Abstract: The file consists of a note, dated 10 January 1918, written by John Evelyn Shuckburgh (Political Department, India Office) on a memorandum written by Sir Mark Sykes on the Palestine and West Arabian situation. The note was prepared for a meeting of the Middle East Committee. Shuckburgh comments on statements made by Sykes, and provides an account of the latest developments and plans for the region. A section is included on policy in regards to Bin Saud [Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd ] (Wahabi Emir of Nejd), and tensions with King Husain [Hussein bin Ali] (Sharif and Emir of Mecca). Recommendations for action are given.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 28, and terminates at f 30, as it is part of a larger physical volume; 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 28-30; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: By Montagu Gilbert Gerard, Captain and Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, 1st Central India Horse, published in Calcutta by the Quarter Master General's Department.The notes consist of diary entries for the period 15 November 1881 to 16 April 1882, documenting each stage of Captain Gerard's journey through Iraq and Persia. Each entry contains information about the towns and villages he visited, including longitude and latitude co-ordinates, geographical information about the landscape, physical descriptions of the places, political information about the ruler of both the place and its surrounding area and their allegiences, and travel advice for others intending to journey through the Kurdistan region. Also discussed in the entries are customs and quarantine dues paid en-route and bazaars visited, including the type of goods available and the countries those goods were from.The principle places travelled through include Zobeir [Az-Zubayr], Busreh [Basra], Baghdad, Hillah [Al-Ḥillah], Kifri, Kerkuk [Kirkūk], Mosul [Al-Mawṣil], Miandab [Mīāndoāb], Tabriz, Tasuj [Tasūj], Urmiah [Urmia], Bokan [Bukan], Sakuz [Saqqez], Banah [Baneh], Pengwen [Penjwen], Sulimania [Sulaymaniyah], Murivan [Marivan], Kirmanshah [Kermanshah], Kasr-i-Shirin [Qasr-e-Shirin], Khanikin [Khanaqin] and Bakuba [Baqubah].Physical description: Foliation: The file has been foliated from cover to cover using a pencil number enclosed in a circle located in the top right hand corner of the recto of each folio.
Abstract: This memorandum was prepared by the Government of India, Foreign and Political Department in January 1917 and aimed to give 'an inner view of the intellectual and political forces which are predominant in the Ottoman Empire.' It consists of four main sections:A. 'German influence in Turkey' (ff 2-3).B. 'German agents and their misdeeds' (ff 4-5).C. 'The cruelties of Jemal Pasha' (ff 5v-6); 'Turkish intrigues among Indian Muhammadans (f 7); notes on freemasonry in Turkey under the new regime (ff 8-10).D. The treatment of the opposition (ff 11-13).Physical description: Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the first folio and terminates at the last folio; 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 material also has an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: The file contains the views of the Aga Khan (Sir Sultan Mohammed Shah), and M A Ali Baig on the political situation in Egypt, based on a series of interviews held during a visit to Ismailia [Al Ismā'īlīyah], Suez, Port Said [Būr Saʻīd], Tanta, Alexandria, and the camps of the Indian troops, from 19 December 1914 to 12 January 1915.It is divided into the following sections:the attitude of the Egyptian people – regarding Britain, Turkey, and the First World War;the Moslem Egyptians;the Copts;the Greeks and other races;the Egyptian aristocracy;the aspirations of educated Egyptians;the Protectorate;the new Sultan;the Ministers and their Advisors;the Nationalists;the Egyptian press;the Caliphate;the Jehad Fetwa;the Effect of Earl Kitchener's policy;the Indian Troops;Conclusion.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 55, and terminates at f 59, as it is part of a larger physical volume; 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 55-59; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: The item consists of a summary document enclosed within a letter from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] to the East India Company Court of Directors. The document, written by William Henry Wathen, Secretary in the Persian Department, provides brief details on the political status of 'states' under the following headings:'Cashmere' [Kashmir]'Chinese Tartary' [parts of modern-day China, Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Bhutan and Nepal]'Independent Tartary' [parts of modern-day Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan]'Countries formerly dependent on or in the vicinity of Afghan states''Afghan territories''Beloocheestan [Balochistan] and Mukran [Makran]''Scind' [Sindh]'Persia' [Iran]'Persian Gulf''The Provinces of Oman in Arabia''Coast of Arabia from Muskat [Muscat] to the straights of Babeel Mandeeb [Bab el Mandeb]''Red Sea''Arabia''Egypt and Nubia''Abyssinia (Hubbush)' [Ethiopia]'North East and East Coasts of Africa''East Coast of Africa called by the natives Suwahil [suwāḥil or ‘coasts’ in Arabic]'The title page of the item contains the following references: 'P.C. [Previous Communication] 1631, Draft 696, 1835', 'Coll[ection] N. 4', 'Bombay Political Department', 'Examiner’s Office 1835'.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 60, and terminates at f 69, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the item also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: The file concerns the presence of Bahrain of members of the Khaksar Movement, an Islamic movement originating in India, which had a distinctive ideology, and whose members wore uniform, and were distinguished by the emblem of a spade.The main correspondents are the Political Agent, Bahrain (Hugh Weightman); the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; and the Government of India, particularly the Intelligence Bureau (Home Department).The papers cover: a handwritten paper entitled 'The Khaksar Movement in Bahrain', giving a full account of the movement and the strength of its presence in Bahrain, April 1939 (folios 2-8), accompanied by an article about the movement from the
Illustrated Weekly of Indiaentitled 'An Army of Spades', dated 26 March 1939, including information on the movement's founder, Alama Inayatullah Mashraki [Allama Mashriqi] (folios 9-13); correspondence between British officials in the Gulf, the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain (Charles Dalrymple Belgrave), and the Intelligence Bureau (Home Department) of the Government of India, exchanging intelligence about the extent of the movement in Bahrain, the identities of individual members, and the distribution of the movement's newspaper
Al Islah, April 1939 - February 1940 (folios 14-26); correspondence about the presence of members of the Khaskar Movement at Al Khobar [Al Khubar] in Saudi Arabia, February-March 1940 (folios 27-30); following the declaration by the Government of India that the movement was unlawful, further correspondence about the identities and employment status of individual members of the movement in Bahrain, March - July 1940 (folios 31-37); and a printed pamphlet entitled 'Note on the Khaksar Movement.', 1939, giving information on the movement during the period 1933-39 (folios 41-51).It is stated in the papers that the movement was treated with derision by the Arab population (folios 24, 29).The date range gives the covering dates of the correspondence in the file (26 March 1939 - 28 July 1940); the printed pamphlet at the back of the file entitled 'Note on the Khaksar Movement.' contains information in three sections dated 1933-39; the last dated addition to the file is an entry in the notes dated 30 July 1940Physical description: Foliation: the main 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. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-37; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: The file consists of situation reports from His Majesty's Minister at Jedda [Jeddah] (Sir Andrew Ryan) on the progress of hostilities between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, between March and July 1934. The reports are in the form of copies of telegrams (including one from the Political Agent, Kuwait) to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, forwarded with covering letters to the Political Agent, Bahrain. The reports also include translations of Saudi official communiqués on the conflict.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 46; 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: The volume contains miscellaneous political intelligence concerning the affairs of Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd, King of Saudi Arabia] (also referred to Bin Saud) and the Government of Saudi Arabia.The main correspondents are the Political Agent, Bahrain; HM Minister, Jeddah; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; and officials of the Colonial Office, Foreign Office, and Government of India.The papers cover the following: the involvement of Ibn Saud in Bahrain affairs, e.g. January 1932 (folio 5); the movements of Ibn Saud, e.g. January 1932 (folio 6); the movements of Ibn Saud's sons, e.g. discussion of what recognition the British should give to Ibn Saud's son the Amir Faisal [Fayṣal bin ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Sa‘ūd] when he passed through Bahrain in 1932 (folio 8); Ibn Saud's relations with the Qusaibi [al-Quṣaybī] family of merchants in Bahrain, June 1932 (folios 11-12); the revolt against Ibn Saud's rule in the Hejaz, July-August 1932 (folios 13-22); a rumour that Ibn Saud had suffered a defeat, December 1933 (folios 25-26); a proposed visit by Ibn Saud to Kuwait, January-February 1936 (folios 41-45); reports of unrest in Hasa [al-Aḥsā’] as a result of taxation, April 1936 (folios 50-52); a reported attempt on Ibn Saud's life, June 1936 (folios 53-65); the frontier with Trans-Jordan, May-July 1936 (folios 68-72); the response to a report of gunfire at Jubail [al-Jubayl], July-September 