The history of the Sistan Vice-Consulate--Major Chevenix
Trench--Laying the foundation of the Consulate--Hoisting the
British flag--Major Benn--A terrible journey--A plucky
Englishwoman--The mud Consulate--Its evolution--The new
buildings--Ka-khanas--Gardening under difficulties--How horses
are kept--The enclosing wall--The legend of Trenchabad city--The
Consulate Mosque--Dr. Golam Jelami--The hospital--Successful
operations--Prevalent complaints of Sistan--The Sistan Sore.
The history of the Sistan Vice-Consulate does not go back very far, but
is, nevertheless, very interesting. We will recapitulate it in a few
words.
Major Brazier-Creagh was sent to Sistan on a special mission; as has
already been said, and Captain F. C. Webb-Ware, C. I. E., Political
Assistant at Chagai, visited the place every year at the end of his
annual trip along the new route in North Beluchistan from Quetta to
Robat, the most Eastern station of the route prior to entering Persian
territory. Major Sykes visited Sistan in 1896 in connection with the
Perso-Beluch Boundary Commission and again in 1899, when he travelled
here from Kerman by the easier southern route _via_ Bam.
It was on February 15th, 1900, that a Russian Vice-Consul for that
important Province was appointed to Sistan to take the place of a Persian
who was a news-writer in Russian employ. Major G. Chevenix Trench was
then specially selected by the Viceroy of India as a suitable person to
look after British interests in that region--and indeed no better man
could have been chosen.
Having given up his appointment in India this officer left Quetta on
March 7th, 1900, and arrived at Sher-i-Nasrya on the 18th of April,
accompanied by Major R. E. Benn, who was on a year's furlough, and can be
said, I believe, to be the first European who has travelled all the way
from India to England by this overland route, _via_ Meshed-Transcaspia.
Major Trench, prior to leaving for Meshed to take up his appointment of
Consul-General for Khorassan, being unable to stand the fierce heat of
the sun, laid the foundation stone--it was a "sun-dried mud brick," to be
accurate--of the present temporary buildings of the Consulate. A domed
mud hut _à la Persane_ was built, with an additional spacious window, but
no framework and no glass.
The great difficulty of hoisting the British flag, which seems to have
been strongly objected to during the Perso-Afghan Commission when Sir
Frederic Goldsmid passed through Sistan in 1872, was overcome mainly
owing to the great tact shown by Major Trench. The Union Jack flew daily,
gaily and undisturbed, over the mud hovel which will probably be during
the next few years one of the most important consular posts we possess in
Asia.
Major Benn, who had hastily proceeded to London on a long expected
holiday, was immediately recalled to replace Major Trench. Major Benn,
accompanied by his plucky and devoted wife and child, journeyed a second
time across the Beluchistan desert to reach his post.
The journey was terrible, owing to torrential rains and snowstorms. When
already several marches out they were compelled to return to Quetta as
their child had become very ill. But they were despatched again on their
duty. They encountered severe storms; the country was practically
flooded; some of their camels died, and for days at a time they were in
the desert unable to move, the country being in many places inundated. In
a blizzard two of their men lost themselves and died from exposure, but
the party advanced slowly but surely, the plucky little English lady
standing all the hardships without a murmur.
Major Benn having been ordered to make a detour, they went down into the
Sarhad, south of the Kuh-i-Malek-Siah, and it was not till February 15th,
1901, that they eventually reached Sher-i-Nasrya, and were received by
Trench in his mud-hut Consulate, he having moved into a tent. Major
Trench, on the arrival of Major Benn, proceeded to Meshed.
During Major Benn's time the Consulate buildings went through a
marvellous evolution. It may be recollected that I reached Sistan in
December, 1901, or only ten months after his arrival, but there were
already several additional mud-rooms built and connected so as to form a
suite of a spacious office, sitting-room, dining-room, two bedrooms and a
storeroom. There were doors, made locally by imported Indian carpenters,
but no glass to the windows,--muslin nailed to the wall answering the
purpose of blinds. Famished dogs, attracted by the odour of dinner, would
occasionally jump through this flimsy protection, much to the despair of
Mrs. Benn--but those were only small troubles. Thieves found their way
into the rooms, and even succeeded in stealing Mrs. Benn's jewellery.
There was no protection whatever against an attack in force, and the
natives were at first most impudent in their curiosity.
[Illustration: The Sistan Consulate on Christmas Day, 1901.]
Being a Mussulman country, things were at first very uncomfortable for
Mrs. Benn until the natives got accustomed to the sight of an English
lady, she being the first they had ever seen, or who had ever travelled
so far.
