Book Description

Travels in Beloochistan and Sinde is a first-hand account of a journey taken in 1810-11 through parts of present-day India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq. The author, Henry Pottinger (1789-1856), was a lieutenant in the East India Company who, along with a friend and fellow officer, Captain Charles Christie, volunteered to undertake a mission to the region between India and Persia (present-day Iran), about which the East India Company at that time had little knowledge. The two men journeyed from Bombay (present-day Mumbai) to Sind (present-day southeast Pakistan) from where, disguised as Indians, they traveled overland to Kalat. They were quickly recognized as Europeans, but they were able to continue their journey to Nushki, near the present-day border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. There the men separated. Pottinger continued westward to Persia, through Kerman to Shiraz and Isfahan. Christie traveled north from Nushki into Afghanistan, through Helmand to Herat and from there into Persia to Yazd and Isfahan, where he rejoined Pottinger. Christie was directed to remain in Persia, where in 1812 he was killed in a Russian attack. Pottinger returned to Bombay via Baghdad and Basra. The book is in two parts. The first is a detailed account of Pottinger's journey, with observations on climate, terrain, soil, plants and animals, peoples and tribes, customs, religion, and popular beliefs. The second is an introduction to the history and geography of the provinces of Baluchistan and Sind. An appendix reproduces part of the journal kept by Christie on his travels through Afghanistan. The book contains one colored illustration at the front and a large fold-out map after the end of the text. Pottinger went on to have a distinguished career with the East India Company and the British government. In April 1843 he was appointed the first British governor of Hong Kong.