![‘Persia – especially Seistan’ [‎84v] (167/949)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003c3/Mss Eur F111_359_0170.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "‘Persia – especially Seistan’ [‎84v] (167/949)")
‘Persia – especially Seistan’ [84v] (167/949)
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.
as far as possible by short branches and roads to points where danger threatens,
so that through communications should he as little liable to interruption as the
nature of things will permit.
It should not be forgotten, however, that one of the objects of a line
through Makran is to control the tribes within our border, and in this connec
tion the Pasni alignment mny claim some advantage, as it encloses a larger
area of Baluchistan. I may, therefore, state that, with the exception of the
Kech valley (undoubtedly the richest part of Makran), which I propose dealing
with by a branch, the Karachi alignment embraces every district of importance
in the country. Even the Pasni-Turbat line would require a branch about 40
miles long to Tump in order to command the centre of disturbance and to tap
the trade of the valley, as Turbat is quite at its eastern extremity. It may be
urged that the Karachi alignment is faulty, as it leaves the tract between
Kolwa and the sea unguarded; and Alexander the Great’s march along the coast
may be quoted as showing the possible danger of neglecting this strip. This
objection is easily answered. Alexander had command of the sea, and yet
his army was only rescued from starvation by opportune supplies from
Kandahar or Seistan. I do not think any invader would be so foolish and mis
guided as to enter that almost waterless waste of ravines and mountain. It
would only be to die of starvation and thirst, or to surrender to our forces
operating from the railway to the north. A good road direct from Kolwa to
Pasni would be sufficient protection for this strip.
Gsncrctl description of country .—The question of the termini having now
been disposed of, and my reasons for preferring Karachi stated at length, a brief
general description of the country between Kondi and the sea appears
desirable, as without it details of the proposed alignment will scarcely
he intelligible. Western Baluchistan from Kondi southwards may be divided
into two belts of markedly different characteristics; the northern and
narrower being plain and glacis, and the southern a series of mountain
ranges 150 miles in width. The former, which terminates in a line
drawn from the debouchement of the Mashkhel river from the hills,
through 1 alantak and AY ashuk, is the familiar waste of sand and stones.
Its main feature is the Mashkhel Hamun, an ancient lake into which the
rainfall of the surrounding country once drained, hut whose waters now exist
mainly in the imagination of the cartographer. Its level above the sea is only
1,000 feet, and the climate is said to be exceedingly hot in summer. A con
siderable nomad population of camel-graziers and shepherds centres round the
Hamun, and Eadgasht, a village on its borders, has fairly extensive date groves.
A little land is cultivated near Rajib with the flood waters of the Mashkhel
river.
Prom Ladgasht caravan roads lead in every direction, to Talk and Ladis,
important centres in Persia, to the Helmund, Dalbandin, Kharan, and Pani^ur
The Persian frontier is only a few miles off, and bends here from north-west to
north.
Prom the Hamun we ascend over plain and gradually steepenino* o>lacis
till we meet the northern limit of the Makran ranges. Thence to the
coast three wide ranges intervene, separated by the two (narrow valleys of
Bakshan-Panjgur and Kech-Kolwa. Their peaks exceed 5,000 feet, and their
general elevation above the central valleys is from 2,000 to 3,000 feet.
These mountains form the westerly continuation of the Khwaja Amran
range, and jut out from its central axis below Nushki like the head of
a hockey stick from its handle. Their geological formation is the same, °Tey
blue slaty shales with bands of calcareous sandstone. The appearance and
physical^ features of this tract are similar to those we are familiar with at
the Khojak. The mountains are steep without being precipitous, their slopes
are sound and free from slips, the strata are wonderfully contorted and for
the most part set on edge.
Near the higher peaks and in deep gorgesthe shales have a very pronounced
slaty fracture, while the proportion of rock is high. As we near the coast the
hands of rock get thinner and softer, and the slaty fracture disappears The
shales degenerate into clays, and the hills, in spite of their grey blue tinge.
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
‘Persia – especially Seistan’ [84v] (167/949), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/359/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100093227828.0x0000a8> [accessed 1 July 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100093227828.0x0000a8
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100093227828.0x0000a8">‘Persia – especially Seistan’ [‎84v] (167/949)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100093227828.0x0000a8"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003c3/Mss Eur F111_359_0170.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000001452.0x0003c3/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
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