Abstract: Bound volume containing two secret reports, both authored by Colonel Wilfrid Malleson (referred to as Division of the Chief of the Staff in the first report, and Assistant Quarter Master General for Intelligence in the second), and both issued by the Division of the Chief of the Staff in 1909.The first report is entitled
Statistics regarding the Masqat [Muscat] Arms Traffic (Revised.)(ff 4-16), and contains several appendices and fold-out tables giving details of: caravan routes along which arms trafficking is carried out on the Makran coast; total values of arms and ammunition imported into Muscat and other Persian Gulf ports; importers and (European) exports of arms.The second report is entitled
Special Reports on the Masqat Arms Traffic, Season 1908-09(ff 17-60), and comprises a number of reports on the arms trade through Muscat, submitted by ‘secret agents’, and a map illustrating the arms traffic from Muscat to Persia, Baluchistan and Afghanistan (f 59). The report also includes two appendices, lettered G and H. Appendix G is a letter (in French) dated 28 October 1907, from M Pick to Messieurs Malcom and Company of Muscate [Muscat]. Appendix H comprises lists (in French) of arms for sale, with prices given in French francs.The voluime includes a map illustrating the Muscat arms traffic, dated 1909, indicating routes taken by the Muscat arms trade from the Persian (Makran) coast and inland, into Persia, Baluchistan and Afghanistan (f 59).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 62; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: this part also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: This document opens by outlining the history of the boundaries between Persia and Seistan [Sīstān] and Persia and Mekran [Makran]. It goes on to discuss the involvement of the British with the dispute during the middle of the nineteenth century, and particularly focuses on the process of British arbitration. The document is largely compiled using extracts from, or references to, the correspondence of various Foreign Office officials.It was written by Lieutenant-Colonel Owen Tudor Burne, Secretary, Political and Secret Department, on 31 March 1875.Physical description: 5 folios
Abstract: Two documents exist within these folios, one of which was written by Hermann Anderson Haines, Assistant, Public Works Department, on 19 September 1893, and the next by Captain Frederick Weston Peile MacDonald on 15 August 1893. The first document by Haines explains the history leading up to the boundary dispute between Persia and Baluchistan over the ownership of Mekran and the actions that have been taken by each party. It also focuses on the original documents, drawn up by Major-General Sir Frederic John Goldsmid, which marked the boundary. Haines closes the document by stating the necessity of speedy delimitation. The second document by MacDonald focuses mainly upon the benefits of quickly arranging a settlement over the boundary as he believes that it shows the support of the British for the people of Mekran and also provides a countermove against recent Russian involvement in the region.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 23, and terminates at f 31, 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.
Abstract: This file consists of a memorandum by George Percy Badger (scholar and missionary) concerning Persian claims in Beloochistan [Baluchistan] and Mekran [Makran], particularly Gwadel or Gwadur [Gwādar] and Charbar [Chābahār]. It contains the following: a history of Persian encroachments in Beloochistan; a table outlining the political divisions of the maritime provinces of Mekran, and their respective governments; an assessment of Persia's jurisdiction on the Mekran Coast; details of the sovereignty of Gwadur; a discussion of hostilities between Persia and the Sultan of Muscat over Bunder Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās] and other dependencies; a summary of the 1856 treaty between Persia and Muscat. A map depicting the political geography of Mekran is included on folio 5.The appendices include:a translation of the treaty between His late Highness Seyyed Saeed [Āl Bū Sa‘īd, Sayyid Thuwaynī bin Sa‘īd] and the Persian Government, relating to Bunder Abbas, etc., dated 1856;a report by Lieutenant-Colonel Frederic John Goldsmid on the claims of Persia, Khelat [Kalat], and Muscat, to sovereign rights on the Mekran Coast;extracts from Lieutenant-Colonel Goldsmid's diaries on defining boundaries and districts;a memorandum on Western Mekran by Lieutenant-Colonel Goldsmid.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 10; 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: A copy of an abstract of the journal of Captain Charles Grant, recording his journey through the western parts of Mekran [Makran], on the orders of Brigadier-General John Malcolm, for the main purpose of ascertaining how a European army could travel through this region to Scind [Sindh]. The copy indicates that it was originally signed by John Little, and the copy is signed by Malcolm.The verso of the last folio (folio 8) states that it was received via the ship
Exeteron 8 August 1811.Physical description: 1 item (8 folios)
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 23 of 1853, dated 29 March 1853. The enclosures are numbered 3-17 and are dated 28 December 1852 to 28 March 1853.The enclosures consist of correspondence, and minutes by the Governor of Bombay concurred in by Board. They concern matters including:Affairs at Bhawulpoor [Bahawalpur, also spelled Bhawulpore in this item], and troops from Upper Sind [Sindh] being held in readiness for service in BhawulpoorAn irregularity in the application of the Commander in Sind for the possible requisition of troops from Upper SindPersian [Iranian] troops occupying Kussurkund [Qasr-e Qand] in Mekran [Makran], and being expected to arrive at Gwadir [Gwadar]The march of the Rajpootana [Rajputana] Field Force from Nusseerabad [Nasirabad] to aid in the capture of the Fort of Narawlee [Narauli? Also spelled Narolee and Narowly in this item], and the surrender of the fort on 12 March 1853An attack by the Murrees [Marri, also spelled Marrees in this item] in the town of Poolajee [Phuleji or Foliji] in the Khelat [Kalat] territoryThe disposal of the money from the sale of certain confiscated gold belonging to Meer Ali Morad [Mīr ʿAlī Murād Khān Tālpūr], and the Commissioner in Sind’s suggestion that it could be spent on building school rooms in Upper Sind.The principle correspondents are as follows: the Commissioner in Sind, Henry Bartle Edward Frere; the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, Arthur Malet; the Quarter Master General of the Army, Bombay, Lieutenant-Colonel J Holland; the Adjutant General of the Army, Bombay, Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Hancock; and the Officiating Secretary to the Government of India, Charles Allen.Physical description: There is an abstract of contents of the despatch, numbered 1-17, on folios 475-476. These numbers are repeated for reference on the verso of the last folio of each enclosure.