1936 (folios 73-80); the use of the title 'Amir' by the Saudi Government when referring to the Ruler of Bahrain, November-December 1936 (folios 81-96); customs duties in Saudi Arabia, January-November 1938 (folios 97-101); Ibn Saud's attitude toward Arab rulers in the Persian Gulf, and visit to Bahrain in May 1939, December 1938 - July 1939 (folios 102-183); the visit to India by Amir Saud, April-June 1940 (folios 196-220); reports of a plot against Ibn Saud, December1940 (folios 222-229); the dispatch of currency for the Saudi Arabian Government from HM Mint, Bombay, June-July 1941 (folios 233-251); the shipment of lubricating oil from Bahrain to Jeddah, at the urgent request of the Saudi Arabian Government, November 1942 - May 1943 (folios 252-268); and the visit of two of Ibn Saud's sons to India, June-September 1943 (folios 269-311).The Arabic language content of the volume consists of approximately ten folios of correspondence (with English translations), including five letters from Abdul Aziz al Qosaibi [‘Abd al-‘Azīz al-Quṣaybī] to the Political Agent, Bahrain.The date range gives the covering dates of the main items of correspondence; the last dated addition to the file is an entry in the notes on folio 335v dated 7 October 1943.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 338; 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 in parallel between ff 1-338; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The volume, stamped ‘Secret’ on the front cover and frontispiece, is a précis of affairs relating to Makrān (spelt Mekran throughout) coast in the south of Sindh and Baluchistan. It was prepared by Judge Jerome Antony Saldanha of the Bombay Provincial Civil Service, and published in 1905 by the Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India, in Calcutta.The volume includes a preface (folio 4) and list of contents (folios 5-6). The volume is divided into chapters and sections as follows:Chapter 1: Our early connection with Mekran: (I) Jask, our port of trade with Persia from 1615 to 1622, (II) Captain Grant's mission to Mekran, 1809;Chapter 2: Telegraph and Mekran: Persian pretensions: (I) Reverend Mr Badger's reports, 1861, (II) Proposed negotiations with Persia and Mekran Chiefs: completion of the telegraph, (III) Proposed lease or purchase of Gwadur [Gwādar], (IV) Obstruction of the Persian Governor to the progress of the telegraph line - claims of Persia to Gwadur and Charbar [Chābahār], (V) Colonel Goldsmid's report of December 1863 in regard to Persian claims in Mekran, (VI) Colonel Goldsmid's first report of 1864, (VII) Colonel Goldsmid's second report of 1864, (VIII) Colonel Goldsmid's third report of 1864;Chapter 3: Agreements with Maskat in regard to telegraphic extension to Bunder Abbas [Bandar ‘Abbās] 1864-65. Colonel Pelly's report on the country from Bunder Abbas to Jask [Jāsk];Chapter 4: Negotiations with Persia for telegraphic extension westward from Gwadur, 1865-68. Telegraphic Convention of 1868.Chapter 5: Captain Ross's reports about Mekran, 1867-68;Chapter 6: Arrangements with local Chiefs as regards the telegraph undersettled state of the country;Chapter 7: Perso-Baluchistan boundary dispute settled by a Commision, 1870-72: (I) Persian agreement to demarcate the boundary line by a mixed Commission, 1870, (II) Proceedings of the Commissioners, (III) The Persian Government accepts the line sketched out by General Goldsmid;Chapter 8: Telegraph and Persian Baluchistan Chiefs. Internal Disturbances and changes, 1869-95: (I) The Persian Baluchistan Chiefs (including a genealogical table), (II) Disturbances at Jask, 1873, (III) Relations between the various Chiefs, 1883, (IV) Thefts of the telegraph lines in Geh territory, 1883, (V) Certain changes in Chiefs in 1883-84. Death of Sartip Ibrahim Khan [Sartīp Ibrāhīm Khān], 1883-84, (VI) Abul Fath Khan [‘Abd al-Fatḥ Khān], Governor of Bampur [Bampūr], 1886-89, (VII) Rising in Persian Baluchistan, 1889, (VIII) Arrest of several Baluchi Chiefs, 1891, (IX) Internal Affairs from 1891 to 1895. Death of Mir Abdul Nabi [Mīr ‘Abd al-Nabī] of Jask, 1894;Chapter 9: Jask Telegraph Station: (I) The detachment of Jask, (II) British control and jurisdiction within the station, 1869, (III) Interference of Persian officials within Jask station limits. Removal of the detachment and agreement about Jask station, 1886-87, (IV) Alleged Persian interference within the Jask station, 1889;Chapter 10: Protection of British subjects in Persian Baluchistan: (I) Plunder of British Indians by Sardar Hossein Khan [Sardār Ḥusayn Khān], appointed Governor of Charbar and Dashtyari [Dashtyārī] in place of Din Mahomed [Dīn Muḥammad], (II) Murder of a British Indian subject at Baku, 1882, (III) Plunder of Hindu traders of Dizzak and Geh, 1884, (IV) Seizure at Charbar of Doshambi, sailor of a British Indian vessel. Arrangements for his release, (V) Dharmu Mulchand's case, 1889-89;Chapter 11: Rising of Baluchi Chiefs. Anarchy in Persian Mekran. Murder of Mr Graves. British detachments stationed at Jask and Charbar. British policy, 1897-98: (I) Rising of Baluchi tribes, (II) Murder of Mr Graves