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'Report on Sistan and the Country Between It and Mashad' [46r] (96/118)
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.
* Alarkcd on the map.
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The tribe numbers perliaps 5,000 souls, some of whom live in Chahak and
the hills round. They fancy themselves somewhat as fighting-men, and boast
that they used to beat the Baluchis when they raided up as far as Khur from
Sistan. I saw a few good men, but the majority did not strike me as beino*
superior to the Persians of this part.
The Zangui tribe belongs properly to Tabas. Thus at Khur half the
Zangui tribe. population being 1 Zanguis and half Nakhis, and Khur
being a frontier village, half the revenue goes to the
Amad-ul-mulk, the Governor of Tabas, and half to the Hashmat-ul-Mulk,
the Governor of Sistan, who has been given this portion of Birjand by
his brother. This latter arrangement is convenient, because the Governor of
Sistan is roamed, to a daughter of the Amad-ul-Mulk, and spends a considerable
portion of his time at Tabas. Pie has to pass through this country, therefore,
frequently to get to Tabas, and its acquisition is some compensation to him
for the loss of Birjand, of which he is the rightful heir.
It is not a great corn-growing country, but is said to contain 45,000
sheep and 1,000 camels.
9. Ardbkhana, including MiMtarun :—»
*Mukhtaran
*Gul
...
*Gib
Gilir ...
M alughun
8ang
• • •
Hassanabad
• • •
Khunik ...
Mawadi ...
•
Hardangan
Mihrabad (Arabkhana)
Kalata-i-nao
**
Dozangun
>9
Bargan
99
Tarasun
99
H nseinabad
99
Li ski
99
Darehgurun
99
Dihak
99
Mir Muhammad
99
Zainulabad
99
Sulakhun
9 9
Hashtukhun
99
Houses.
300 )
200 MoubtfuL
100 5
3
10
15
20
15
20
2
2
10
15
15
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ICO
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There are three or four other villages marked on the map in this district not included.
Only a portion of this country has been explored ; there are probably not
less than 1,300 houses and 5,200 inhabitants. Mukhtarun appears to be
administered separately from Arabkhaua, but I have classed them top-ether
because the inhabitants of both are Arabs. The headman of Arabkhana lives
in or near Dihak. His name is Mir Ali.
Arabkhana is a singularly desolate looking country. The villages are
Inhabitants. insignificant and the houses are mere hovels; the floors
of the houses are sunk about a foot below the ground,
which makes them look even smaller than they are, and the people are
undersized. They own 10,000 sheep, 200 camels, 100 cows, and 300 donkeys.
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' [46r] (96/118), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/298, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100109261469.0x000061> [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