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‘Military report on Persia Volume I 1930’ [25r] (54/154)
The record is made up of 1 volume (73 folios). It was created in 1920-1931. 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.
deltaic plains is a rich covering of low scrub and reeds,
which' give the country a green appearance. Approaching
the Helmand at flood time, nothing but a vast expanse of
water is to be seen to the west; at other times the reed
beds (naizar) have grown so high and thick, that little or
no open water is visible from the shores of the main land.
(1) Mountains.
The Palangan Kuh hills situated in the Qainat form
the western boundary of Seistan, and consist of innumer
able parallel ranges, varying from 4,000' to 8,000' in alti
tude. The name Palangan Kuh is commonly applied to the
whole range visible from Seistan. Properly, however, it
only belongs to one very prominent rock table. This great
slab, sixty miles in length by a few hundred yards in
breadth, Is tilted gently to the west and is scarped on all
sides by tremendous walls of rock and there only exist two
or three difficult tracks by which access to it can be gained.
The ranges are separated by narrow valleys, and sometimes
by broad saucer-shaped plateaux liable to inundation during
the rainy, season. These valleys and plateaux contain
numerous springs and wells.
The only other hill of importance is the Kuh-i-Khwaja,
with an altitude of 2,037 feet and commanding the ap
proaches from Birjand and Neh. There is no water on this
hill, but half a mile to the west the ground is usually a
swamp.
(2) The Eamun.
Seistan is a deep basin into which the drainage of a
large tract of country runs. This drainage finds its way
into the Hamun, which becomes in flood season a large
lake, more than 100 miles in length, and varying from 5 to
10 miles in breadth. This is nowhere very deep, only about
15 feet in the deeper depressions, and not more than 4 to
8 feet over the remaining area in flood time. The water
begins to rise about April and to subside about August; by
winter large tracts of it have dried up. The shallow por
tions and edges are closely set with reeds. This area ia
known as the Naizar, and it is across it that tutins (rafts
made of bulrushes) run in time of flood, and the various
tracts lead when the water has subsided.
The Hamun or Hamuns have been compared to a series
of saucers, each touching but slightly raised above the one
About this item
- Content
Military report on the Khurasan [Khurāsān] and Seistan [Sīstān] regions of Persia [Iran], with maps and illustrations. Produced by the General Staff, India, and published in Calcutta [Kolkata] by the Government of India Press, 1931. Marked for official use only.
The report includes chapters on:
- a history of Khurasan and Seistan
- the geography of Khurasan and Seistan (mountains, rivers, deserts, an alphabetical listing of towns) and climate (including assessments of the health risks associated with both regions)
- population (religion, tribes)
- resources (including crops, grazing, fuel, transport, and a note on horses and mules in Khurasan)
- armed forces (including a description of the Eastern Division of the Persian military, an Order of Battle, organisation, armaments, equipment, clothing, rations, training)
- aviation (detailing the organisation, personnel, equipment, aerodromes, etc., of the Persian Air Force)
- administration (municipal, police, justice, department of public instruction, revenue, roads and communications, census, post and telegraphs, sanitation)
- communications (railways, roads, types of motor transport in use, principal routes used by travellers from Meshed [Mashad] to Russian territory, telegraphs, telephones, wireless)
An appendix includes a veterinary note on conditions in Khurasan and Seistan. The volume also includes four colour plates illustrating different badges associated with Persian army and police officers, and a number of maps and diagrammatic maps.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (73 folios)
- Arrangement
A contents page at the front of the volume (f 6) and index at the rear (ff 64-66) both reference the volume’s original printed pagination.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 75; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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‘Military report on Persia Volume I 1930’ [25r] (54/154), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/7, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100040937079.0x000037> [accessed 20 July 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/15/7
- Title
- ‘Military report on Persia Volume I 1930’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:3v, 5r:61v, 64r:67v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence