Abstract: The volume contains correspondence received by the Political Resident at Bushire in regard to test drilling at Kuh-I-Mund [Kūh-e Mand, Bushire] by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC), and records anti-British feelings among the locals.Physical description: The foliation sequence commences at the title page with 1, then 1A and 1B and terminates at 6; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and can be found in the top right corner in the recto side of each folio. This file is bound with IOR/R/15/1/637 in the same volume; each file has its own foliation sequence.
Abstract: Genre/Subject MatterThis view of Bushire (Bushehr), from an elevated position looking south, is taken from the roof of the offices of Gray, Paul and Co. (sister firm to Gray, MacKenzie and Company), a company that acted as shipping agent for British India steamers between India and Europe, via the Gulf ports.A number of buildings are seen in the photograph, though relative degradation of the image obscures much of the background and horizon area. A building under construction extends from the lower left of the image to the centre. Immediately behind this, the terrace of a flat-roofed building is fenced off. Next to the building under construction, and immediately below the centre of the image, bricks can be seen stacked high against the wall of an adjacent building.In the far right of the image, towards the horizon, a domed roof can clearly be seen amongst the flat-roofed buildings. Although the dome is windowless, a smaller dome with openings to allow light to filter through sits atop it. This is possibly a bath house.InscriptionsLower right, in pencil, alongside image: ‘83’Below image: ‘The Town looking South from Gray. Paul's Office. 23. Feb. 1902’Physical description: Dimensions:109 x 155 mm [landscape]Format:Materials:Condition:The image is considerably faded throughout, with surface losses along the upper edge.Foliation:'83'Process:
Abstract: Genre/Subject MatterThis view, from an elevated position looking east, is taken from the roof of the British Residency at Bushire (Būshehr).The foreground is occupied by a courtyard, from which several doors and windows appear to lead to different compartments. In the left-most corner of the courtyard a figure can be seen emerging from one of the doors.Beyond the compound, in the middle-ground, there is a green area occupied by trees, including at least one palm.Upon close inspection much architectural detail can be observed, even in the far distance along the horizon. For instance, it is clear that the majority of the structures visible are flat-roofed dwellings with roof terraces protected by fencing, or by high parapets punctuated with latticed sections, allowing air to circulate.InscriptionsLower right, in pencil, alongside image: ‘84’Below image: ‘The Town looking East from British Residency. 23 Feb. 1902’Physical description: Dimensions:109 x 158 mm [landscape]Format:Materials:Condition:The image is slightly faded in the left of the image and ther are some small surface losses in the sky area. An elongated white mark at 50 mm from lower, 30 mm from right probably originates in the printing phase.Foliation:'84'Process:
Abstract: The volume is
Treaties and Agreements between the British Government and Certain Arab Rulers and Agreements between the Said Rulers inter se Affecting the British Government(Calcutta: Government of India Press, 1926). The volume contains transcripts of treaties and agreements dated 1915 to 1925 relating to Najd, Qatar, Iraq, Kuwait, Trans-Jordan, and Kaf.The texts of some of the treaties and agreements appear in both English and Arabic in vertical parallel columns.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at 1 on the front cover and terminates at 25 on the back cover. These numbers are written in pencil, are enclosed in a circle, and appear in the top right hand corner of the recto page of each folio. An original printed pagination sequence is also present in the volume. The following folio folds out: f. 15.
Abstract: Distinctive Features:Districts labelled for reference with boundaries outlined in colour, roads shown in red and rivers in blue. Shoals indicated by pecked line.Physical description: Dimensions:214 x 342 mm, on sheet 309 x 422 mm
Abstract: The volume contains correspondence and telegrams between the Political Department, the Colonial Office and the Secretary of State at the India Office in London, the Political Resident at Bushire, the Political Agents at Kuwait and Anglo Persian Oil Company (APOC) representatives. Main subjects are the negotiations for oil concessions mainly in Kuwait, but also in Bahrain and Nejd [Najd, Jubail, Saudi Arabia] against the competitor Eastern and General Syndicate Limited, represented by Major Frank Holmes, and a geological exploration of Kuwait by APOC.The volume also includes a draft agreement on the oil exploration license in Kuwait, in Arabic and English, dated 13 August 1932, between Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ, ruler of Kuwait, and APOC (folios 120-131), and a Map of 'Kuwait Bay' on folio 132A.Some of the documents in the volume are marked as confidential and there are some documents in Arabic.Physical description: The main foliation is in pencil, encircled and in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. The numbering commences at the front cover with 1, then 1A and 1B; 2 and 2A; 3-128; 129 and 129A; 130, 131, 132 and 132A and then it carries on until 203, which is the last number given on the back cover. A second foliation sequence runs between ff. 3-190; these numbers are also written in pencil, are not circled and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: Genre/Subject MatterThis panoramic view of the British Residency and sea-front at Bushire (Būshehr) consists of two small photographic prints pasted side by side, showing a series of buildings of uniform two-storeyed height receding into the distance along the sea-front from right to left.In the right-hand image rose bushes appear to be growing in the expanse between the sea and the buildings. Behind them a lone donkey is tethered.Although the clarity of the image is seriously compromised by fading, there appears to be a telegraph mast or flag pole along the right edge of the left-hand image, extending across to the right-hand image.Some distant figures and a boat are visible along the shoreline.InscriptionsLower right, in pencil, alongside image: ‘86’Below image: ‘Panorama of British Residency and Sea front. 23. Feb. 1902’Physical description: Dimensions:71 x 185 mm (71 x 96 mm; 71 x 89 mm) [landscape]Format:Materials:Condition:The right-hand image is heavily stained (likely originating in the printing process) with two scratch surface-losses near the left edge. and one longer scratch extending from the lower right corner.The left-hand image exhibits minor abrasion all along the left edge of the image with two small surface losses at centre in the sky area.While the left-hand image is considerably faded, the right hand image is darker due to staining.Foliation:'p. 14'; '86'Process:
Abstract: The volume contains manuscript draft biographical notes on Persian statesmen and notables compiled by George Percy Churchill.Many of the notes are accompanied by imprints of the subject's seal and signature (in Persian); some by typescript pages, extracts from published works and newspaper cuttings; and a few (folio 114v, folio 163v) by portrait photographs. The notes give the subject's name as heading, and various information including dates of birth and death, office and career history, family details (including members of the Shah's family), pay and financial details, interests, linguistic abilities, and some personal comments.The introductory page (folio 4v), which is signed by Churchill and dated 1904, is inscribed 'Strictly Confidential and for the Use of His Majesty's Government Officials Only'. A manuscript note states that the volume had been compiled from a variety of sources, and embodied the bulk of Colonel H Picot's biographical note of 1897, which Churchill had endeavoured 'to bring up to date and amplify'. The volume also contains a printed extract containing a list of words used in the composition of Persian titles, with a glossary of their meaning, including both the Persian forms and English transliterations; a manuscript genealogical tree of the Royal Kajar House; a manuscript list entitled 'Principal Persian Diplomatic and Consular Representation'; a manuscript list of Persian cabinet minsters and other politicians, dated 1901; list of ministers, provincial governors, etc in Persia dated 1904; and grouped cuttings of printed seals and coloured impressions of crests (folios 2v, 3r, 29v).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at 2 on the first folio after the front cover and terminates at 303, on the inside back cover. These numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and appear in the top right hand corner of the recto page of each folio. Foliation anomaly: ff. 4, 4A. The following folios need to be folded out to be read: f. 31, ff. 34-35.Pagination: there is an incomplete printed pagination sequence, running from 1-489 (ff. 36v-299v) which appears in the top right hand corner of each recto page, and the top left hand corner of each verso page of the main (ruled) portion of the volume. Some of the preceding pages in the volume have been numbered in pencil, but these numbers do not appear to be part of any discernible sequence.
Abstract: The volume contains correspondence and telegrams between the Political Department, the Colonial Office and the Secretary of State at the India Office in London, the Political Resident at Bushire, the Political Agents at Kuwait and Muscat, local rulers, Anglo Persian Oil Company (APOC) and Eastern and General Syndicate Limited representatives on the negotiations for oil concessions in Kuwait, Bahrain, Nejd [Najd, Jubail, Saudi Arabia], Qatar, Muscat, Oman and Trucial Coast.The volume includes documents regarding:Bahrain: Letter in English and Arabic from the Political Resident in the Gulf to Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah, Ruler of Bahrain, informing him that the British Government didn't approve the Bahrain Oil Concession being agreed to Major Frank Holmes, representing Eastern and General Syndicate (folios 41-42) and subsequent correspondence regarding the cancellation of this concession (folios 125-126) and the agreement with APOC;Kuwait: Draft Agreements between Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ, Ruler of Kuwait, and D'Arcy Exploration Company limited, on the oil exploration license in Kuwait (draft agreement 20 June 1923 on folios 51-60; draft agreement 6 September 1923 on folios 157-171 and draft agreement 18 November 1923 on folios 198-210; in Arabic on folios 229-235) and minutes of a meeting to discuss it (folios 61-64A); correspondence between the Political Agent in Kuwait and the ruler of Kuwait, regarding contacts being made with Major Holmes and Eastern and General Syndicate, in Arabic with English translation (folios 83-89).Najd: Report on Najd Oil Concession by J.B. Mackie (folios 31-33); letter from Āl Sa‘ūd, ‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal (Ibn Sa‘ūd), Sultan of Najd, to the High Commissioner for Iraq dated 21 May 1923, in Arabic with English translation, regarding oil exploration being granted to Eastern and General Syndicate (folios 76-78).Physical description: The main foliation is in pencil, encircled, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. The numbering begins on the first folio after the front cover, on number 1, then 2-63; 64A and 64B; 65-195; 196A and 196B and it carries on to the last folio, ending on 284. There is another foliation sequence, which is incomplete.
Abstract: Correspondence in the first part of the volume relates to specific cases of the kidnapping of boys from Baluchistan/India to the Trucial Coast, and the efforts of the Political Resident and Political Agents to locate, retrieve and repatriate them. Reference is made to a court case in Karachi, in which witness testimonies reveal the extent of the slave trade across the Gulf of Oman (folios 107-108), and the numbers of slaves on the Trucial Coast, with up to 1,500 claimed to be in Dubai.The volume broadens in scope, reflecting the British Government’s concerns about the extent of the slave trade from Persia/Baluchistan. There are detailed reports made in 1929 on the extent and nature of slavery in the Gulf region, specifically in Kuwait (folios 198-204, 215-216), Qatar (folios 220-223), the Trucial States (folios 208-209), and Muscat (folios 242-260). The last of these reports is compiled by Bertram Thomas, then Wazir [Finance Minister] for the State of Muscat, and focuses on the slave trade in the Al-Batinah region of Oman. The report includes a detailed account of slavery and the pearl diving industry, maps of slave trade routes across the Gulf of Oman and on the Al-Batinah coast, and the names of known slave dealers in the region.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 307; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.The volume contains three foliation anomalies, ff 2a, 2b and 233a.