Abstract: The file comprises correspondence relating to the shipment and transhipment of cargo (chiefly rice, sugar, spices, piece goods) from India (Karachi) to the ports of the Persian Gulf, chiefly Dubai, Katar [Qatar, also spelt Gutter, Quatter in the file] and Bahrain. The file is a direct chronological continuation of ‘File 12/7 I Shipping. Arrival of Sailing Crafts at Qatar and other places with Cargo.’ (IOR/R/15/2/1375). The file’s principal correspondents are: the Collector (and Assistant Collector) of Customs at Karachi; staff at the Political Agency in Bahrain; the Director of Customs at Bahrain (Claud Cranbrook Lewis DeGrenier; George William Reginald Smith); the Ruler of Qatar (Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Jāsim Āl Thānī); the Ruler of Dubai (Shaikh Sa‘id bin Maktūm Āl Maktūm).The correspondence chiefly concerns routine enquires made about specific vessels travelling from India to the ports of the Persian Gulf, and involves the delivery and return of export manifests. The enquiries begin with letters from the Collector (or Assistant Collector) of Customs, or other administrators, at Indian ports (Karachi, Bombay, Veraval) informing the Political Agent at Bahrain of named vessels travelling to ports in the Persian Gulf, with details of their cargo and cargo markings, and requesting confirmation of their arrival and the landing of their cargo. These letters are followed by enquiries made by the Political Agent to the Director of Customs at Bahrain (for vessels travelling to Bahrain), the Residency Agent at Sharjah (for vessels travelling to the ports of the Trucial Coast), and the Ruler of Qatar (for vessels travelling to Qatar), with further correspondence, including replies from the Residency Agent at Sharjah (in English and Arabic) and letters from the Rulers of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Ajman, and replies from the Ruler of Qatar. Correspondence is concluded with a letter from the Political Agent at Bahrain, back to the Collector of Customs at Karachi, confirming the arrival (and sometimes non-arrival) of named vessels.Other papers in the file include:correspondence in response to an enquiry made by P N Candavarkar, Collector of Customs at Bombay, to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, dated October 1938, relating to the status of the customs administration at the port of Dofar [Dhofar], prompting broader questions, answered by the Political Agent at Bahrain and the Residency Agent at Sharjah, of how certificates for the landing of cargoes are managed in the ports of the Persian Gulf. This correspondence includes copies of earlier papers, dating from 1924 (ff 95-110);a copy of an export general manifest, dated 1941 (f 237).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 500; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 3-331 and between ff 427-462; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. An additional mixed foliation/pagination sequence is also present in parallel between ff 463-492; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: The file comprises correspondence relating to the shipment and transhipment of cargo from India (chiefly Karachi but also Veraval) to the ports of the Persian Gulf, principally Dubai, Sharjah, Qatar (often spelt Quattar) and Bahrain. The file is a direct chronological continuation of ‘File 12/7 II Arrival of country craft from India’ (IOR/R/15/2/1376) The file’s principal correspondents are: the Collector of Customs at Karachi; staff at the Political Agency in Bahrain; the Residency Agent at Sharjah; the Political Officer on the Trucial Coast; the Director of Customs at Bahrain (George William Reginald Smith).The correspondence relates to routine enquiries made concerning cargo on specific vessels travelling from Karachi (and Veraval) to the ports of the Persian Gulf, and involves the exchange of export manifests detailing goods landed at different ports. The enquiries begin with letters from the Collector of Customs at Karachi (or Veraval) informing the Political Agent at Bahrain of named vessels travelling to ports in the Persian Gulf, with extracts of their export manifest, and requesting confirmation of their arrival and the verification of the landing of their cargo. These letters are followed by enquiries made by the Political Agent (enclosing export manifests) to the Director of Customs at Bahrain (for vessels travelling to Bahrain), the Residency Agent at Sharjah (for vessels travelling to the ports of the Trucial Coast), and the Ruler of Qatar (for vessels travelling to Qatar), requesting verification of the export manifests. Replies from the Director of Customs at Bahrain, the Residency Agent at Sharjah (in English and Arabic) and the Ruler of Qatar, confirm if vessels have arrived in port or not. Further correspondence includes letters from the Political Agent at Bahrain to the Collector of Customs at Karachi (or Veraval) confirming the arrival (and sometimes non-arrival) of named vessels, enclosing verified (or unverified) export manifests.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 199; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-149; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The file comprises miscellaneous correspondence concerning shipping in the Persian Gulf, including:in March 1936, an enquiry from the Director of the Bahrain Customs House concerning the visit of the SS
Arabistanto Muscat in February 1936 (ff 3-6);in June 1936, a notice issued at Bahrain by the Strick & Ellerman Line, announcing that they are unable to accept Dubai cargo with transhipment at other ports (ff 9-11);correspondence dated April 1938 relating to the Ruler of Qatar’s introduction of dues on sailing boats in Qatar ports, and the response of Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited to the introduction of these dues, in light of their reliance on imports of fresh water from Bahrain (ff 14-19);correspondence dated April 1939 relating to an enquiry from the Residency at Mukalla [Al-Mukallā] of the whereabouts of a dhow carrying forty passengers, feared lost at sea (ff 20-23);correspondence dated 1942 relating to a Government of India notice concerning measures to prevent the overloading of vessels, in order to prevent the jettisoning of valuable cargo at sea (ff 24-26);correspondence dated August 1944 relating to efforts by a Tehran-based company to obtain a port manifest from Dubai, for a vessel that departed from Dubai to Khorramshahr in July 1943 (ff 29-36);a letter relating to several incidents taking place in 1948, in which Arab dhows were boarded by an Iranian naval garrison near Kharg Island [Jazīreh-ye Khārk], which confiscated large amounts of money from the Arab dhow crews (f 40). Follow-up correspondence related to compensation payments made against these incidents can be found in IOR/R/15/2/1373;correspondence dated from February 1949 relating to a complaint made by a subject of Umm al Qaiwain [Umm al-Qaywayn] against the Iranian authorities at Bushire, after the confiscation of rifles and a sword from his dhow. Subsequent Government correspondence concerns the usefulness of an arms permit system on the Trucial Coast (ff 41-47);correspondence dated August 1949 relating to the Government of Bahrain’s refusal to give an individual named Tayeb Konji the authority to act as a shipping agent, due to his lack of experience (ff 49-42).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 69; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 3-11 and between ff 29-45; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The file’s contents relate to a request from Imperial Airways Limited for a change in the level of customs duty payable on goods brought into Bahrain by their aircraft, which, they argue, is unreasonably high. The principal correspondents in the file are unnamed representatives of Imperial Airways Limited, the Bahrain Political Agent, Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch, and the Political Resident, Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard William Craven Fowle.The first part of the file is chiefly comprised of correspondence from Imperial Airways Limited (ff 3-10), who raise an objection to the high rates of duty paid on air freight at Bahrain, and recommending an adjusted duty based on the declared value of the goods plus a third of the air freightage. The second part of the file comprises discussion between the Bahrain Political Agent and Political Resident, in concert with officials from the India Office and Air Ministry, on the Imperial Airways request. Reference is made to the ruler of Bahrain, Sheikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah’s assent to the change (f 31). The file includes a copy of an official notice from the Customs House in Bahrain, dated 14 July 1934, announcing the agreed changes to the air freight customs duty at Bahrain (f 29).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover and terminates at the back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present between ff 3-32; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The file comprises copies of correspondence relating to customs and transit duties payable on equipment and stores owned by Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited (PDQ) that are passing from Qatar through Bahrain, as a consequence of the shutdown of the Company’s operations in Qatar in 1942. The file’s principal correspondents are: the Political Agent in Bahrain (Edward Birkbeck Wakefield); the Manager of PDQ (Ernest Vincent Packer); and the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain (Charles Dalrymple Belgrave).The file includes:correspondence between the Political Agent, PDQ Manager, and Adviser to Government, including: Bahrain Government agreement that exemption of duty and transit fees should be made for equipment sold to British military forces; PDQ objection to having to pay a two per cent transit duty on stores returning to Bahrain; a list of materials being shipped by PDQ from Qatar via Bahrain (f 29); the Bahrain Government’s eventual waiving of all transit duties on PDQ stores;correspondence relating to a similar enquiry concerning customs and transit duties made by the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company (CASOC), and the Bahrain Government’s concession that duty be waived on equipment being brought through Bahrain for purchase on behalf of the United States Armed Forces.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 37; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-33; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The volume consists of letters, telegrams, and memoranda relating to the Hejaz and Najd. Much of the correspondence is from the British Legation in Jeddah, with regular reports on the situation in that region sent to Sir John Simon, the Foreign Secretary in London. The rest of the correspondence is mostly between the Political Residency in Bushire, the Political Agencies in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Muscat, the Colonial Office, and the Government of India.The main subjects of the volume are:the change in name from 'The Kingdom of the Hejaz-Nejd and its Dependencies' to 'The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia';the announcement of Ibn Sa'ud's eldest son, Prince Sa'ud, as the heir apparent to the throne;the territorial dispute between Yemen and Saudi Arabia after the latter's absorption of the 'Asir region into its kingdom.A copy of the 23 September 1932 issue of the newspaper
Umm al-Qurais contained in the volume (folios 57-58). It features the Royal Order proclaiming the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.Other miscellaneous subjects covered in the volume include:relations between Italy and Saudi Arabia;a dispute between Ibn Sa'ud and his agent in Bahrain, al-Quasaibi [‘Abd al-‘Azīz al-Qusaibi], over a debt the former owes the latter;a revolt against Ibn Sa'ud by tribes loyal to ex-King Hussein coming from Sinai;a request for a loan made by Ibn Sa'ud to the British Government;relations between the Soviet Union and Saudi Arabia;relations between the USA and Saudi Arabia, including the visit of a Mr Gallant looking for oil concessions;concessions for the building of the railway between Mecca and Jeddah;the prospect of Saudi Arabia joining the League of Nations;the case of two slave girls seeking refuge at the British Legation in Jeddah.Other documents of note contained in the volume are:a copy of a new customs tariff for Saudi Arabia (folios 122-134)a 'Who's Who' of Saudi Arabia, produced by the British Legation in Jeddah and covering all those deemed important to know by the British (folios 183-200);an envelope containing the torn-out pages of an article in the
International Affairsjournal (Vol. 12, No. 4, Jul., 1933, pp 518-534) entitled 'Ibn Sa'ud and the Future of Arabia.'At the back of the volume (folios 245-251) are internal office notes.Physical description: Foliation: The sequence starts on the first folio and continues to the inside back cover. The numbers are written in pencil, circled and located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Note that following f 1 are folios 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D. The sequence then continues as normal from folio 2. There are two other foliation systems present but both are inconsistent and neither are circled.
Abstract: The volume consists of letters, telegrams, reports, and newspaper cuttings relating to Saudi Arabia. Much of the correspondence is made up of regular reports sent from the British Legation in Jeddah to the Foreign Office in London. The remaining correspondence is between the two aforementioned places and also: the Political Residency in Bushire, the Political Agencies in Bahrain and Kuwait, the India Office in London, the Government of India, Ibn Sa'ud, and Neville Chamberlain, the Prime Minister.There are a range of subjects covered in the volume, including:Saudi Arabian foreign relations, specifically with Egypt, Yemen, Turkey, and Britain;a new customs tariff and the reduction of imports into the Kingdom;Saudi Arabian concerns about the situation in Palestine;the internal financial situation;the acitivities of the Saudi Arabia Mining Syndicate;the prospect of Yemen signing the Treaty of Arab Brotherhood and Alliance;Anglo-Italian relations, including Italian propoganda in the region;religious policing in the country;a visit to Ibn Sa'ud in Riyadh by Harold Dickson, the Political Agent in Kuwait, and the negative reaction to it in the Arab Press;the restoration of the Hejaz Railway;discontent with Saudi rule in the Hejaz due to preceived financial exploitation, including details of the Egyptian-based group 'The Friends of Hejaz';the death of Ibn Sa'ud's nephew Emir Khalid ibn Mohammed in a car accident;new regulations for foreigners living in Saudi Arabia;the deterioration of Ibn Sa'ud's health.Notable in the volume is a report (folios 87-95) on an interview with Ibn Sa'ud by Reader Bullard, the British Minister in Jeddah at the time, a revised report (folios 135-136) on the heads of foreign missions in Jeddah, and the letter exchange (folios 165, 171-180) between Ibn Sa'ud and Neville Chamberlain.Physical description: Foliation: The sequence starts on the first folio and continues through to the inside back cover. The numbers are written in pencil, circled and located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The only irregularities are the first four folios that run 1A through to 1D, then continuing as normal from 2.