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Letters and Papers Concerning the Trans-Persian Railway and Other Railways in Persia [101r] (201/442)
The record is made up of 1 file (221 folios). It was created in Nov 1911-Mar 1917. 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.
7.
elluviel soil, fertilised by the silt with vhioh the flood water
of the Helmand is so largely oharfred, produces crops so abundant
that a large surplus, over and above the requirements of its
inhabitants, is available for export to the neighbouring Persian
Districts which do not grow sufficient grain themselves. To hold
the control of the Belstan grain supply is largely to hold the
control of the tribes in these districte, chief among whom are
the Baluoh tribes of the Sarhad whose raiding propensities have
caused both the Persian authorities and ourselves so much trouble
end loss, of late years, and who are the frostest menace to which
our trade route is exposed. If an outlet, provided with modern
traffic facilities and low carriage rates, were to be provided,
it is not too much to expect that the area under cultivation, in
Seistan, would be largely augmented and a prosperity would ensue
which could not fail to have an important effect on our trade. The
export of food stuffs from Seistan is not permitted, by Persian,law,
but this is a subject on which we will have something to say, later on.
Next in importance to Seistan, as a grain producing country,
is the valley of the Helm&nd. The word valley is perhaps somewhat
of a misnomer as the crops are frown on either side of the river
bed. water being raised to ground level by tamarisk weirs which
a
are renwed. every year. luch more grain than is required for local
X
use is raised and the surplus is either purchased by outlying
Baluoh tribes, or finds its way to the Kandahar market.
Khar an po® 8088 ® 8 a rich soil but the rainfall is unreliable
and good crops only come round about once in three years. A masonry
band thrown across the Bulo nullah, near its debouchure from the
hills, and a small and inexpensive irrigation situated at the
mouth of the Ma&hkel river, in Kashkel, v'ould do much to rectify
this and ensure that peace ^dthin the State borders which is of so
much importance to us. Both schemes are well worth considering.
Any surplus wheat which is grown in Khar an will now find its way
into Quetta
The IJushki cultivation which has been largely developed of
About this item
- Content
The file contains correspondence, memoranda, and other papers relating to railway projects in Persia [Iran] and the surrounding region. The papers deal with the proposals for, planning, and progress of, several railway lines, including one from the Mediterranean to India, the Trans-Persian Railway, the Baghdad Railway, and the Nushki and Dalbandin extension from Quetta. The documents discuss the merits and flaws of the proposals, technical issues such as gauge sizes, and the impact of such projects on Britain's relations with Russia, Germany, France, and Turkey.
At the back of the file are a number of official reports on Parliamentary debates within the House of Commons, dating from 10 July 1912 to 25 May 1914, all of which feature railways (folios 128-218). Also at the rear of the file are three maps:
- General Map of Asia with proposed British, German, and Russian rail lines added by hand
- War Office map of the Middle East, showing railways and railway projects
- As above with further rail lines added and details of gauges given.
Correspondents include: Arthur Campbell Yate, army Officer; Henry McNiel; Francis Richard Maunsell, army officer; George Lloyd, politician; Lieutenant-Colonel Charles à Court Repington, army officer and war correspondent; Lord Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, Leader of the House of Lords; Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice (Lord Lansdowne), statesman; Lucien Wolf, journalist and historian; Charles Staniforth, businessman and railway investor; Charles Prestwich Scott, Editor of the Manchester Guardian; Hugh Shakespear Barnes, Director, Imperial Bank of Persia; and Colonel Frank Cooke Webb Ware, former Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Chagai.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (221 folios)
- Arrangement
The file is arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 221; 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.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F112/252
- Title
- Letters and Papers Concerning the Trans-Persian Railway and Other Railways in Persia
- Pages
- 87r:90v, 95r:221v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence