Abstract: The first edition of
Who's Who in Persia (Volume I) Khorasan, Sistan & the Kainat, compiled by General Staff, India, comprises a biographical dictionary of individuals connected with those regions in 1923.It also includes two genealogical trees outlining the pedigree of the Chiefs of Tun and Tabas, and the Rukn-ud-Dauleh family, showing their relationship to the Shahs of Persia.Published by the Government Central Press, Delhi.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 36; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: The volume consists of corrections and additions to the biographical dictionary of individuals given in
Who's Who in Persia (Volume I) Khorasan, Sistan & the Kainat,compiled by the General Staff, India, from 1923.Published by the Government of India Press, Simla, 1924.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 13; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 3-13; these numbers are printed, and are not circled.
Abstract: This file consists of a report written by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Edward Stewart, Bengal Staff Corps, in which he describes his journeys to and around Mashad, Herat and Merv in the vicinity of the Perso-Afghan frontier, and provides detailed intelligence regarding topography, settlements, communications, vegetation and agriculture. He also describes local populations, tribes and chiefs, and their present and historical actions and allegiances.The author records his opinion that due to a general fear of Torcoman raids, and a positive attitude towards Russia, the region of Khurasan [Khorāsān] could willingly fall under Russian sway; he therefore urges the instalment of an English officer on the Perso-Afghan frontier to maintain a British influence there.The report is written in twelve chapters, and is followed by five appendices giving detailed descriptions of routes travelled, with mileages.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 123 and terminates at the last folio with 162, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 123-162; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: The volume is
Report on Sistan and the Country Between it and Mashad[Mashhad], by Lieutenant H D Napier, Staff Lieutenant, Intelligence Branch, Quarter Master General's Department in India. It was printed at the Government Central Printing Office, Simla, 1894. It consists of two parts, political and military.The report is largely based on a journey from Mashad to Sistan and back undertaken between 1 November 1892 and 18 March 1893 by the author; his munshi and a native of Mashad, Haji Jawad [Haji Javād]; a sub-surveyor of the Queen's Own Corps of Guides, Sher Ali Khan [Shīr ʿAlī Khan]; a 'gholam' [young servant] from the Governor of Khorasan (unnamed); and a Turkoman [Turkmen] 'postal sowar' [mounted orderly or guard] (unnamed). It provides information and statistics (often tabulated) on the history, geography, economy, population, resources, roads, and meteorology of the region. The information in the military section reflects concerns with supplies, transport, and development possibilities.Throughout the volume there are numerous photographs, plans, and sketches. These are of fortifications, landscape features, sites of historical or cultural interest, and notable people. In a pocket at the rear of the volume is a map that illustrates the report.Near the beginning of the report there is a preface (folio 4) written by Lieutenant-Colonel George Hand More-Molyneux, Assistant Quarter Master General, Intelligence Branch, on 7 May 1894, and guidance for the 'Custody and Disposal of Secret Books, Reports, &c., Issued by the Intelligence Branch, Quarter Master General's Department in India' (folio 3).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 57; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: An additional printed pagination sequence is also present in parallel between ff 6-53.
Abstract: The map shows trade routes in the provinces of Seistan and Kain [Sīstān and Qā’en] and the surrounding Khorasan region of Persia [Iran], and trade routes across the borders from Persia into Afghanistan and British Baluchistan.The map was created by Ordnance Survey, Southampton.Physical description: Materials: Printed on paperDimensions: 202 x 134mm, on sheet 242 x 153mm
Abstract: This memorandum, written by Lord Curzon [George Nathaniel Curzon, Marquess Curzon of Kedleston], discusses a proposed Bunder Abbas–Kerman railway line. Curzon considers the possible diplomatic, commercial and strategic motives for constructing the railway line.Curzon argues that if the line has been suggested merely as a diplomatic rejoinder – that is to say, as a response to a Russian concession from Baku to Teheran [Tehran] – then the proposal is of little merit.He suggests that if the line is being proposed for its commercial value then this should be demonstrated by the figures of trade. Moreover, Curzon argues that the line's commercial effect on any future extension of the Nushki railway beyond Dalbandin should also be considered, since both lines would then be competing for the trade of East Persia and Khorasan.Curzon suggests that one strategic advantage of constructing a line from Bunder Abbas to Kerman would be the prospect of diverting a future Teheran–Yezd–Kerman Russian railway line away from the direction of India.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 14, and terminates at f 14, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: This file is a memorandum written by Adolphus Warburton Moore, Political and Secret Department, of historical events and correspondence relating to the occupation of Merv by Russia, and to Russian activity in Khorassan, on the Persian boundary.The memorandum reproduces a despatch to the Russian Ambassador to London, in which Lord Granville, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, expresses the British Government's displeasure at hearing of the Russian annexation of Merv, against assurances previously given by the Government of the Russian Empire. The memorandum gives the Russian response, describing the annexation as merely an act of local administration without political pre-meditation on the part of Russia, who continue to seek co-operation and friendly relations with the British Government.The memorandum goes on to describe British concerns and Russian denials that they next intended to annexe Sarakhs on the Persian border, and, upon the arrival of Russian troops at Sarakhs and in other parts of Khorassan, Persian protests to the Russian Government.