The temporary mud-rooms were gradually furnished and decorated with so
much taste that they became simply charming, but a new Consulate is now
being built, which, by comparison in size and style, seems quite
palatial. It is being constructed of real baked bricks, Major Benn having
put up a serviceable kiln for the purpose, and the handsome structure is
so sensibly built after a design by the versatile Consul, that when
finished it will fully combine English comfort with the exigencies of
the climate, the incessant northerly winds of the summer months--from
June to the end of August--rendering life unbearable unless suitable
arrangements to mitigate their effects are provided.
Into the northern wall _ka khanas_ or "camel thorn compartments" are
being built some four feet deep, filled with camel thorn. To make them
effective two coolies are employed all day long to swish buckets of water
on to them. The wind forcing its way through causes rapid evaporation and
consequent cooling of the air in the rooms. When the wind stops the heat
is, however, unbearable. The rooms are also provided with _badjirs_, or
wind-catchers, on the domed roof, but these can only be used before the
heat becomes too great.
An attempt had been made to start a garden, both for vegetables and
flowers, but the hot winds burnt up everything. Only four cabbages out of
hundreds that were planted had survived, and these were carefully nursed
by Mrs. Benn for our Christmas dinner. Unluckily, on Christmas Eve a cow
entered the enclosure and made a meal of the lot!
Another garden is being started, but great difficulty is experienced in
making anything grow owing to the quantity of salt in the ground and the
terrific winds. Poplars have come up fairly well under shelter of a wall,
but no tree can hope to stand upright when it attains a height where the
wind can reach it. In fact, what few trees one sees about near
Sher-i-Nasrya are stooping southward in a pitiful manner.
The Consul's horses and those of the escort are kept out in the open.
They are tethered and left well wrapped up, wearing nearly double the
amount of covering to protect them from the heat during the hot summer
months that they do in winter, on the principle explained in previous
chapters. It is not possible to keep them in stables, owing to the
terrible white fly, which has a poisonous sting. When out in the open the
flies and mosquitoes are blown away by the wind.
It was satisfactory to find that, although the Government did not see its
way to furnish the Consulate with a wall for the protection of the Consul
and his wife, whose personal property was constantly being stolen, an
allowance was at once granted with instructions to build at once a high
wall all round the Consulate when one of the Government horses was
stolen!
This wall, a wonderful bit of work, was put up in a fortnight, while I
was in bed with fever, and on my getting up from bed I had the surprise
of finding the Consulate, which, when I had arrived, stood--a few lonely
buildings--in the middle of a sandy plain, now surrounded by a handsome
mud wall with a most elaborate castellated, fortress-like gate of Major
Benn's own design. The wall encloses a good many acres of land; it would
be rash to say how many! This has given rise among the natives to the
report that a new city is rising near Sher-i-Nasrya, called Trenchabad,
or Trench's city.
Major Benn is to be complimented on the wonderful work he succeeds in
getting done with comparatively little expenditure for the Government,
and there is no doubt that he manages to impress the natives and to keep
England's prestige high. He imported from Quetta a flagstaff, in pieces,
which when erected measured no less than 45 feet, and on this, the
highest flagstaff in Persia, flies from sunrise to sunset the Union Jack.
Except on grand occasions only a small flag can be used in summer, owing
to the fierce winds which tear the larger flags to pieces the moment they
are put up.
Major Benn scored heavily in the esteem of Sistanis when he had the
bright idea of erecting a handsome little mosque within the Consulate
boundary, wherein any traveller, whether Persian or Beluch or Afghan or
any other Mussulman, can find shelter and a meal at the private expense
of the Consul. People devoid of a house, too, or beggars when in real
need are always helped.
The erection of this mosque has greatly impressed the Persians with the
respect of England for the Mahommedan religion. On the religious festival
day of the "sheep eat" the place is crowded with Beluch and Persians
alike, the Mahommedan members of the British Consulate having raised a
fund to feed all worshippers at the mosque during the day.
Major Benn, who has really the energy of half-a-dozen men taken together,
has organised some weekly gymkhanas, with the double object of giving
his Indian escort of fourteen men of the 7th Bombay Lancers and a
Duffadar (non-commissioned native officer) a little recreation, and of
providing some amusement to the town folks; exhibitions of horsemanship,
tent-pegging and sword exercises are given, in which some of the Persian
gentlemen occasionally also take part.
The Sistanis of all classes turn out in great force to witness these
displays, and--for a Persian crowd--I was really amazed at their
extraordinarily quiet and respectful demeanour. Each man who entered the
grounds courteously salaamed the Consul before sitting down, and there
was unstinted clapping of hands--a way of applauding which they have
learnt from Benn--and great enthusiasm as the Lancers displayed their
skill at the various feats.
The phonograph was also invariably brought out on these occasions, and
set working near the flagstaff, much to the delight and astonishment of
the Sistanis, who, I believe, are still at a loss to discover where the
voices they hear come from. To study the puzzled expressions on the
awe-stricken faces of the natives, as they intently listened to the
music, was intensely amusing, especially when the machine called out such
words as "mamma," which they understood, or when it reproduced the
whistling of a nightingale, which sent them raving with delight.
