'Report of Khan Bahadur Maula Bakhsh, Attaché to the Agent to the Governor General of India and Her Britannic Majesty's Consul-General for Khurasan and Sistan, on His Journey from Meshed to Quetta via Turbat-i-Haidari, Kain, Sistan, Kuh-i-Malik Siah and Nushki (7th April to 28th July 1898)' [‎59r] (122/156)

ON HIS JOURNEY FROM MESHED TO QUETTA, 1898.
95
(6) In going by the Gaud-i-Zireh route the Sistan caravans have to pass
Si., 4 „ era vans pref-r to ,„e the G.„d.i.zi, e h t hrou Sk Afghan territory, but they prefer
route and to run the risk of havintr to pay Afph&u to TUH the TISK 01 having to pay Afghd/U
!-M2irsi‘ih rKdh * taxes than making the long detour by
Rubat-i-Kuh-i-Malik Siah.
I questioned the people of the Sistan caravan that I met at this place (Amir
Chah) on the subject. They replied that no Afghan official had ever come or
was likely to come to the waterless “Lut” (desert) south of Gaud-i-Zireh to
levy taxes. They added that the place was cut off from Afghan villages on
the Helmund by miles of desert, and even if an Afghan outpost or a customs
house were ts be established at any point south of Gaud-i-Zireh, they could
easily avoid it, or, if necessary, defy ihe Afghan guards and decline to pay
any taxes. They were sanguine of their success in this mater, because they
knew, they said, that a few guards could not enforce payment from a
large caravan and it was almost impossible for the Afghans to have a large
garrison there owing to the country near Gaud-i-Zireh being extremely hot,
unhealthy, and impracticable for a garrison.
For these reasons, they declared, that all Sistan caravans were likely t°
continue using the direct and short route via Gaud-i-Zireh, whether travelling
from the direction of Sistan towards Amir Chah or vice versd.
(c) Caravans bound for Quetta from Meshed and other places outside
Caravans bound for Quetta from Meshed and Sistan Wei’©, hOWSVCr, likely, they thought,
other places outside Sistan are likely to prefer the to prefer the Rubat-i-Kull-i-Malik Sl'ah
Kuh-i-Malik Siah route to that Gaud-i-Zireh. t c if v j
route for the sake of security ana assist
ance in the way of guides and guards that they were sure to receive in using
that route.
(d) The camelmen belonging to the Sistan caravan in question complained
Loss of camels and other grievances of Sistan ° f having lost a large number of Camels
caravans against the Quetta route, as compared to OU the road and having had to leave
then Bandai Abbas route. behind at different places many that had
become ill and unfit for service.
They also complained of having realized at Quetta much less than th e
c amount they had expected for the wool
eeparagrap * v . and clarified butter which they had taken
there for sale from Sistan.
The above two causes seemed to have discouraged them considerably, as
they unanimously thought that they would have done better if they had gone
to Bandar Abbas,
Their clarified butter was sold at the rate of R30 per Indian maund
and their wool at R15 per Indian maund at Quetta, while at Bandar Abbas
they expected to have realized at least B32 per maund for clarified butter
and R16 per maund for wool.
I took the opportunity to explain to them that they would have taken
Encouragement given to Sistan caravans to use much longei time in the journey to
the new Nushki-Sistan trade route to Quetta Bandar Abbas and back than to Quetta
instead of that to Bandar Abbas. and . that the h[ „ h mortality
among camels had not only occurred on the Quetta route this year, but on the
Bandar Abbas route as well; and that on both routes it was the consequence
of sickness and want of good camel-grazing caused by scarcity of rain, adding
e , that the people of certain Kain caravans
See paragraph 54 (j). that had met me at Neh oa their way
back from Bandar Abbas complained of having lost about 50 per cent, of their
camels.
I also pointed out to them, what I knew 7 as a fact, that owing to the
prevalence of plague in Karachi and Bombay (the only markets for Persian
and Afghan wool and clarified butter exported by the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ), there had
been little or no demand for those commodities this year at Bandar Abbas;
and that if they had gone to the latter place, they would most certainly have
got much lower prices for them there than the rates they received at Quetta,
while the value of piece goods, tea, apd indigo w r as cheaper at Quetta than at
Bandar Abbas.