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'Report on Sistan and the Country Between It and Mashad' [37r] (78/118)
The record is made up of 1 volume (55 folios). It was created in 1894. 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.
Prices at Kidri in the winter were-
4% maunds # of lucern and other vetches
... ...
... 1 kran.
8 ,, chaff
...
... 1 kran.
5 „ barley
...
... 1 kran.
1 sheep
... 3 to 5 krans.
1 chicken ... ...
...
... i kran.
40 eggs
••• ...
t-c. 1 kran.
■% 16 maunds of wood
...
... 1 kran.
This buluk has probably a surplus
of about 2,000
kharwars of grai
(580 tons).
Kain,
Kain * The town of Kain was formerly the seat of the Amir^
and is situated in a much more fertile country than
Birjand.
It is surrounded by the usual mud wall, with bastions, which is now
broken down in places and incapable of defence.
A mosque that looks like a huge
factory
An East India Company trading post.
is the most conspicuous object
in the town, and there are about 80 shops supplied with Russian goods. The
place is well supplied with water, having nine kanats and two ab-ambars,
and there are four watermills. Kain supplies nearly the whole of Persia with
. saffron, which fetches a very high price, miskals for
1 rmskal 71* grams, j p ran# Besides saffron, wheat, barley, cotton, millet,
melons, mulberry, and opium are cultivated.
The town contains 5,000 inhabitants, and the buluk the following villages
Kain,f Khunik.t Ishfashad,+ Piruzabad,t Khurbag.t
t Marked on the map. Buznabad.t Rum,t Wariz,t Naoghab,t Sihdih.f Sber-
murg,t Shahak, Afris,t Sariab,t Khushgu, Kalata Bala, Asadabad, Yizak,
Kum, Mahmiri, Askarieh, Khanik Pae Godar,f Razdumbal,J Nangirift,J
Zawar,J Mahanj,J Farukhabad,J Bilorkt Shebi.t Pah-
% Bellew. nai,J IlehudiJ.
Thirty-one villages, at an average of 50 houses each, added to the popula
tion of Kain, makes a total of 11,200 inhabitants.
There are 400 camels and about 10,000 sheep belonging to the buluk,
which is said to produce enough grain for its own consumption and occasion
ally a slight surplus, which is sent to Birjand.
The naib of Kain is Haji Ahmed Beg, and an important mullah lives here
called Agha Sayid Jawad. There are a great number of Sayids in the town.
Kain could furnish at short notice 1,000 kharwars (290 tons) of barley,
1,000 kharwars of chaff (chopped straw), and 600 kharwars (174 tons) of
wheat.
Prices on the 17th February were—
7 maunds (45'5 lbs.) chaff for 1 kran.
3 ,, (19*5 lbs.) barley „ 1 ,,
2 „ (13 lbs.) bread „ .1 „
* The Tabas mauud is used here, which weighs S lbs. 10| oz.
About this item
- Content
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 A term used in the Middle East, Persia and South Asia to refer to a secretary, assistant or amanuensis. Munshis were employed in the British administration in the Gulf. 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 In the East India Company army and later Indian Army, an ordinary native cavalryman or mounted cavalryman. ' [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).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (55 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is divided into two parts (Political and Military) and each part then further divided into several chapters on different subjects. At the beginning of the volume (folio 5) is a contents page, with reference to the original pagination.
- Physical characteristics
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 The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
Pagination: An additional printed pagination sequence is also present in parallel between ff 6-53.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'Report on Sistan and the Country Between It and Mashad' [37r] (78/118), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/298, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100109261469.0x00004f> [accessed 19 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F111/298
- Title
- 'Report on Sistan and the Country Between It and Mashad'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:9r, 10r:10v, 11v:12v, 13v:14v, 15v:18r, 19r:20r, 21r:22r, 23r, 24r:29r, 30r:35r, 36r, 37r:37v, 38v:39r, 40r:41r, 42r, 43r:43v, 44v:45r, 46r:54v, 56r:56v, 58r
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence