'Report on The Mission to Seistan, by Surgeon-Major G. W. Brazier-Creagh, A.M.S [Army Medical Services] 1897.' [‎8v] (21/131)

It is report^ S, tt Thfemt^eS
smouldering and g^omitered a flight of locusts
on thS^RegTesert, which not only covered the ground, hut stretched away
some 5 miles m a S0 ^' WeSt “^ h dl ^ C d on the completion of this interesting
phy^cTpre^mtSt migrate and do comiderabi. damage.
^Oia-Tbe feyom^
“ m m 1 Kd tteir condSoa ®ey live cbiefly oo a
Mil g rXs ia th, sand d e ^“avM^oTeWS
resembling a carrot fn eonamtenoy and^beet root m co^, ^
SSv'uiovrgh nourishing as it undoubtedly must be, is eaten ran, occasion-
O il hein- varied hy a roast or boil, when it is then mixed with camels or
Sts’Sk. Locusts, of which there are now plenty and to spare, largely help
to allay the pangs of hunger and swell the scanty pot.
The Damini and Perso-Baluch Boundary.-There exist considerable dis-
satisSonTnd disappointment in Damini circles that tley had not been
included amongst the ^British, subjects.
Had the Perso-Baluch boundary followed a more westerly alignment,
say along the course of the Mirjawa river, or better still further west along the
crest of Koh-i-Safed, a masterly political stroke would have been effected for the
well-being and prestige of the Sirkar Any res.
Such a boundary line, while securing us a well-defined, natural and strategic
frontier, would have brought within our sphere of influence a yagi tribe, who
have for years inwardly despised and hated the Kagars, defied their yoke, and
fervently prayed to become allies of the Baulat Angres.
The ignorance and lack of interest on the part of the Persian officials—in
the persons of the local Governor Asadullah Khan and .the Birman Barmai in
fhk remote corner—were very prominently brought home to Lieutenant P. M.
Sykes and myself during our tour through Persian Baluchistan in 1893
and 1894.
Prom experience gained during the above tour 5 ^ iufoimatiou to handj
when a guest of the Governor Asadullah Khan at Khwash, ttm capital of Sarhad,
supplemented hy more recent inf ormation given me hy the chief of ^ the Damini
and neighbouring tribes, I have no hesitation in asserting my belief that the
Persian^authorities would welcome any relief which would rid them of these
troublesome and yagi subjects, of whom they stand in great dread.
Their Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. , Jahund Khan, does pretty much what he likes, raids the
country, and refuses to pay maliyat, retiring when hard pressed to the fastness
of Safed Koh, Mirjawa, and Amalaf ranges. He' owes allegiance to none but
Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Purdil Khan, head of the Sarbandi tribe, of whom the Damini are a
sub-section, f
Khw r ash, the capital of Sarhad, on which now stands the new frontier fort
(Persian), is the lawful territory of the Sarbandis of Seistan, the annexation of
which by the Kagars has been the cause of the bitter hatred engendered against
them by Jahund Khan and his followers who for eighteen generations have
been independent.
Colonel Bell, V.C., in the report referred to at foot,if sounded the trumpet
note of warning on this and many other important points affecting our pres
tige and political relations in these remote parts, pointing out succinctly the
necessary steps to be followed re boundary demarcations, etc., etc. *
* Vide my report “ A Reconnaissance through Persian Baluchistan and Eastern Persia, 1893-94, ” pages 78
and 79.—B.C.
+ In proof of which I submit a letter from Jahund Khan to Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Purdil Khan, re raids—Appendix B?
No. 9.—B. C.
X Notes on a Journey from Quetta to Trebizond, page 30, etc.—B. C.