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence between British officials (primarily between the Political Agent in Kuwait, Major Tom Hickinbotham and the Political Resident, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior) regarding the rate at which British merchants active in Kuwait were liable to pay customs dues in the country. This correspondence also discusses broader issues related to customs dues and the British presence in Kuwait.The majority of the correspondence is between British officials but the file also contains a limited amount of correspondence between the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah and the Political Agency in Kuwait that is in Arabic (accompanied by English translations).The file also contains a small amount of correspondence concerning the entry requirements (into Kuwait) for nationals of Syria, Lebanon and Egypt (folios 42-44).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 49; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-41; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: This file relates to the Yal Sa`ad [Yāl Sa‘d], a tribe based on the Batinah coast. The correspondence discusses the reported resistance of Yal Sa`ad tribesmen to the establishment of customs houses in the area. It also discusses reported smuggling and slave trafficking by the tribe, and the grounds for British intervention on behalf of the Muscat Government. Relates matters covered in the correspondence include the following: reported attacks on the coastal town of Masnaah [Mussannah] by Yal Sa`ad tribesmen, in opposition to the construction of customs buildings there; reports of the Yal Sa`ad having engaged in slave trading on the Batinah coast; the issuing of ultimatums by the Muscat Council of Ministers (with British support) to the Yal Sa`ad shaikhs at Wudam and Khadhra; the intensive bombardment of Khadra and other villages by Royal Navy ships, along with the capture and burning of several dhows, during October and November 1922, in an effort to force the submission of the Yal Sa`ad.Notable correspondents include the following: the Political Agent and Consul, Muscat; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf; the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India; the Sultan of Muscat and Oman, Taimur bin Faisal [Taymūr bin Fayṣal bin Turkī Āl Bū Sa‘īd].All of the material is dated between 1920 and 1923, with the exception of a letter at the end of the file from the Political Agent to the Political Resident, which is dated 8 September 1925 and reports on recent events at Swaiq [As Suwayq].The Arabic language material consists of several items of correspondence (English translations are included).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 133; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: This volume relates to the finances of the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman. The correspondence is primarily concerned with the Sultanate's customs tariffs. It features extensive discussion between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, the Political Agent and Consul at Muscat and officials of the India Office, Foreign Office, Dominions Office, Government of India, and the Board of Trade on the following related matters: Muscat's existing treaties with the United States and France (dated 1833 and 1844 respectively), and the advisability of these treaties – or at least their commercial clauses – being modified or denounced by the Sultan; the case for increasing customs import duties on certain goods (e.g. tobacco and alcohol), in an effort to increase revenue and restore the stability of the Sultanate's finances, and the likely effects that such an action would have on trade; the threshold (based on alcoholic content) to be used for identifying which alcoholic drinks should be subject to the proposed customs duty increase for alcohol, and the difficulty in translating the technical phrase 'under proof' into Arabic; the efforts of the British Government to secure the agreements of the Sultanate's other treaty partners (namely Canada, the Irish Free State, and France) regarding the proposed customs duty increase.The French language material consists of letters from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the British representative in Paris. The Arabic language material mainly consists of letters between British representatives and the Sultan of Muscat and Oman, most of which include English translations.