Abstract: Six-monthly reports (referred to as appreciations) submitted by HM Consul at Zahidan [Zahedan] on the political situation in the province of Mekran (also spelt Mukran [Makran]), eastern Persia [Iran], and covering the period May 1944 to June 1947. Each report is organised under subheadings which vary from report to report but broadly cover: local administration; trade; smuggling; political affairs; security; communications; British interests; Russian (or Soviet) activities; army; and western reforms. The file also contains an appreciation on the political situation at Seistan [Sīstān] for the period July to December 1946, submitted by HM Vice-Consul at Zabul, which was presumably added to the file in error (ff 24-25).The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the front of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 34, 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: Annual commercial reports for the provinces of Sistan and Kain [Ka’īn] (from 1936, referred to as the provinces of Khorāsān and Mekran [Makran]), submitted by the British Consul for Sistan and Kain (from 1936, the British Consul-General for Khorāsān, Meshed [Mashhad]) (Clarmont Percival Skrine; Major Clive Kirkpatrick Daly; Major Everard Huddleston Gastrell; Captain Giles Frederick Squire). The reports include sections on:trade (including imports, exports, foreign goods, openings for British goods)finance (including banking activity, bankruptcies).taxationPersian military (including the commandeering of transport, effects of conscription)agriculture (including irrigation, opium production)industry (including new industries, electricity generation, demand for foreign machinery)communications and transport (roads, railways)social conditions (standard of living, unemployment, public health and hygiene)appendices with statistical tables on imports and exports on the Nushki to Duzdap [Zahedan] railway, imports and exports via Zahedan, freight rates, and rates for animal transportPreceding each report is an India Office minute paper, containing handwritten notes commenting on the contents of the report. The file also includes a small amount of official correspondence relating to the contents of the reports, and a number of other reports prepared by the British-Consul General, relating to the commercial situation in eastern Iran, and Iranian trade with Russia.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 157; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located at the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.An additonal foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-156; these numbers are also written in pencil and circled, but are crossed through.
Abstract: A copy of the journal of a route through Makran [Makrān] to Bunder Abbass [Bandar-e ‘Abbās] taken by Captain Grant of the Bengal Native Infantry between 29 January and 28 April 1809, as part of a series of route surveys on the frontiers of Persia ordered by Brigadier-General John Malcolm.The journal describes the roads, settlements, resources, revenues, local populations and chiefs along the route and assesses the threat of a European army reaching India from this direction.The journal was enclosed in Brigadier-General Malcolm’s dispatch to the Chairman of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, received in July 1810 (IOR/L/PS/9/67/80).Physical description: 1 item (16 folios)
Abstract: A printed map to illustrate the route through Makran [Makrān] taken by Captain Grant of the Bengal Native Infantry between 29 January and 28 April 1809, as part of a series of route surveys on the frontiers of Persia [Iran] ordered by Brigadier-General John Malcolm. Covers a coastal area of approximately 330 miles between Gwutter [Gavāter] and Bunder Abas [Bandar-e ‘Abbās], and portrays Grant’s route, settlements, hydrology, and relief.The map was enclosed in Brigadier-General Malcolm’s despatch to the Chairman of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, received in July 1810 (IOR/L/PS/9/67/80).Physical description: Materials: Manuscript; black ink on paperDimensions: 610 mm x 365 mm, on sheet 650 x 420 mm
Abstract: The part contains reports, correspondence, and printed copies of correspondence, relating to affairs on the frontiers between Persia [Iran] and British Baluchistan [Pakistan], as well as between British Baluchistan and Afghanistan. The part includes: reports of unrest and desertion amongst the Zhob militia in 1916, and losses incurred as a result, as reported by the Political Agent at Zhob, Major Arthur le Grand Jacob; the granting of financial rewards to officers and men in the Zhob militia who did not desert during the Third Anglo-Afghanistan War in 1919; the continuance of funds towards a number of British border forces in 1921, including the Swat Levies and the Mekran Levy Corps; discussion of the future arrangements for the administration of those parts of Mekran [Makran] under the authority of the Khanate of Kalat, 1922; reports on the Kalat administration; the disposal of the Mirjawa [Mīrjāveh] to Duzdap [Zahedan] railway; and the transfer of control over tribes in the Sarhad district of Persian Baluchistan, from the British to the Persian authorities, March 1924.The part’s principal correspondents are: the Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India; the Agent to the Governor-General, Resident and Chief Commissioner, Baluchistan; the Political Agent at Kalat, Terence Humphrey Keyes; the Foreign Office; and HM Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary at Tehran.Physical description: 1 item (446 folios)
Abstract: A copy of a letter from Bridgadier-General John Malcolm to Captain Grant, Bengal Native Infantry, sent from Bombay [Mumbai] and dated 13 January 1809. The letter instructs Grant to proceed to Guada [Gwadar] and to travel from there across Mekran [Makrān] and Baloche [Balochistān] to Bunder Abbass [Bandar-e ‘Abbās], in order to collect information and assess the threat of an invasion of India by a European force using that route.Physical description: 1 item (8 folios)