The British Bazaar--The pioneer traders of Sistan--Sistan a
half-way house and not the terminus of the route--Comfortable
route--Protection and redress--Indian tea in Persia--Persian
market overstocked--Enterprise of Indian tea traders--Which are
the markets worth cultivating--Articles mostly wanted in Sistan
and Meshed--Exports--A problem to be faced--Ways of communication
needed to cities of central Persia.
The entire British bazaar--a modest one so far--can be taken in at a
glance. The snapshot reproduced in the illustration gives a very good
idea of it. Besides this, one or two Indian British merchants are
established in the main street of Sher-i-Nasrya, where, as we have seen,
they have opened nice shops.
The pioneer merchants of Sistan were the firm of Mahommed Ali Brothers,
of Quetta, established in 1900, and represented by a very intelligent man
called Seth Suliman.
The firm has branches in Birjand and Meshed. They have done good business
both in Sistan, Birjand and Meshed, and have been followed in Sistan by
Tek-Chand, of the wealthy firm of Chaman Singh from Shikarpur--at one
time the trade-centre of Asia. This firm holds to-day the opium contract
of the whole of the Sind district, and is a most enterprising concern.
Mahommed Azim Khan Brothers, of Lahore, have also opened a shop in
Sistan, and so has Mahommed Hayab, agent for Shek Fars Mahommed, the
biggest British firm in Meshed. It is probable that in the near future a
number of other Indian firms may be induced to open branches in Sistan
and Khorassan; but, if they are to avoid disappointment, they should
remember that the Sistan market is merely a retail one, and there is very
little wholesale trade to be transacted so far. In time to come no doubt
a wholesale trade will eventually be developed.
A point which is seldom grasped, or at any rate is frequently overlooked,
is that Sistan (Sher-i-Nasrya) is a mere half-way house between Quetta
and Meshed, and not, as is supposed by many people, the terminus of the
route. Considerable loss and disappointment have been sustained by some
rash British traders, who, notwithstanding the exceptional opportunities
given them to obtain accurate official information, set out with large
caravans, apparently without the most rudimentary geographical knowledge,
as well as without sound commercial foresight.
Another mistake is frequent. Somehow or other the idea seems to prevail
among some Indian traders that Persia, or Eastern Persia, forms part of
the Indian Empire, and they forget that the protection and unusual
facilities which they enjoy from Quetta to Robat (the Beluch frontier)
and, to a certain extent, as far as Sistan, cannot possibly be given on
Persian territory beyond Sistan as far as Meshed.
Although practically across a desert, the journey from Quetta-Nushki to
Sistan is--for travelling of that kind--extremely comfortable and easy;
the real difficulty begins for traders when they are perforce left to
look after themselves on Persian soil, where there are no more clean
rest-houses and where a Britisher--if travelling as a trader--is no more
thought of than if he were an Asiatic trader. He is no longer the
salaamed "Sahib" of the Indian cities, but becomes a mere _ferenghi_, a
stranger, and is at the mercy of everybody.
Moreover, it should be well understood that the protection and redress
obtainable under English law, cease on crossing the Persian frontier.
Very little, if any, redress is to be obtained from Persian officials
except at great cost and infinite worry, waste of time and patience.
Indian tea traders have probably been the greatest sufferers in
consequence of their rash ventures, and they will probably suffer even
more in the future if they do not exercise greater caution in
ascertaining beforehand the suitable markets for their teas and the
actual cost of transport to the markets selected. Several traders have
brought very large caravans of Indian tea to Sistan on various occasions,
believing that they had arrived at the end of their journey, and, after
having paid the heavy duty imposed upon goods introduced into the
country, have found before them the option of going the 600 miles back to
Quetta or continuing at great expense, _via_ Bam to Kerman, a long
journey with doubtful results at the end; or of going to Birjand, Meshed,
Teheran, where they have eventually been compelled to sell at a loss or
to pay the additional Russian duty and send the tea on to Moscow.
The Persian market is at present very much blocked up with Indian teas,
and great caution should be exercised by intending exporters from India.
