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37. 'File 8/14 III MUSCAT STATE FINANCES.'
- Description:
- Abstract: This file consists of a single letter and what appears to be a draft copy of an aide-memoire. The letter, dated 16 May 1950 and addressed to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf by the Political Agent and Consul at Muscat, discusses the Sultan of Muscat and Oman's response to a request for a copy of his government's budget. The draft aide-memoire, addressed to the Sultan by the Political Agent, enquires about the possibility of obtaining copies of any existing government reports or publications regarding administration and development plans.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 4; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
38. 'File 8/16 MUSCAT STATE AFFAIRS: DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF CUSTOMS FORMERLY KNOWN AS FINANCIAL ADVISER'
- Description:
- Abstract: This file consists of correspondence concerning appointments in the Government of Muscat, specifically in relation to its customs and finance. It begins with discussion of the Sultan of Muscat and Oman's [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd] wish to appoint an English official to the position of Financial Adviser, and goes on to discuss at length the deputation of Khan Bahadur Sahib Maqbul Hussain, Treasury Officer at the Muscat Political Agency, as Finance Officer to the Muscat Government. The deputation, which begins in October 1941, and is initially intended to last for a period of three months, eventually comes to an end in 1946, with the appointment of Hussain's successor. Related matters of discussion include the following: the Sultan's decision in January 1944 to increase Hussain's salary, in recognition of the latter having recently taken on the responsibilities of Director-General of Customs; arrangements for Hussain's successor to be recruited from the Government of India's Customs Department, with a view to the successful candidate being appointed as Director-General of Customs only; the appointment in 1946 of M A Rashid, an appraiser at Customs House, Calcutta, as Director-General of Customs.The file features the following principal correspondents: the Political Agent and Consul, Muscat; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Sultan of Muscat and Oman; the Government of Muscat's Director-General of Customs; officials of the Government of India's External Affairs Department and, towards the end of the file, officials of the recently formed Government of Pakistan.The Arabic language material consists of correspondence between the Political Agent and Consul at Muscat, and representatives of the Government of Muscat and Oman, including the Sultan of Muscat and Oman (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 176; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
39. 'File 8/43 MUSCAT STATE AFFAIRS: POLITICS & RELATIONS OF MUSCAT WITH OTHER ARAB CHIEFS – BORDERS: WADI AL QAUR, KALBA & RAS AL KHAIMAH'
- Description:
- Abstract: This file concerns British policy regarding the Sultan of Muscat and Oman's relations with the chiefs of the Trucial coast and other Arab chiefs. The file mostly consists of correspondence between the Political Agent and Consul at Muscat and the Political Residency in Bushire, which follows the Political Agent's recent discovery that the Sultan [Taymūr bin Fayṣal bin Turkī Āl Bū Sa‘īd] had been planning a visit to Abu Thabi [Abu Dhabi] without his knowledge.All of the material is dated 1917, except for the final item in the file: a memorandum dated 30 September 1933, from the Officiating Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch), enclosing a copy of his recent speech to the Trucial Chiefs at Dibai [Dubai] on 23 September 1933.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 12, these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
40. 'File 8/44 MUSCAT STATE AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENT OF CONSUL IN INDIA.'
- Description:
- Abstract: This file concerns the Sultan of Muscat and Oman's [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd] interest in appointing a Muscat Consul in India, specifically in Bombay. It features the following correspondents: the Political Agent and Consul, Muscat; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; officials of the India Office and the Foreign Office. The correspondence discusses the Sultan's right to appoint a consul, the likely costs involved, and the various disadvantages (from a British perspective) of the proposal.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 15; 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.
41. 'File 8/65 V MUSCAT STATE AFFAIRS: RENEWAL OF COMMERCIAL TREATY'
- Description:
- Abstract: This file relates to the Commercial Treaty between Britain and Muscat. The original treaty of 1891 was given a term of twelve years, which was extended at regular intervals afterwards, initially for several years at a time and later on an annual basis. In 1939 a replacement treaty was signed between the two parties.The correspondence primarily concerns the effect on the new treaty of the constitutional changes in India, and relations between Muscat and Pakistan under the terms of the treaty. Most of the correspondence discusses whether newly independent India remains a party to the treaty, and whether the new dominion of Pakistan will be required to accede to the treaty.The principal correspondents are the following: the Political Agent and Consul, Muscat; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; officials of the India Office (later the Commonwealth Relations Office) and the Foreign Office.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 24; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
42. 'File 8/27 RENEWAL of COMMERCIAL TREATIES.'
- Description:
- Abstract: This volume relates to the prolongation of the Commercial Treaty (1891) between Britain and Muscat (various spellings used throughout). The correspondence mostly concerns matters involving the replacement of the treaty, including, at certain points, discussion of proposed amendments and revisions. The original treaty was given a term of twelve years and was renewed at regular intervals afterwards, initially for several years at a time, and later on an annual basis. In 1937, at the request of the Sultan of Muscat and Oman [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd], the two parties entered into initial negotiations for the revision of the treaty.Notable correspondents include the following: the Political Agent and Consul, Muscat; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; the Secretary of State for India; the Sultan of Muscat and Oman [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd]; officials of the Foreign Office, the Dominions Office, the India Office, and the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department (later the External Affairs Department).In addition to correspondence the volume includes copies of declarations (in English and Arabic) extending the duration of the treaty for another year, plus a copy of a draft of the new revised treaty (in English only), dated October 1937. Also written in Arabic are several letters of correspondence between the Political Agent and the Sultan [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd] (English translations are included).There is no material covering the period 1915-1930. The file reference, which is out of sequence with both preceding and subsequent files, appears to reflect an error in renumbering.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 320; 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 31-317; 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.
43. 'File 8/64 II SULTAN'S RELATIONS WITH HIS TRIBES.'
- Description:
- Abstract: This file covers internal politics in and around the Sultanate of Muscat Oman. Much of the correspondence concerns the extent of control (or lack thereof) exercised by the Sultan of Muscat and Oman [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd] in the Omani interior. Related matters of discussion include the following: the evidence for the boundaries claimed by the Sultan along the Rub al Khali, and the question of whether Buraimi [Al Buraymī] forms part of his territory; the Sultan's relations with various tribes based near the Trucial shaikhdoms and his claims of authority over them; the views of Wilfred Patrick Thesiger on the situation in the Omani interior and the risk of parts of it falling under Saudi influence; the course of action to be taken by the British authorities regarding the Sultan and the tribal shaikhs.The file features the following principal correspondents: the Political Agent and Consul, Muscat; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Political Agent, Bahrain; the Political Officer, Sharjah; officials of the Foreign Office.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 52; 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.
44. 'File 8/64 III SULTAN'S RELATIONS WITH HIS TRIBES'
- Description:
- Abstract: This file concerns relations between the Sultan of Muscat and Oman [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd] and the Omani tribes. It includes accounts of meetings between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant Colonel Sir William Rupert Hay) and the Sultan, discussing the Sultan's efforts to increase his influence among the shaikhs of the Omani tribes.Much of the correspondence discusses future British policy regarding the Trucial states and central Oman. Of particular note is a letter from Geoffrey Warren Furlonge of the Foreign Office's Eastern Department to the Political Resident (ff 30-35), discussing several policy issues, including the following: whether the Trucial shaikhs should be encouraged to extend their authority over those tribes that may be considered as owing them allegiance; whether the British should enter into direct relations with the shaikhs of central Oman; proposals from the Political Resident for the creation of a Council of Trucial Shaikhs and the establishment of a separate Political Agency on the Trucial Coast.Other related matters covered in the correspondence include the following: reports of Omani shaikhs asserting their allegiance to neighbouring states, such as Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia; the issuing of identity certificates by the Political Officer at Sharjah to Omani tribe members, following earlier accounts of tribe members travelling to Saudi Arabia without certificates and being issued with Saudi travel documents.The file also includes Arabic and English copies of letters received by the Sultan from various Omani shaikhs. Other notable correspondents include the following: the Political Agent and Consul, Muscat; the Political Agency, Bahrain; the Political Officer, Sharjah.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 75; 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 between ff 53-74, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
45. 'File 8/65 COMMERCIAL TREATY 1891. MUSCAT ORDER-IN-Council. 1915'
- Description:
- Abstract: This volume concerns the Commercial Treaty of 1891 between Britain and Muscat (spellings vary throughout), which was signed on 19 March 1891 and ratified on 20 February 1892. The volume features the following principal correspondents: the Political Agent and Consul, Muscat; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Secretary of State for India; the Permanent Under-Secretary for India; the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; officials of the Foreign Office, the India Office, and the Government of India.Related matters of discussion include the following: proposed amendments to the initial treaty, which was executed by Colonel Edward Charles Ross, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, without the British Government's full authority, on 18 April 1890; proposals from the Secretary of State for India (Richard Assheton Cross, Viscount Cross) for the treaty, once amended, to be limited to a term of twelve years, after which it should be terminable at twelve months' notice; the conclusion of the amended treaty and the signing of a supplementary declaration, in which the Sultan of Muscat [Sayyid Fayṣal bin Turkī Āl Bū Sa‘īd] pledges not to sell any portion of his territory to any party except the British Government; revisions and amendments to the original 1891 treaty, proposed in 1903 and 1911.In addition to correspondence, the volume includes the following treaty-related items: the Arabic text of the 1890 version of the treaty (ff 4-11); copies of the aforementioned declaration, written in English and Arabic, and dated 20 March 1891 (f 33); an English translation of a draft treaty, prepared by the Sultan in May 1911 (ff 60-88).Also discussed towards the end of the volume is the Muscat Order-in-Council (1915), a copy of which is included (ff 92-100).There is no material covering the periods 1892-1900, 1904-1910 and 1912-1914.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 103; 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.
46. Papers Relating to Construction of Telegraphic Communications Between India and England, Notably the Line through Sindh [Sind] and Along the Beloochistan [Balochistan] and Mekran [Makran] Coasts
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume relates to construction, by the British Government, of electric telegraph communication between India and England, specifically the line through Sind [Sindh], along the Beloochistan [Balochistan] and Mekran [Makran] coasts and dominions of the Sultan of Muscat, December 1860-October 1867. It comprises a mixture of manuscript original and copy letters and reports; printed letters, reports and surveys; manuscript transcribed and translated Persian letters; and some telegraphic messages.The contents notably cover and include:Copy of original proposals submitted to the Government in Bombay, on the options for land and sea lines between Kurrachee [Karachi] and Bussorah [Basra, in modern-day Iraq], via Persia, by George Perry Badger, Chaplain (later in charge) of the Muscat-Zanzibar Commission, December 1860 (folios 10-15); views on Badger’s scheme by the Political Agents in Khelat [Kalat, also spelled Kelat in the volume] and in Turkish Arabia, March-May 1861 (folios 18-20, 28-30); Badger’s detailed geographical report on the coast from Bunder Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās] to Kurrachee (folios 31-33)Surveys undertaken for the Bombay and Sind authorities, analysing the geographical, historical, political and socio-cultural character of territories the telegraph is proposed to run through, including: printed reports by the Political Agent in Khelat and J P Darke, Commanding HM Steamer Hugh Lindsay, on the ports of Gwadur [Gwadar], Ormara and the Mekran coast (folios 34-38), June 1861; manuscript copy of detailed report by Major Frederic John Goldsmid, Acting Commissioner in Sind, on Official Duty in Mekran, February 1862 (folios 75-140), documenting the Mekran Coast Route with reference to the telegraph’s purposes, agriculture, water and supply sources, inhabitants, political history of the Mission, ancient geography and history (printed version on folios 298-324), supplemented with ‘rough notes’ by the mission’s Assistant Surgeon, Lalor, 2nd Sind Horse, adding analysis of the climate, water, general health of the people, security and fertility of the land (folios 154-180)Negotiation of terms and conditions with the Shah of Persia regarding territories acknowledged to be within his realm but over which we was not exercising direct control, materials costs, protection expenses, and future ownership of the telegraph (folios 64-74)British negotiations with local chiefs and rulers ‒ in the context of political instability and diplomatic sensitivities ‒ concerning permission to construct the line through their territories and arrangements for its protection, with particular regard to disputed lands and ports along the Beloochi [Balochi] and Mekran coast (e.g. Gwadur); agreements with the Khan of Khelat and the Jam of Beyla [Jam, or Cham, of Las Bela, Balochistan]; British payment of subsidies to local rulers (and their rivals) for protection services. Includes printed report by Goldsmid ‘On Special Duty’, to the Government in Bombay, December 1863, on the respective claims of Persia, Khelat and Muscat to sovereign rights in Mekran and on what they are founded (folios 243-246)Engineering logistics, labour, security, costs and materials, including formation of the Mekran Telegraphic Department on 20 January 1863 in the territory of the Khan of Kelat, with construction commencing 7 February 1863 (folios 187-188)Temporary recall of the telegraph work party on the Pusnee [Pasni] to Gwadar line due to unstable situation created by ‘ravaging’ activities of a 'Beloochi Sirdar named Oughan’, late 1863 (folios 202-211)British convention with the Sultan of Muscat, Sultan Soweenee [Sayyid Thuwaini bin Said Āl Bū Sa‘īd] for extension of the telegraph line through his dominions of Gwadar (sovereignty historically disputed with the Khan of Khelat) and Chabhar [Chahabar], including challenge to the Sultan’s rights in Chahbar by the Governor of Bunpoor [Bampur], ‘Ibrahim, a Persian Sirhang’) in March 1863 (folios 192-194, 218-226).Folios 339-417 chiefly comprises correspondence and papers of the Commissioner in Sind, Political Superintendent and Commandant, Frontier Upper Sind, and the Secretary to the Government, Bombay, 1864 and 1866. They are covered by two manuscript lists of numbered contents. (Folios stated below include the title page to the item number).Folio 339: ‘1866. Political Kelat’, comprising a list of items numbered 1-8. Items (No. 4 ‘Disturbance at Muscat’ and No. 8 ‘Raids on the Punjab Frontier’ are not present)Folios 340-346 (item No. 1): ‘Murree affray at Soee, death of Naib Rassuldar Shaik Hassan Ali [Nā’ib Rasūldār Shaikh Ḥasan ‘Ali], 3rd Regiment Sind Horse’, regarding attack made by 'the Native Officer Commanding the Outpost at Soorie' [probably Suri, also spelt Sooee in this volume] upon a group of Murrees [inhabitants of Mari] who had assembled 'for the purpose of plundering in British territory'Folios 347-349 (item No. 2): ‘Khureetas for HH the Khan of Kelat’ [Kalat] (two letters, not kharitas)Folios 350-359 (item No. 3): ‘Pension for Abdool Russed Khan’. Includes correspondence with Pension Pay Office, Poona [Pune]Folios 360-363 (item No. 5): ‘HH the Khan of Kelat’s subsidy for 1866/67’Folios 364-367 (item No. 6): ‘Trade and revenues of Gwadur’. Printed ‘Report on the nature of the Trade at Gwadur and the probable amount of its Revenues’ by Lieutenant Edward Charles Ross, Assistant Political Agent at Muscat and KelatFolios 368-373 (item No. 7): ‘Abdoolla Jageer [Abdullah Jagir, a trader] claims British Consular protection from the Jam of Beyla’Folio 374: ‘1864. Political Miscellaneous’ comprising a list of items numbered 1-8. (Items No. 1 ‘Report on the political state of the Frontier Districts for 1863’ and No. 8 ‘Naturalised B…’ [this is crossed through] are not present)Folios 375-379 (item No. 2): ‘Proposition for including in travelling allowances to Political officers allowances for tentage also’Folios 380-384 (item No. 3): ‘Sanction for Political Superintendent’s Toshakhana’ [treasury of objects]Folios 385-390 (item No. 4): ‘Bhawalpoore [Bahawalpur] rebels’Folios 391-394 (item No. 5): ‘Transfer of the Ionian Isles to the Greek Government’. Official notices to the Indian authorities that the British Government has left the Ionian Islands in June 1864 and the protectorate will be handed over the ‘King of the Hellenes’ [King of Greece] next yearFolios 395-401 (item No. 6): ‘Sulphur imported from Bagh in Cuchee [Kacchi, in Kalat, Balochistan] by the Engineer Department’Folios 402-403 (item No. 7): ‘Rates for Telegraph in Persia and Russia’The end of the volume consists of :Folio 404: ‘Sketch of Oka Mandel’ [Okhamandal, Gujurat, India]. Map, signed Lieutenant-Colonel R Phayre, Quartermaster-General, 27 September 1859Folio 405: ‘Route surveys in Abyssinia [Ethiopia] from Antalo to Magdala’ surveyed by the Quartermaster-General’s Department, Abyssinia Field Force. Map, signed Captain T J Holland and Lieutenant-General R Napier, 25 May 1868, with notesFolios 406-413: Manuscript, badly water damaged (past repairs visible), possibly relating to SindFolios 414-416: Printed ‘List of Dehs in the Frontier District of Upper Sind, with their population, etc., etc.’ by Colonel Francis Loch, Political Superintendent, Frontier District of Upper Sind (undated)Folio 417: Printed memorandum, dated 25 Sep 1875, issued by Bombay Government Financial Department on tentage allowances.The principal correspondents over the period 1860-67 are: H L Anderson, Chief Secretary to the Government, Bombay; A Kinloch Forbes, Acting Secretary to the Government, Bombay; M J Shaw Stewart, Acting Secretary to the Government, Bombay; Jonathan Duncan Inverarity, Commissioner in Sind; Samuel Mansfield, Commissioner in Sind; A D Robertson, Acting Commissioner in Sind; Major (later Lieutenant-Colonel) Henry W R Green, Political Agent in Khelat, later (sometime Acting) Political Superintendent and Commandant, Frontier Upper Sind; Major (later Lieutenant-Colonel) Malcolm S Green, variously Political Agent in Baluchistan, Political Agent in Khelat and Political Superintendent and Commandant, Frontier Upper SindOther correspondents include: Captain William Dickinson, Acting Political Agent in Kelat; James McAdam Hyslop, Officiating Political Agent in Turkish Arabia; Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Political Agent in Turkish Arabia; Major William Lockyer Merewether, Political Superintendent and Commandant in Chief, Frontier of Upper Sind; Charles Umpherston Aitchison, Secretary to Government of India; Colonel Henry Mortimer Durand, Secretary to Government of India (Foreign Department); Sir George Russell Clerk, Governor and Resident in Council, Bombay; Charles Gonne, Secretary to Government, Bombay; William Henry Havelock (Officiating Secretary), Bombay; Charles Alison, British Minister at Teheran; Earl (John) Russell, British Foreign Secretary; Hormuzd Rassam, Acting British Resident at Muscat; Captain Herbert Disbrowe, Acting Political Agent, Muscat; Lieutenant Edward Charles Ross, variously Assistant Political Agent Gwadur, Assistant to the Political Agent in Beloochistan [Balochistan], and Assistant to the Political Agents at Kelat and Muscat; Major P Stewart, HM Bengal Engineers, on Special Duty at Kurrachee; Lieutenant Arthur William Stiffe, Acting Director, Mekran Coast and Submarine Telegraph; H Izaak Walton, Superintendent, Mekran Coast and Submarine Telegraph; P W Hewett, 1st Class Inspector of Telegraphs.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 420; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: The original pagination sequence dating from the 1920s is also present in parallel; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. This sequence correlates to the description found in Samuel Charles Hill's Catalogue of the Home Miscellaneous Series of the India Office Records(London: HMSO, for the India Office, 1927).