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 374; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 124 of 1846, dated 29 October 1846.The enclosures, numbered 3-8 and dated 16 to 29 October 1846, consist of:Minutes of the Governor of Bombay and the Civil Members of the Board, regarding the suggestion made by the Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq], Major Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, in a despatch to HM Ambassador at Constantinople [Istanbul], of increasing the duty levied on horses exported from Bussorah [Basra]A letter from the Secretary to Government of Bombay, Arthur Malet, to the Secretary to the Government of India with the Governor-General, Frederick Currie, forwarding copies of these minutes for submission to the Governor-General.Physical description: 1 item (9 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 16 of 1844, dated 18 February 1844. The enclosures are dated 15 December 1843-12 January 1844.The enclosures comprise copies of despatches addressed by Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Sheil, HM Chargé d’Affaires at Tehran, to the Earl of Aberdeen [George Hamilton Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen], Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, (being copies of Sheil’s despatches to the Secretary to the Government, Bombay, and the Secretary to the Government of India with the Governor-General), with related enclosures which notably include letters from: Sheil; Meerza Abul Hassan Khan [Mīrzā Abū al-Ḥasan Khān Shīrāzī, Īlchī Kabīr], Persian [Iranian] Foreign Minister; Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Farrant in Bagdad [Baghdad]; Captain Samuel Hennell, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; and Keith Edward Abbott, British representative at Tabreez [Tabriz].The subjects covered notably include:British and Russian efforts to avert a war between Persia and Ottoman Turkey following the capture of Kerbela [Karbala] in January 1843 by Turkish forces under Nejib Pacha [Muḥammad Najīb Pāshā, Governor of Baghdad] resulting in the deaths of 5000 Persians, including extract of a letter from Count Nesselrode [Karl Robert Nesselrode], Russian Foreign Minister, to Count Medem [Aleksandr Ivanovich Medem], Russian Minister Plenipotentiary at Tehran (ff 6-8)Rivalry between the Khan of Khiva and Khan of Bokhara [Bukhara] and their agents in Tehran, and the attempts by the Persian Government to obtain the release of captives at Khiva and BokharaSheil’s desire to find out news of Colonel Charles Stoddart and Captain Arthur Conolly and to confirm the veracity of conflicting accounts of their purported captivity or death at Bokhara, including copy of an account by a resident of Herat who has come to Tehran (ff 23-30), and a letter from the Shah of Persia to the Ameer [Amir] of Bokhara requiring Stoddart and Conolly to be surrendered if they are alive (ff 80-83)The Shah’s concern about Russian encroachment and expanding influence on the Toorkoman [Turkoman] coast (eastern shores of the Caspian Sea), notably over tribes inhabiting the mouth of the Atrek River in the region of Asterabad [Gorgan, formerly Astarabad]Sheil’s concern about the growing influence of Count Medem over the Persian Prime Minister Hajee Meerza Aghassee [Ḥājjī Mīrzā Āqāsī, Ṣadr-i Aʿẓam], following the ‘Instructions’ (ff 87-92) issued to the Governor of Asterabad by the Prime Minister with the
cognizanceof Medem, which Sheil considers may: establish Russian authority over the Toorkemans [Turkomans] of the Atrek and adjacent coast; establish the right of the Russian squadron to punish all Toorkemans committing ‘piracy’; and lead to a Russian military take-over of the areaAgreement (ff 33-38) concluded by Count Medem with the Persian Prime Minister to facilitate the recovery of pecuniary claims of Russian subjects from subjects of Persia and for preventing fraudulent bankruptcy declarations by Persian subjects, and the possible implications for British subjectsReport by Abbott of his intelligence gathering visit to the Caspian Sea at Astara, detailing Persian and Russian influence in the vicinity (ff 95-97)Sheil’s correspondence notably with Meerza Abul Hassan Khan, Persian Foreign Minister, on various matters relating to Bushire [Bushehr] and the Gulf Residency, notably whether British goods bound for another (foreign) destination which stop at Bushire for transshipment of cargo should be liable to a landing duty, and the Foreign Minister’s complaint about the person in charge of the coal depository maintained by the British at the island of Karrak [Kharg]The question of the right of natives of Sinde [Sindh] and Shikarpour [Shikarpur] to British protection, in light of the case of Hindoo [Hindu] merchant Khajeh ‘Tilla’ (a British subject) being forcibly brought to Tehran on the Persian Prime Minister’s orders to answer a claim made on him by a Russian subject.Physical description: There is an abstract of contents of the despatch, numbered 1-4, on folio 1. These numbers are repeated for reference on the verso of the last folio of each enclosure.