs. 80 000
or a difference of only Rs. 15,000. This would be^a small thing for him to do
when it is remembered that it is we who placed him where he island that it is
probably only due to our presence in the country that he maintains himself
there. It should also be borne in mind that the whole of his large and now
daily increasing income of some seven lacs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees is spent entirely on himself, if it is
not bemg hoarded up and that no penny of it is ever expended on the benefit
of the country or otherwise outside the Kalat Miri.
39. To improve the niabat system very little more is required. The monthly
sums placed in each niabat at the Political Adviser’s disposal should be slightly
increased to admit of the employment of a few extra officials and to leave the
Political Adviser with a surplus with which to carry out works of improvement