Perhaps the most touching part of these performances was when loyal Major
Benn wound up with "God save the King," scraped on the record by a tired
and blunted needle--phonograph needles are scarce in Sistan and could not
be renewed for the sake of only one and last tune--and we Britishers
removed our hats. Now, to the natives of Persia removing one's hat seems
as ludicrous a thing as can be done, just as their equivalent discarding
of shoes seems very ridiculous to us; but the natives, to whom the
meaning we attach to our National Anthem had been explained, behaved with
the utmost reverence notwithstanding the trying circumstances, and many
actually placed their right hands to their foreheads in sign of salaam
until the anthem was over.
Another department in the Consulate of great interest is the spacious
hospital containing a well-supplied dispensary, where an average of forty
daily patients are treated gratis by Dr. Golam Jelami and a compounder.
Patients came on in their turn with various complaints, and they were
disposed of with due speed, undergoing the necessary treatment with
various degrees of grace.
The hospital contains besides the dispensary, an in-patients' and an
accident ward, office, operating room and doctor's quarters, the whole
place being kept beautifully clean by Indian attendants--Dr. Golam Jelami
taking great pride in his work and in the success and efficacy of the
establishment.
Being himself a Mussulman Dr. Golam Jelami has a great advantage over a
Christian doctor in attending the natives, and, in fact, he has become
the medical adviser to the Amir and his entire family, and a favourite
with all the _Darbaris_ or people at the Amir's court owing to his
extreme tact, skill and charm of manner.
He has performed some quite extraordinary operations. One day when the
Consul and Mrs. Benn were about to sit down to lunch, a huge tumour,
which had just been excised from the back of a man's neck, was sent round
on a tray for the Consul's inspection; and lenses of the eye from
successful cataract operations are frequently sent in for the Consul's
approval.
The climate of Sistan is very healthy generally, and the Halmund water
delicious--by some it is said to be an actual tonic--but the hot winds of
the summer and the salt sand cause severe injury to the eyes. Cataract is
a most common complaint, even in comparatively young persons. Also
ophthalmia in its two forms. Confusion of vision is frequent even among
children, and myopia, but not so common as the opacity of the cornea.
The most common complaint is the "Sistan Sore," which affects people on
the face or any other part of the body. It is known by the local name of
_Dana-i-daghi_. It begins with irregularly-shaped pustules--very seldom
circular--that come to suppuration and burst, and if not checked in time
last for several months, extending on the skin surface, above which they
hardly rise.
The digestion of Sistanis, although naturally good, is interfered with by
the abuse of bad food, such as _krut_, or dried curd--most rancid,
indigestible stuff.
Venereal complaints are also most common, the most terrible form of all,
curiously enough, being treated even by Persian doctors with mercury--a
treatment called the _Kalyan Shingrif_--but administered in such
quantities that its effects are often worse than the ailment itself.
Partly owing to this complaint and stomach troubles and the chewing of
tobacco, the teeth are usually bad, black and decayed even in young
people, nor have the Sistanis themselves any way of saving the teeth.
Siphylitic tonsilitis is almost the only throat complaint noticeable in
Sistan, but inflammation of the palate is not rare. Heart disease is
practically unknown in Sistan, and there are but very few lung
affections.
The bones of the skeleton are extremely hard and possess abnormal
elasticity of texture, and are, therefore, not easily fractured.
There are several kinds of hair diseases caused by climatic conditions
and dirt, as well as cutaneous affections of the scalp.
The nails both of fingers and toes are healthy, not brittle, with
well-marked fibre showing through their smooth surface, and of good
shape.
The tape worm, so common in many other parts of Persia, is absolutely
unknown in Sistan, and this is probably due to the excellent water
obtainable.
Lunacy is also scarcely ever met with in Sistan in any violent form, but
cases of hypochondria are not unusual, produced principally by
indigestion--at least, judging by the symptoms shown.
The women are much healthier than the men, as they lead a more rational
life, but neither possess the power of producing large families. One or
two is the average number of children in healthy families. Twins and
triplets are unknown in Sistan, or so I was assured.
The mode of life of Sistan men of the better classes is not conducive to
large families, the men not returning to their wives till midnight or
later, having spent the greater part of the day in orgies with their
friends, when, what with opium smoking and what with being stuffed with
food and saturated with gallons of tea, they are dead tired.
Abortion seldom occurs naturally, and is never artificially procured,
owing to the local laws. Women do not experience any difficulty during
labour and operations are unheard of.
The umbilicus of children, here, too, as in Western Persia, is tied at
birth in two or three places with a common string, and the remainder cut
with a pair of scissors or a knife. A mid-wife, called _daya_, is
requested to perform this operation. Abnormalities of any kind are
extremely uncommon.