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‘Persia – especially Seistan’ [179v] (357/949)
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.
6
The Meahed*i-Ser*
Tehran route.
The routes
between the
Trans-Caspian
Railway and
Khorasan.
Government for his banking operations in Persia, M. Witte assisted him, hut
among other conditions demanded a transfer of all the shares of the Road
Company which were unpaid for to the recently founded Discount Loan Bank.
This having been effected, and the Road Company reconstituted under the
Bank, a whole series of surveys were made, and in 1903 the reconstitution of
the Poliakov road from Enzili so Kasvin was begun. When a safe harbour
has been constructed at Enzeli and a regular and prompt despatch of unloaded
goods organized to Pir Bazar, the trade route to Tehran will be very satisfactory.
The well-known Russian engineer Sakhansky has, however, stated that the
construction of the Enzeli port will demand a large expenditure, and that the
solution of the question lies in the building of a railway from Baku to Resht, a
distance of 345 versts, and not in fruitless endeavours to improve the condition
of Enzeli, However, the surveys for the port of Enzeli are already complete
and 1 , 500,000 roubles have been assigned for its construction. The work will
be carried on in 1904 under the direction of the Chief Office of Commercial
Navigation and Ports, presided over by the Grand Duke Alexander Michaelo-
vitch.
The Meshed-i-Ser-Tehran route is a very inconvenient one. The distance is
252 versts, and as the road at first passes across swampy ground and then
over steep ascents, the Enzeli-Tehran route is preferred *
Finally, there is communication between the Trans-Caspian Railway and
the richest territory of Persia, Khorasan. The chief starting points of the
communications between the Russian Trans-Caspian territory and Khorasan
are Askabad and Dushak—stations on the railway—on the one side, and
Meshed and Sabzawar, the chief trade centres of Khorasan, on the other.
The most important of these routes is the road from Askabad to Meshed, which
measures 242 versts, and runs the whole way through inhabited . districts.
Four-wheeled waggons are employed for the carriage of goods, but this method
is expensive, costing as much as 2 roubles a pood, and therefore pack animals
are chiefly used. From Dushak to Meshed there are numerous paths through
the mountain passes of the Kelat Khannate, the average length of the route
being about 100 versts, and the cost of carriage 30 to 35 copecks. Meshed is
united to Tehran by a convenient carriage road, 898 versts long, goods taking
twenty-four to thirty-six days.
* This is not true of the native muleteers, who appear iu the summer to prefer the Meshed-i-Ser route.
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’ [179v] (357/949), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/359/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100093227829.0x00009e> [accessed 28 June 2026]
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- 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