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‘Persia – especially Seistan’ [323v] (645/949)
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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2 - 2 —
■21
DRAFT.
During the tour of His Excellency the Viceroy in the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
,
the question of a naval strategic position at the entrance to the Gulf was
discussed by him with the Naval Commander-in-Chief, and incidental!v the
position for a cable station for naval and general purposes in those waters
was considered. In your telegram of 28 th October 1903 , intimation was
conveyed to us that the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty agreed that
Bassidore would be preferable to Henjam for this purpose. We now 3 forward
for your information, copies of the attached correspondence between us and the
Naval Commander-in-Chief, which show that after a full consideration of the
subject on the spot, Rear-Admiral Atkinson-Willes had no hesitation in sayino*
that, for the cogent reasons mentioned in his letter, Hen jam is more suitable
than Bassidore as a telegraph and signal station.
• 2 * tllis 0 P inion concur, indeed it was mainly to meet the
0t the n i aval authorities that in the Viceroy’s telegram, dated 4th August
1903 , we made a suggestion in the alternative for the landing of the cable
at Bassidore. We, therefore, consider that for naval purposes a cable station
should be re-established at Henjam without further delay, and we trust that on
a review of the circumstances His Majesty’s Government will consent to bear
at least half of the cost of the arrangements as detailed in our Secret desnatHi
No. 56 (External), dated 7 th May 1903 . espatch
A 3 ‘ The question arises if we should first address the Persian Government
fresh P ermissl0I b or if. as proposed by Sir A. Uardinge in his desmteh
l^o. 97 (Secret), dated 27 th June 1903 , we should simply send the telegraph ship
there with a gun-boat and restore the station, and then inform the Persian Gov-
emment and request permission to carry the line on to Bunder Abbas
It is true that on 21 st September 1903 Sir A. Hardinge telegraphed to ti e
oi eign Office that he was unable to discover in the archives of the Legation at
Tehran the original permission to occupy Henjam, of which a copv was for
warded with our Secret despatch No. 56 (External) of 7th Mav ions i i
intimated that the procedure'ought to be modified j y ’ ^ be
to 1ft Iww A Unahle t0 n f0 ! 1 T. hi i S argument TIiere is no doubt that from 1869
to 1881 there was a British telegraph station on the island. Indeed the well-
made plinth of the station with a cook-house in ruins is still in existence and
the trench in which the cable was laid is visible. If the Persian Gavp™’™ +
have not got a copy of the permission granted which was a ve^v Tf ?
document, so much the better for our purposes as we then re«.. 7 formal
Government.' ^uitely ^yTht TS
ri"? r *,”"?/ ■ ^ >»
that some 12 yeaia ago (he Malik-ut-Tujiar, who held a lease’of I’hi* 0 ’ Vl8lt ’
Kishm, erected a flagstaff on the plinth of the building tL * h S 0n
representatives of the Persian Government ot n, 1 , 0 ' 1 , lere are no ' v ’ no
seen a flag hoisted there, but the act, even if done P on C behMf “oVh? ""p 6 • er
Government, was not quite iustifiahlp wiflmnf o ? behalf of the Persian
attitude of the Persian Gove™ men t L?. * some /. efere “«o to us. The recent
to think that fhe slmplelt wav nf regtn s ° unf f e ? dl y that we are disposed
A. Hardinge’s first adX explMnfnv to 2 L • St T U WOuM be to aot Si '
no intention to do more than to 22 ?°? i rnme nt that we have
freedom from Customs interference our old e , < ! n S mal te ™’ which included
require for naval and general proses ° ld Tf te f? ra P h Nation that we now
necessary action can be taken durmc the ^ * 118 cours f 18 approved, the
this we would surest that an earl " t ° P resent co °t season. Palling
Government wit 2 f tiew t o“he fe elTl* nlade to the
extension of telegraphic communication to Bunder Abbas 6 ^‘ 2 °“ “2 thC
that m the present temper of that GovprnmPTdf i Abbas ’ but we are afraid
he favourably received, and it rati er nrpl ^ Ucb a re 9 u est is not likely to
place without further sanction. * P judices our claim to re-occupy the
Commander-k-Chiefon^surveyorKhor Kaw2't ^-fiT 14 ° f tlle I ' Taval
rvey oi tohor Kawi, lt will be convenient to
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’ [323v] (645/949), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/359/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100093227831.0x00002e> [accessed 26 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