47. Measures Adopted for Suppressing the 'Slave Trade'
- Description:
- Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 107 of 1847, dated 31 December 1847. The enclosures relate to British attempts to suppress the 'slave trade' [trade in enslaved people]. They are numbered 3-91 and are dated 11 September to 30 December 1847.The enclosures consist of correspondence, and minutes, resolutions and memoranda of the Government of Bombay. The enclosures also include: an enclosed copy of the treaty between the Queen of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria, and the Sultan of Maskat [Muscat], Saud Saud bin Sultan [Sayyid Sa‘īd bin Sulṭān Āl Bū Sa‘īd, also written as Syud Sueed in this item], for the termination of the export of enslaved persons from the African dominions of the Sultan of Muscat, dated 2 October 1845 (in enclosure No. 3); and enclosed depositions of ‘liberated’ enslaved African people (in enclosure No. 37).The enclosures concern matters including:The Resident in the Persian Gulf, Major Samuel Hennell, reporting the arrival at Bushire [Bushehr] Harbour of a bugla [baghlah] belonging to a subject of the Imaum [Imam, or Sultan] of Muscat, with ‘some 30 or 40 Negro and Abyssinian slaves’ [Black African and Ethiopian enslaved persons] on board for saleThe recommendation of the Superintendent of the Indian Navy, Commodore Sir Robert Oliver, that the ‘Arabs’ on board buglas detained in Bombay Harbour, which had been captured in the Persian Gulf and found to be carrying enslaved persons, should be allowed a supply of tobacco and coffeeThe Government of Bombay authorising the Superintendent of the Indian Navy to release the buggalows [baghlahs] seized with enslaved persons on board, currently detained in Bombay Harbour, but directing him to warn the nackodas [nakhudas, also spelled naquodahs and in various other ways in this item] that any subsequent infractions of the treaty with the Sultan of Muscat would not be met with leniencyThe Senior Magistrate of Police, Bombay, Gregor Grant, reporting that what appears to be smallpox has broken out amongst some of the formerly enslaved persons currently on board the police hulk ZenobiaThe opinion of the Advocate General, Bombay, A S Le Messurier, on the inability of Government to enforce the treaty concluded with the Sultan of MuscatInstructions issued by the Government of Bombay to the Political Agent at Aden, Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, and the Superintendent of the Indian Navy, as to the course they should pursue in regard to vessels seized with enslaved persons on boardThe preparation of a letter from the Governor of Bombay to the Imaum of Muscat, congratulating him on the seizure by British officers of enslaved persons on board vessels belonging to his subjects, who were acting in contravention of his orders and the treaty concluded between the two governmentsThe Senior Magistrate of Police, Bombay, forwarding the depositions of forty-seven girls and women and twelve boys. Grant writes that these fifty nine individuals are: the ‘slaves recently liberated’; two women whom he is satisfied are the wives of two of the naquodahs, to whom they have been returned; and two boys who state that they were not enslaved and are anxious to return to the vessel from which they were taken. Most of these girls, women and boys, Grant states (with the exception of three or four individuals, who appear to be natives of Zanzibar), appear to be ‘Gallas’ [Oromo people] or ‘Abyssinians’The question of how the formerly enslaved persons should be ‘disposed of’, with the Government of Bombay instructing the Senior Magistrate of Police that as many boys as the Superintendent of the Indian Navy wishes to take should be made over to him for care and naval education, and that if he does not take all of them, then the remainder may go to the polytechnic institution on similar terms, and that the best mode of providing for the girls and women will be for the Senior Magistrate of Police to invite applications from ‘respectable persons’ to ‘entertain’ them as servants, with preference being given to Christian familiesA letter from the Governor of Muscat, Syud Thoenee bin Sueed bin Sultan [Sayyid Thuwaynī bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd], to the Governor of Bombay, requesting the release of the buggalows seized for having enslaved persons on boardThe Superintendent of the Indian Navy requesting the sanction of the Government of Bombay for the bugalows detained in Bombay Harbour being allowed to depart without paying harbour duesA letter from the President of the Diocesan Committee of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and the Corresponding Committee of the Church Missionary Society, the Bishop of Bombay, Thomas Carr, to the Governor of Bombay, submitting an offer from the Committee to take the formerly enslaved persons and have them educated as Christians and provide for ‘their disposal in life’A letter from Mahomed bin Alli [Muḥammad bin ‘Alī, also spelled Mahomed bin Ally in this item], an ‘Arab inhabitant of Bombay’, to the Governor of Bombay, requesting that the formerly enslaved