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‘Persia – especially Seistan’ [340r] (678/949)
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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3
No. 97 .
(Secret.)
My Lord,
Gulahek, ? .
» bo U
27 th June 1903 .
1 lia . d tho J 10n0U i* to receive, too late however to act on it in time for mv
o7H^ a . ted the llth Ultim °’ fr ° m the ^~t e o£° r inZ
It enclosed one dated May, the 7 th, to His Majesty’s Secretary of State for
India, calling attention to the expediency of (1) re-opening the l/do-Euronean
'telegraph Department station on that island, and (2) connecting it by cable
" lth - B " n< ? el f Ab iL as > a r nd suggesting that I should lay my views on these
proposals before Your Lordship at the earliest possible date. ?
q ,. Aft « r . c o nfe f“§i y^terday with Mr. Barker, the Director of the Persian
Section of the Indo-Luropean Telegraph Department, I addressed to Your
Lordship my telegram No. 8-1 of 26 th June, and I have the honour to off«
m additon thereto the following observations. 1 “
If it is desired—and I personally agree that it is desirable—to strengthen
our position at the entrance of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
by re-opening the station a^
lien jam and connecting it with Bunder Abbas, it would, I think, be a mistake
to dismiss the question with the Persian Government beforehand. Your
Lordship is aware of the exaggerated suspicions which that Government, and
especially the Shah, entertain of our designs on the Persian Gulf—suspicions
vlnch are constantly being fostered by Russia, and of which we had an illustra
tion only two months ago when His Imperial Majesty made difficulties about
securing the advance of 4 th April on the revenues of the Customs of the Gulf Ports
An announcement of our intention to re-occupy Henjam would probably be met
./ ^ rc( l 1 ipst which we could not well consistently with courtesy refuse, to defer
its execution for the present, and in the meantime the Persian Government
might discover that circumstances had changed since 1868 , that they could not
revn e the permission then granted without giving some equivalent to other
lowers, which they were unwilling to do, that it would be unfriendly of us
to place them in so embarrassing a position and so forth.
I he simplest plan would seem to be, when w r e decide upon re-openino' the
station to send a telegraph ship from Karachi to Henjam with the materials
for erecting the buildings authorised by the Persian Government in 1868 and
the necessary stall, which would land on the island and proceed to take possession
of a site, previously selected after careful examination. It would be better that
the bmldmgs should at first be readymade wooden or tin houses, which could
easily be put together by workmen from India, so that they should already be
partially complete by the time news of our action reached Tehran. Should
any petty local or Customs authority of Kishm oppose, as he miriit do their
erection, pending orders from Tehran, it would probably be sufficient to exhibit
to him a certified copy of the authorisation given in 1868 by the Persian
Government, but it would be desirable that a gun-boat should join the telegraph
ship to lend weight to this argument, if necessary. I believe that it is °quite
usual for one or other of His Majesty’s ships in tne
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
to be for
purposes of musketry practice at Bassidore, so that its presence at or off
Henjam simultaneously with the arrival of the telegraph ship would not of
itself arouse any comment.
As soon as the occupation was sufficientlv complete, I should, on receipt
of a telegram to that effect, address a note to the Persian Government in some
such terms as these. “ Ihe absence of telegraphic communication between
Tehran, Bushire, and Bunder Abbas has, since the establishment of a British
Vice-Consulate at the latter port, been a great source of inconvenience to the
British and Indian Governments. They have, in order to bring the Legation
at Tehran and the
Residency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India.
at Bushire into closer and more frequent^com
munication with the British Vice-Consulate at Bunder Abbas, decided to avail
themselves of the permission given them by the Persian Government in 1868 ,
and to re-establish the telegraph station at Henjam, whose erection the Persian
Government then authorised. But the re-opening of this station, though it
considerably increases the facilities of telegraphic communication with Bunder
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’ [340r] (678/949), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/359/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100093227831.0x00004f> [accessed 12 July 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