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 110 and terminates at the last folio with 122, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 110-122; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: A report from Herat by an anonymous French author in the service of Shah Zeman [Zamān Shāh Durrānī, Ruler of Afghanistan], dated 3 September 1799.The report describes the campaign of Baba Khan [Fatḥ-‘Alī Shāh Qājār, Shāh of Persia] in eastern Persia [Iran], including the capture of Nichabour [Nishabur] and the siege of Mashate [Mashhad], and Baba Khan’s retreat when faced with large forces led by Shah Zeman and Shah Mourad [Shāhmurād, Amīr of Bukhara]. The report states that many Persian troops were captured by tribes to be sold into slavery in Boukara [Bukhara] and that Shah Zeman is now planning an expedition to Lahor [Lahore].Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: Correspondence, reports and other papers concerning the ill-treatment of British subjects in Persia [Iran] by the Persian authorities. The file is a direct chronological continuation of Coll 28/60(1) ‘Persia. Treatment of Foreigners; Position of British subjects, and British Consular Representatives, etc.’ (IOR/L/PS/12/3466). The file covers: the treatment and deportation of British subjects (Berberis, or Hazara Khawari) from the Khorasan province of Persia into neighbouring British India (Pakistan); an incident occurring in 1938 in which a bus carrying British consular officials was commandeered by an officer of the Persian military; claims of discrimination against British subjects in Meshed [Mashhad]; a boycott imposed upon the British Consulate at Meshed by the Persian Government; correspondence describing the general attitude of the Persian authorities towards British persons in Persia; a ‘Report on the Attitude towards the British in Persia in March 1938’, written by Lieutenant Ian Hallam Lyall-Grant of the Royal Engineers (ff 134-142).The file’s principal correspondents are: Nevile Montagu Butler of the British Legation in Tehran; HM’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Horace James Seymour; HM’s Consul at Meshed, Giles Frederick Squire; Charles William Baxter and Herbert Lacy Baggallay of the Foreign Office; the Government of India.The file contains a single item in Persian, a typewritten letter (accompanied by English translation) from the British Embassy in Tehran to the Iranian Minister for Foreign Affairs, dated 23 April 1947 (f 5).The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 304; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: Printed and typewritten monthly commercial reports for Meshed (also spelt Meshad) [Mashhad], renamed and enlarged from October 1933 to cover the Khorassan (also spelt Khorasan) [Khorāsān] district. The reports were produced by the British Government’s representative in the region, referred to variously as: the Consul General and Agent of the Government of India in Khorassan; the Consul General, Meshed; the Consul General for Khorassan (Lieutenant-Colonel Cyril Charles Johnson Barrett; Major Clive Kirkpatrick Daly; Captain Everard Huddleston Gastrell; Captain Giles Frederick Squire).The monthly reports, which begin as one-page written summaries and evolve over time to become comprehensive statistical surveys, provide an overview of the region’s trade. They contain remarks on the trade in various raw and manufactured goods, including: carpets, wool, cotton, skins, tea, sugar, rice, dried fruits, almonds, opium, piece goods and haberdashery. The reports also contain remarks on: rates of exchange, transport rates, the activities of foreign agents and manufacturing companies, manufacturing production, the general mood amongst traders, the state of the market. Later reports contain statistical tables on trade, including imports and exports via Zahidan [Zahedan]. Up until mid-1935, minute papers are included in front of most reports, containing report summaries written by India Office staff.Some topical issues affecting trade are touched upon in the reports: changing relations between Persia [Iran] and Russia, including a trade boycott in late 1932, and a trade agreement in 1940; the Persian Government’s creation of monopoly companies in the mid-1930s; Second World War trade, including lists of goods reported to have been sent to Germany.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 670; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-669; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: Copies of monthly commercial reports for the Khorasan [Khorāsān] district of Iran, submitted by Britain’s Consul-General for Khorasan at Meshed [Mashhad]. The file is a direct chronological continuation of Coll 28/7 ‘Persia. Diaries: Meshed/Khorasan Commercial: Jany 1931–Dec. 1940 (Inclusive.)’ (IOR/L/PS/12/3401).Papers for each monthly report include:Cover sheets, with lists of recipients of copies of each month’s report.The report, containing lists of the chief items of imports and exports with quantities and prices, average wholesale prices at Zahedan for principal commodities (imports and exports), miscellaneous notes on trade, exchange and freight rates, low and high temperatures.Statements of imports into Iran via Zahedan, exports from Iran via Zahedan, and comparative statements of imports of British origin and from foreign sources into Zahedan.The file also includes:A report entitled
Annual Report Economic “A”written by the British Vice-Consulate at Zahedan (Major R P Watts), dated 15 June 1942, containing summaries on finances, foreign trade, agriculture, industry, transport, and state undertakings (ff 451-453).A report entitled E
conomic Report “A”written by the Consul-General at Khorasan (H A N Barlow, f 450).The reports provide evidence of the impact upon trade in the region of significant contemporary events, including: the Second World War; the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in August 1941; changes to Iranian economic policy; deteriorating relations between Russia and the United States in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War; events in the Punjab and Pakistan in the wake of Indian Independence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 547; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: A copy of a letter from Henry Willock, HM Chargé d’Affaires in Persia [Iran], to George Canning, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, sent from Sultanieh [Soltānīyeh] and dated 8 July 1824.Subjects covered in the letter include:Events in KhorasanThe rumoured death of the Khan of Khiva Mahomed Raheem Khan [Muhammad Rahīm Bahādur Khān I]The dismissal of Mahomed Reza Mirza [Muhammad Rezā Mīrzā] as Governor of GilanAn earthquake on 2 June which caused extensive damage in Cazroon [Kāzerūn] and elsewhereA reported act of ‘piracy’ in the Gulf originating from Sharga [Sharjah]Conflict in Arabia between the Wahabees [Wahhabis] and the forces of Mahomed Ali Pasha [Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha, Wāli of Egypt].The letter was enclosed in Willock’s letter to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 14 July 1824 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/186).Physical description: The letter was perforated in an attempt to stop the spread of disease.