George Passman Tate Explained

George Passman Tate, FRGS, (1856–?) was an Anglo-Indian surveyor and authority on the history of Afghanistan.^[1]

Career as Surveyor

Tate was employed as Assistant Superintendent of the Surveyor General of India and was deployed to conduct critical surveys in Afghanistan such as Baluch-Afghan Boundary Commission (1895‒96) and Seistan Arbitration Mission (1903‒5).^[2]

Tate (along with J.W. Newland) also conducted surveys in Hong Kong in 1899 to 1900 and believed to be the namesake of Tate's Cairn (the hill was renamed sometime after Tate's time in Hong Kong).^[3]

Personal

Beyond his year of birth and his surveyor career little is known about Tate and his later years. He was a member of The Asiatic Society and a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.^[2]

Selected publications

• The frontiers of Baluchistan: Travels on the borders of Persia and Afghanistan. Witherby & Co., London, 1909.
• Seistan: A memoir on the history, topography, ruins, and people of the country, in four parts. Superintendent Government Printing, Calcutta, 1910-1912.
• The Kingdom of Afghanistan: A historical sketch. Printed by Bennett Coleman & Co., Published at the Times of India offices, Bombay & Calcutta, 1911.
• Kalat: A memoir on the country and family of the Ahmadzai Khans of Kalat &c. Calcutta, 1896.

Notes and References

1. Book: Berberian, Manuel . Earthquakes and Coseismic Surface Faulting on the Iranian Plateau. 2014. Elsevier Science. Kidlington. 978-0-444-63297-5. 102.
2. Web site: The Frontiers of Baluchistan. September 12, 1909. www.wdl.org.
3. Web site: Explanatory Notes on Demarcation District Sheets (DD Sheets) | Land Surveyor WordPress. 10 June 2012 .