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‘Persia – especially Seistan’ [315r] (628/949)
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
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10
Enclosures to a letter from the Secretary, Political Department,
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.
, No. 35, 0 ; f
DATED THE 14 TH AUGUST (RECEIVED 2 ND SEPTEMBER) 1903 .
Correspondence regarding the proposed establishment of telegraphic communication with Bunder
Abbas.
The advance copy of the joint report by Commanders Kemp and Somerville on pp. 4-8
is submitted for perusal.
(We have asked the Admiral to send us a copy of it officially, and hope then to receive the
charts which will make the position at Khor Musa more clear.)
L. Russell,—5-9-03.
Your Excellency will read Mr. Whitby-Smith^s letter of 15th August in which he gives
Page 9 of the notes. the COst o£ la y in S a cable to Bassiduh at Rs.
1,58,000 or £10,533. It can be laid in one
month r which might |be very convenient. If Your Excellency approves, we might remind
Secretary of State, and I submit a draft telegram for consideration.
L. W. Dane, — 7-9-03.
< There is evidently no use in our telegraphing home until the Home Government have
received and considered the Kemp-Somerville report; for as recently as 3rd August Lord
Lansdowne said that he proposed to await its arrival.
Now considering that the report has not yet been officially submitted to us, and that
we have not even seen the plans and charts which are required to make it intelligible, it would
seem to me decidedly _ premature either to pin our faith to Bassidore (as to which I am not as
yet at all convinced) or to ask by telegram for an assent which, in the circumstances above
described, could not conceivably be given.
C[urzon], — 7 - 9 - 03 .
I have spoken to His Excellency who does not think that we need even send home the
information supplied by Mr. Whitby-Smith. When we get the Hydrographical report and
charts officially, we can then address Sectary of State, and suggest that the final settle
ment of the question where the cable should be landed should be left over for settlement by
authorities on the spot.
L. W. Dane, —8-9-03.
%
Foreign Office Prosa— No. 1089—16-9-03—28.
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’ [315r] (628/949), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/359/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100093227831.0x00001d> [accessed 15 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