In time to come, when good roads have been made in every direction, or
railways constructed, and cost of transport greatly minimised, Persia
will be, I think, a considerable buyer of Indian teas; but as matters are
to-day the expense of conveying the tea to the various Persian markets,
especially by the land route, is too great to make any profit possible at
the very low prices paid by the Persians for tea.
Tea exported overland to the Meshed market (not to Sistan) realised,
before the market became overstocked, better prices than the sea-borne
tea _via_ Bandar Abbas. It is certain that the delicate aroma of tea is
not improved by being exposed to the warm sea air, no matter how
carefully it has been packed. And as Major Webb-Ware, the political agent
at Chagai, points out, tea despatched by the land route direct from the
gardens or from Calcutta is not liable to the numerous incidental
charges, commissions and transhipments which are a matter of course upon
teas sent _via_ Bandar Abbas or other Persian Gulf ports.
The demand for unspoiled teas brought overland is considerable in Russia
and all over Europe, even more than in Persia, and when a sensible
understanding has been arrived at with Russia to let Indian teas proceed
in transit through that country, there is no reason why the better Indian
teas should not favourably compete all over Europe with the China caravan
teas.
The Persian market, to my mind, speaking generally, will only be able to
purchase the inferior teas, the Persians as individuals being
comparatively poor. Superior teas in small quantities, however, may find
a sale at good prices among the official classes and the few richer
folks, but not in sufficient quantities to guarantee a large import. The
same remarks, I think, would apply to teas finding their way into Western
Afghanistan from various points on the Sistan-Meshed route.
The Indian tea-traders have shown very commendable enterprise in
attempting to push their teas by the overland route, and trying to
exploit the new markets which the Nushki-Meshed route has thrown open to
them, but their beginning has been made too suddenly and on too large a
scale, which I fear will cause a temporary loss to some of them. A
gradual, steady development of the tea trade is wanted in Persia, not a
rush and violent competition flooding the market with tea that has to be
sold at a loss. When the natives all over Persia have by degrees got
accustomed to Indian tea, and when it is brought in at a cheap price,
Indian teas are likely to be popular in Persia.
[Illustration: The Wall of Sher-i-Nasrya at Sunset.]
I may be wrong, but, to my mind, the greater profits on Indian teas
brought by this route will in the future be made not in Persia itself,
but in Transcaspia, Turkestan, Russia and Central Europe, where people
can pay well for a good article. Great credit should be given to the
Indian and Dehra Dun Tea Associations for despatching representatives to
study the requirements of the Persian market on the spot; but, as Captain
Webb-Ware suggests in the _Gazette of India_, the tea associations would
do well to turn their attention to the sale of Indian teas in Russia, and
to send some experimental consignments of their teas to Moscow by the
overland route. The same remarks might also apply to a great many other
English or Indian manufactured goods.
We complain a great deal that the Russian protective tariff is high, but
it is mild when compared with the murderous protectionism of the United
States or of our beloved friend Germany. And, after all, does this
protection keep out our goods from those countries? By no means. Russia's
industries are indeed fast developing, but they are far from sufficient
to supply her own wants. English, German, and American goods find their
way even to the most remote spots of Siberia. It is, then, a problem
worth considering whether "free trade Persia," with her English and
Indian imports amounting to one million four hundred thousand pounds
sterling (£1,400,000), is a customer so well worth cultivating as
protectionist Russia, which buys from us nearly twenty-two millions'
(£21,974,952) worth yearly.
In regard to the Quetta-Meshed route, it would strike a casual observer
that from our geographical situation we might, without much difficulty,
kill two birds with one stone by a happy combination--Persia being dealt
with _en passant_, as it were, while aiming for quicker, sounder, and
more extensive markets further north.
Persia is a good market for Indian indigo, which has, so far, commanded a
ready sale.