persons be made over to himself, for him to ‘entertain’ them at his own expense for charity, for as long they like, and for him to undertake to marry the grown up young women with whoever they may like, and to allow the rest to go where they may pleaseThe Senior Magistrate of Police reporting that: all the formerly enslaved boys have been made over to the Superintendent of the Indian Navy; the Senior Magistrate invited applications from ‘respectable families’ to house the girls as servants; there were a great many applicants, mostly ‘Mahomedans’ [Muslims], ‘with a few respectable Portuguese Gentlemen’; but only one of the women was persuaded to take service with one of the Portuguese men, whilst the rest refused to be taken in by Christian families; and he ultimately persuaded ‘the greater number of the girls’ to accompany ‘some respectable Mahomedan Gentlemen’ to their housesThe Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf, Captain William Lowe, pointing out the inadequacy of the force in that station for the complete suppression of the ‘slave trade’, and the Superintendent of the Indian Navy reporting that he is unable to increase the naval force on the Persian Gulf station, due to the limited number of vessels of war at his disposalThe Resident in the Persian Gulf reporting the arrival of articles sent from Bombay by HMS Cruizer, but requesting to be provided with a bullet mould and a supply of scarlet cloth, for him to give as presents to ‘Arabian Chiefs’The Resident in the Persian Gulf reporting: his observations on the anomalous position of the Shaik of Koweit, Shaik Jabir [Shaikh of Kuwait, Shaikh Jābir bin ‘Abdullāh Āl Ṣabāḥ], for whilst the nominal supremacy of the Porte [the Government of the Ottoman Empire] over him means that he is exempt from the British political control and surveillance exercised over the other maritime chiefs of the Persian Gulf, Hennell also expects that he will not pay any attention to the Turkish orders for the suppression of the ‘slave trade’; Hennell’s intention to write to the Shaikh of Koweit about Soor [Sur] vessels sending enslaved persons to his town for sale, and to urge him to enforce within his own districts the same regulations which exist at Bussorah [Basra], regarding the suppression of the ‘slave trade’; the issue of Persian [Iranian] vessels and Persian ports engaged in ‘slave dealing’, the different methods of evasion practised by ‘slave traders’ in the Persian Gulf, and his suggestions for measures for the suppression of the trafficThe Government of Bombay instructing HM Consul and Honourable Company’s [the East India Company’s] Agent in the Dominions of the Imaum of Muscat, Captain Atkins Hamerton, to bring to the notice of the Imaum the Soor vessels evading the treaty entered into with him for the suppression of the ‘slave trade’, and to express the conviction of the Governor in Council that the Imaum will adopt the necessary measures for prohibiting the embarkation of enslaved persons in his portThe Government of Bombay requesting the Superintendent of the Indian Navy to issue instructions to the officer commanding the Honourable Company’s brigantine Tigris, under orders for Zanzibar, regarding the removal and disposal of enslaved persons from vessels which he may have the right to seize, and to gain as much information as he can regarding the Slave Trade and the effect the treaties recently concluded have had upon it.The correspondence is primarily between the Government of Bombay (mostly the Chief Secretary to Government, Arthur Malet, and the Governor of Bombay, George Russell Clerk) and the following: the Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Advocate General, Bombay; the Superintendent of the Indian Navy; the Senior Magistrate of Police, Bombay; HM Consul and Honourable Company’s Agent in the Dominions of the Imaum of Muscat; the Secretary to the Medical Board, Bombay, John Scott; the Governor of Muscat; the Imaum of Muscat; the President of the Diocesan Committee of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and the Corresponding Committee of the Church Missionary Society; Mahomed bin Alli; and the Officiating Secretary to the Government of India, George Alexander Bushby.Physical description: 1 item (168 folios)
48. Formal Recognition of Sayyid Turkī bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd as Ruler of Muscat
- Description:
- Abstract: Letter and Enclosure to HM Secretary of State for India, dated 27 December 1871, concerning the formal recognition of Syud Toorkee [Sayyid Turkī bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd] as Ruler of Muscat.The main correspondents are Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis Pelly, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; and Major Edward Charles Ross, Political Agent and Consul, Muscat.The papers record that the Political Agent, the officers of HMS Bullfinch, and 'all the English gentlemen at present in Muscat' were received by the new Sultan, and that a twenty-one gun salute was fired by the Bullfinch.The papers also contain a copy of a letter from Syud Toorkee.Physical description: 1 item (4 folios)