‘Persia – especially Seistan’ [426v] (851/949)
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.
Enclosure B.
The principal merchants of Rafsinjan—
Muhammadan.
Aea Muhammad Ismail, Moataiid-ul-Tajar, Agent of a Persian Com
pany, known as the “ Sherket Umumir .
Aga Muhammad Jaffir, Amin-ul-lajar.
Aga Muhammad Ali.
Aga Saiud Abdul Razak.
Aga Ali Akbar Muhammad Hussein.
Aga Muhammad Kasim-Yezdi.
Aga Mirza Muhammad Ali.
Parsees.
Mulla Gudarz-Parther in Kai Khusru Shahjehan Bros, of Rafsinjan,
Yezd, Shiraz, and Tehran.
Mulla Rahim Shahar Yar.
Mulla Shahar Yar, Agent of Arab Jamsheid of Tehran.
A. G. N.
p g propos of irrigation and cultivation in Rafsinjan, Major Sykes
ffives me some interesting information It seems that some 15 miles north of
Bahramabad is an opening into an underground river, the Chah-i-Daria.
It consists of a circular hole, 90'in diameter, and a steep incline leads down
to a smaller crater-like opening, oval in shape, measuring 20 / by HP 15 or 20
feet below the surface. From the surface big stones take 5 seconds to reach
the water, which must be deep and run strongly, as camels which are constantly
straying into the Chah are swept away. This hole is on the skirt of the range,
t nd the water ought to be easily tapped.
Had we been accompanied by an Engineer, we could have gone
thoroughly into the question of how far the water could have been utilised for
increasmg the cultivable area of the Rafsinjan. As it is, ali I can do is to lay
the information before you and leave the matter in the womb of the future.
A. G. N.
! yy
l
C,.
Dated Camp Pariz, the 6th December 1904.
p rom —Likdtenant-Colonel A. Gleadowe Newcomen, President, Persian Com
mercial Mission,
To The Secretary, Upper India Chamber of Commerce, Cawnpore.
In the route report sent you from Saidabad on the 29th ultimo, please
make the following correction, an error having crept in transferring from diary.
Instead of Nankand-Saidabad, 16 miles, read “ Nankand-Allahabad 24
miles ”, and then “ Allahabad-Saidabad 16* miles”. From Nankand to Said
abad the road lies along the valley, over flat moor-like lands, in which are fre
quent patches of cultivation. At Allahabad water and supplies are good and
plentiful. There is a good
caravanserai
A roadside inn providing accommodation for caravans (groups of travellers).
and a village of some 80 houses.
$
/
77
Dated Bahramabad, the 12th December 1904.
From— Lieutenant-Colonel A. Gleadowe Newcomen, President, Persian Com
mercial Mission,
To—The Secretary to the Indian Tea Cess Committee, Calcutta.
In continuation of my letter, dated the 2nd December, I have the honour
to report the arrival of the Mission here: we arrived on the 10th after a most
unpleasant and somewhat hazardous journey owing to unprecedented rain.
Here, as at Saidabad, Indian tea is unknown, and I had the greatest
difficulty in persuading the merchants to drink some as trial, the result of which
I am glad to say was satisfactory, and general approval of the tea was expressed.
The tea in question was one of the canisters sent to me for distribution,
as presents to tea merchants, and I have left a canister with the principal
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’ [426v] (851/949), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/359/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100093227832.0x000034> [accessed 9 August 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
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