In Sistan itself--which, it cannot be too emphatically repeated, is
to-day only a comparatively poor and sparsely-populated district--the
articles which have, so far, found a quick retail sale, have been Indian
assorted spices, second-hand apparel, sugar, tea, boots, cheap cotton
cloths, matches, kerosene oil, thread, needles, cheap cutlery, scissors,
small looking glasses.
The Amir and the Sardars have at different times made purchases of boots,
shoes, saddlery, silk, woollen and cotton cloths, rugs, shawls, crockery,
and enamel ware, watches, chains, and knives, and have also bought a
considerable number of English-made fancy goods, furniture, stationery,
cigarettes, cigars and tobacco, &c. The humbler Sistanis purchase very
freely from the Indian British shops, but cannot afford to pay very high
prices; but the high officials pay cash and give a good price for all
they buy.
Speaking generally, the articles which are mostly wanted at present are
those mentioned in the official report. For these commodities there is a
steady demand in the markets of Sistan and Khorassan, but the supply, it
should be remembered, should be in proportion to the size of the
population. Sistan, Birjand, Meshed, are not London nor Paris nor Berlin.
The articles wanted are:--
Woollen stuffs, flannels, muslins, mulls, sheetings, chintzes,
cottons, &c.
Velvets, satins, silks, brocades.
Indigo of medium and good quality. (Oudh indigo is principally in
demand in Bushire.)
Iron, brass and copper sheets.
Sulphur matches.
Spices, including cinnamon, cardamums, cloves, pepper, turmeric, &c.
Rice (for Sistan).
Tea, black for Persia, and green for Afghanistan and Transcaspia.
Coffee (in berry).
Refined sugar, loaf.
Ginger preserve (in jars).
Sal-ammoniac.
Baizes (specially of high class), Khinkhabs and gold cloth.
Cotton turbans (lungis) of all qualities, including those with
pure gold fringes.
Leather goods.
Boots (Cawnpore and English).
Saddlery (Cawnpore, as the English is too expensive).
Glass-ware.
Enamel-ware.
Cutlery.
Ironmongery of every description. Cheap padlocks find a ready sale.
Watches (cheap).
Jewellery.
Kalai (for tinning copper vessels).
Fire-arms would command a very ready sale, but their importation is
strictly forbidden.
The articles of export from Khorassan and Sistan are wool, ghi, saffron,
dried fruit of various kinds, hides, jujubes, assafoetida,
pistachio-nuts, barak, kurak, gum, valuable carpets, and some turquoises.
In Sistan itself wheat and oats are plentiful, but their export to
foreign countries is not permitted. Opium finds its way out of the
country _via_ Bandar Abbas, and wool, ghi, feathers, carpets, and
assafoetida are conveyed principally to Kerman, Birjand, Meshed, Yezd,
the Gulf, and Quetta.
One of the principal problems of the new land route to India is not only
how to induce British traders to go to Persia, but how to solve the more
difficult point of persuading the big Persian traders to cross the bridge
and venture into India. They seem at present too indolent and suspicious
to undertake such a long journey, and would rather pay for luxuries to be
brought to their doors than go and get them themselves.
With the assistance, both moral and financial, of the enterprising Major
Sykes, a large caravan was sent from Kerman to Quetta with Persian
goods, and paid satisfactorily, but others that followed seem to have had
a good many disasters on the road (on Persian territory) and fared less
well. Major Sykes's effort was most praiseworthy, for indeed, as regards
purely Persian trade, I think Kerman or Yezd must in future be the aiming
points of British caravans rather than Meshed. These places have
comparatively large populations and the field of operations is
practically unoccupied, whereas in Meshed Russian competition is very
strong.
With the present ways of communication across the Salt Desert, it is most
difficult and costly to attempt remunerative commercial communication
with these towns. Small caravans could not possibly pay expenses, and
large caravans might fare badly owing to lack of water, while the
circuitous road _via_ Bam is too expensive.
When more direct tracks, with wells at each stage, after the style of the
Nushki-Sistan route, have been constructed between Robat and Kerman, and
also between Sher-i-Nasrya and Kerman, and Sher-i-Nasrya and Yezd,
matters will be immensely facilitated.