and measures taken to trace and punish the murderers, December 1897 - January 1898, (III) Detachment sent to Jask and Charbar, January 1898, (IV) Unauthorised action of Commander Baker of the Sphinx in landing a force at Gulag and proceeding with it to Rapch, February 1898, (V) Operations against the insurgent and punishment of the murderers, (VI) Indemnity of the murder of Mr Graves, (VII) Rewards to Persian officers for services rendered in Mr Graves's murder case, 1898-99;Chapter 12: Changes in payment of telegraph subsidy. Settlement of outstanding claims of the British Indian subjects against Perso-Baluch Chiefs. Arrest of the remaining two murderers of Mr Graves. Detachment at Jask and Charbar. Deaths of several Chiefs, 1899.Chapter 13: State of the districts through which the telegraph line passes from Gwettur to Jask, 1909-04;Chapter 14: Gwadur and Charbar affairs: (I) Early history of Gwadur and Charbar, (II) Azan bin Ghias [‘Azzān bin Qays]'s attempts to take Gwadur and Charbar, 1869-70, (III) Seyyid Turki [Sayyid Turkī bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd]'s rights to Charbar, (IV) Persian pretensions to Gwadur and Charbar. Demarcation of boundary line between Khelat [Kelāt] and Persia. Capture of Charbar by the Persians, (V) Question of rendition of Gwadur to the Khan of Khelat, (VI) Reported intention of the Russian Government to place an agent in charge of the Customs at Gwadur;Chapter 14: British Political Agency in Mekran.There is one appendix on folio 63, which is a report by Edward Charles Ross, Assistant Political Agent at Muscat and Khelat, dated 31 January 1886, entitled 'Report on the nature of the Trade at Gwadur and the probably amount of its Revenues'. This relates to Chapter 5 where the report is discussed.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside 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. The volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: Harry St John Bridger Philby's account of his journey in the southern regions of the Najd, published for the Arab Bureau by the Government Press in Cairo, 1919.The journey was taken in May to June 1918 while the author was in Riyadh for the purpose of maintaining relations with Ibn Sa‘ud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥman bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd], ruler of Najd, on behalf of the British Government. Travelling 640 miles from Riyadh to Wadi Dawasir [Wādī al-Dawāsir] and back along a different route, he reports any geographical, meteorological, agricultural, demographic, and historical information that he deems of use to the British government. Included are notes on the tribes and wells of the area.Folio 46 is a foldout map of the route taken.Physical description: Foliation: the sequence is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. It begins on the front cover, on number 1, and ends on the inside of the back cover, on number 48.Pagination: there is also a printed pagination sequence that begins on the first page of the account proper and continues through to the last page of the account.
Abstract: This file contains a set of Weekly Political Intelligence Summaries published by the Foreign Office. The summaries are numbered, and begin from 356 at the back of the file, and end with number 416 at the front. The weekly reports contain military and political intelligence spanning all theatres of the Second World War and its immediate aftermath, and are divided in to sections by geographic region.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 480; 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 item comprises enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee [Bombay Secret Letter], No. 15 dated 16 February 1856. The enclosures are dated 14 January-4 Feburary 1856.The papers comprise two reports forwarded by Henry Bartle Edward Frere, Commissioner in Sind [Sindh], to the Governor and President in Council, Bombay, as follows:The annual report on the ‘Political State of the Province of Sind’ for the year 1855, by Lieutenant-Colonel John Jacob, Political Superintendent on the Frontier of Upper Sind, 4 January 1856 (ff 229-231). Frere commends Jacob for the ‘tranquil’ state of the West and North West Frontiers and the treaty with Khan of Kelat [Kalat], and welcomes the ascendancy of Dost Mahomed Khan [Dūst Muḥammad Khān Bārakzāy] at Kandahar especially since it has led to the ‘restoration of order’, the reduction of ‘excessive duties’, and the encouragement of trade and commerceExtracts of the ‘Digest of Intelligence of the Customs Department, Kurrachee [Karachi]’, 10-31 December 1855 (ff 234-241), notably recommending that now is a good time to suggest to Ameer [Emir] Dost Mahomed Khan a reduction in ‘oppressive duties’ (especially on wool) levied on the import trade at Candahar [Kandahar], in order to boost commerce.Also included are a Resolutions of the Board approving of Jacob’s report, and forwarding extracts, or portions, of the Customs Department digest to the Government of India and other relevant departments and authorities.Physical description: 1 item (16 folios)