"سيستان، بلاد فارس وسيستان" [و‎‎١‎٩] (٦١٧/٤٢)

to pay revenue, and I will direct him also to try and frame some estimate
of what it may be possible to collect. He will also be able to form a better
idea this year whether there is any probability of new karezes being made, or
old ones reopened, in the alluvial tracts near Sbakarchab and in Dalbandin,
where there are many signs of former cultivation. But I would suggest that
the result of his enquiries this winter should be awaited before any orders on
the subject are passed. If revenue is to be collected, it would be necessary to
give Mr. Webb-Ware the services either of a Native Assistant as proposed^ in
my letter No. 1437-0., dated the 29th July, or at any rate of a Naib-Tabsildar
with a small establishment, but it is, I think, very doubtful whether any
revenue we could collect at present would cover the cost of collection. If
Nushki were leased from the Khan, no doubt the native officer in charge of
Nushki could also collect, without increase of expense, such dues as it may be
found possible to impose in the Sinjerani district, and could act as Native
Assistant to the Political Officer; so in this respect also the acquisition of
Nushki would be an assistance in the administration of the rest of the country.
On the whole, unless we are to administer Nushki, it seems to me the informa
tion we have got is not yet sufficient to justify any expenditure on a revenue
collecting establishment.
5. As regards the matters mentioned in paragraphs 21 and 28 of Appendix
1 of Mr. Webh Ware’s report, I may mention (1) that Sardar Ali Khan, Sin
jerani, has been told that he will not be allowed to levy transit or custom dues
of any kind whatsoever, and (2) that I anticipate no difficulty in effecting a
satisfactory settlement with Sirdar Sir Nauroz Khan in regard to the boundary
between Kharan and the Sinjerani district. Sir Nauroz is as anxious as we
are that a boundary should be laid down, and I will endeavour to come to an
agreement with him on the subject as soon as a convenient opportunity occurs.
It is also desirable that the boundary between Nushki and Dalbandin, and
Nushki and Chagai, should be ascertained, and Mr. Webb-W T are will be asked
to make enquiries and report on these points during his winter tour.
6. The only other important point on which I need touch is the strength
of the levies employed to guard the road. I am afraid the present force of
levies which was sanctioned in Foreign Department letter No, 2961-F., dated
the 30th October 1896, at a cost of
Rs. 19,200 a year, and of which a list * is
attached, will hardly be sufficient as a permanent arrangement. The distances
between the present thanas are very long, and as Mr. Webb-Ware points out, the
danger of raids from the Damanis and other Perso-Baluch tribes make it very
necessary to strengthen the posts between Amir Ckah and Koh-i-Malik Siah.
Moreover, as they stand, the posts are not sufficiently strong to enable regular
postal communication to be kept' up between Koh-i-Malik Siah and Nushki.
, 0 TT This is only rendered possible at present
f See list II attached. , i , .i- 1 .
because of the additional postal sowars f
subsequently sanctioned at a cost of Rs. 430 a month for the purpose of
keeping up communication with Surgeon-Major Brazier-Creagh in Seistan.
Surgeon-Major Brazier-Creagh has now returned, and if these sowars are with
drawn, the chain of posts will become dangerously weak, and the arrangements
made will be likely to break down. I would therefore very strongly recom
mend that 1 may be allowed to keep on permanently the postal sowars tem
porarily sanctioned by your telegram INo. 1000-F., dated the 21st April 1897.
These sowars will be the more necessary if there is any intention of replacing
Surgeon-Major Brazier-Creagh by another officer or of appointing a British
News-writer in Seistan, as suggested in my letter No. 1437-0., dated the 29th
July 1897; and in any case I think experience has shown that without them it
will not be possible to keep up regular communication between the Post Office at
Nushki and the frontier tliana at Robat, which is a matter of importance to the
proper control of the district. Also since his report was written Mr. Webb-Ware
has sent me in a proposition statement for
* See hst IIL additions to his levies | (besides the
postal sowars) at a cost of Rs. 310 a month in order to strengthen the Amir
Chah and Saindak thanas, to place another post between Saindak and Robat,
and to give some service allowances to some of the headmen of the Mamasani
Baluch who inhabit the desert w 7 est of Amir Chah. The allotment, too, of