Abstract: This item consists of copies of a Political Despatch from the Government of India Foreign Department to the Secretary of State for India, dated 24 April 1873 and received in the India Office Secret Department on 25 June 1873, forwarding papers relating to the capture by HMS
Vultureof a slave buglah [buggalow] off Soor [Ṣūr], on the Arab Coast, in the month of September 1872.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 197, and terminates at f 206, 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. The sequence contains two foliation anomalies: f 197a and f 202a.
Abstract: The file contains letters, telegrams, minutes, notes, and draft correspondence relating to two incidents in Oman. The first, which the majority of the papers deal with, was the rebellious attitude of members of the Beni Bu Ali tribe, led by Shaikh Ali bin Abdullah al Hamudah. The papers, which concern efforts by the British to assist the Muscat authorities in bringing the tribe to order, cover the following matters:the proposal and consequences of a visit to Sur by the President of the Council of Ministers, Sayyid Said bin Taimur Al Bu Said [Sa‘īd ibn Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd], and the Political Agent, Captain Reginald George Evelyn William Alban, to negotiate with Shaikh Ali in October 1931the effort to establish a customs post at Aiqathe question of the appropriate use of forcearrangements for further visits in December 1931the seizure of dhows belonging to the Beni Bu Ali tribethe Government of India's disapproval of the Political Agent's conductletters of congratulations and thanks following the peaceful resolution of the crisisthe question of when to restore Shaikh Ali's privileges.The second incident covered by the file is the murder of a British Indian man by a member of the Shihuh tribe in June 1936. The correspondence discusses the action that should be taken.The principal correspondents are the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Political Agent at Muscat, Government of India (Foreign and Political Department), Foreign Office, Admiralty, Air Ministry, Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf, Commander-in-Chief in the East Indies, India Office, Sultan Said bin Taimur, and Shaikh Ali of the Beni Bu Ali.The file contains several reports, as follows:Report on the visit to Sur of 26 October 1931, by Captain Alban, 31 October 1931 (folios 223-26)Report on the 'Situation at Sur and Aiqa', with notes on the Bani Bu Ali tribe, by the Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf Division, 20 December 1931 (folios 137-51)Report on the crisis as a whole by Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Vincent Biscoe, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, 19 March 1932 (folios 97-108)Report on 'Operations at Sur, 4th-9th March 1932' by the Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf Division, 19 March 1932 (folios 85-87)Report on the situation at Sur a year after the crisis by Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven William Fowle, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, 4 March 1933 (folios 74-76).A sketch map of the area around Sur can be found on folio 193.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 265; 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 file is concerned with the establishment of facilities along the southern coast of Oman for a proposed Muscat-Aden air route. It predominantly consists of reports on expeditions to establish (or repair) landing grounds and petrol storage facilities at the following locations: Masirah Island, Khor Jarama [Khawr al Jarāmah], Khor Gharum, and Shuwamiya [Ra’s ash Shuwāmīyah]. These reports are authored by either the Muscat Political Agent (Trenchard Craven William Fowle, Claude Edward Urquhart Bremner, and Ralph Ponsonby Watts), or the commanding officer of the deployed Royal Navy vessel: HMS Bideford or HMS Deptford. It also contains reconnaissance reports from surveys undertaken to identify suitable landing sites for the proposed air route. These reports include information on the personnel involved, progress made, incidents during the course of the expedition, navigational data, and sometimes details on eating and sleeping arrangements. It also contains a number of extracts from relevant — mainly Muscat — intelligence summaries.The file includes copies of three agreements made with local Shaikhs: two agreements (folios 50-1) with Shaikh Said bin Sultan of Mahut for Shuwamiya and Khor Gharum; and an agreement (folio 24) with Muhammed bin Suwaillim, Shaikh of Batahrah, as a result of his disputing the former’s authority over Shuwamiya. It also contains a couple of sketch maps of the coast of Oman showing the locations surveyed, and the locations where air facilities have been established; these can be found on folios 31 and 88.A report (folios 131-42), dated 29 March 1932, of a joint action between British forces and the Sultan of Muscat, Sa‘īd ibn Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd, against Shaikh Ali bin Abdullah al Hamudah of the Beni Bu Ali [Banī Bū ‘Alī] at Sur has also been included. The purpose of this action being to enforce the Sultan's authority by establishing a customs house at Aiqa.The main correspondents are as follows: the Persian Gulf Political Resident, the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, officials of the Admiralty, officials of the Air Ministry, and officials of the India Office.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 171; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located at the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence related to the possibility of establishing a landing ground at Sur for the Royal Air Force (RAF), which was to be within easy access of the town. The proposal was dropped later owing to the Sultan’s unwillingness and the risk of creating trouble at Sur. The file includes photographs (folios 4-10) of the proposed sites at Sur taken by an RAF pilot.The main correspondents in the file are: Air Headquarters, British Forces in Iraq; the Persian Gulf Residency, Bushire; and the Political Agency, Muscat.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 21; 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 contains papers concerning the situation at Sur in the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman. The papers mainly relate to ‘difficulties’ which had arisen between the tribes of Sur and the Government of Muscat, inter-tribal and inter-factional rivalries, the question of what action the British Government should take to support the authority of the Muscat Government at Sur, and the general question of future British policy in Muscat.It includes papers relating to the following:The claim to independence of Ali bin Abdullah, Shaikh of the Bani Bu Ali (also spelled Beni Bu Ali) tribe and Amir of Jaalan [Emir of Ja‘alān, also spelled Jalan and Jallan]The bombardment of the fort of Said bin Abdullah (also spelled Saeed bin Abdullah) by the Muscat gunboat, and the shelling and destruction of the fort by HMS
CyclamenAn incident in which a Hinawi caravan was stopped at Sur by the Amirs of Jaalan, who hoisted a flag in their fort at Aiqa (also spelled Aigah in the volume) which was reportedly the flag of King Ibn Saud, but which the Amirs of Jaalan subsequently stated was their own flagThe Government of India’s recommendation that a regiment be sent to hold SurTribal conflict and rivalries, including the feud between the two main sections of the Jenebeh [al-Janabah] tribe, the Makhanah and the Aramah, which the British Government viewed as being encouraged by Ali bin Abdullah, and the feud between the Beni Bu Ali and the Beni Bu Hassan tribesProposed air operations by aircraft supported by HM Ships against the Bani Bu Ali at Sur.The papers mainly consist of correspondence, memoranda, reports, and India Office Political Department minute papers.The main correspondents are as follows: the India Office; the Political Agent and HBM Consul, Muscat; Mahomed bin Nasir Ali Hamud, Amir of Jalan; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Government of India Foreign and Political Department; the Admiralty; the Foreign Office; the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies; and the Air Ministry.The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 392; 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.
Abstract: This volume contains papers relating to British policy in Muscat. It includes some papers regarding the situation at Sur; however most of the volume concerns the financial situation of the Muscat state, mainly the proposal to increase state revenues by removing the limitation on the power of the Sultan of Muscat and Oman to impose customs duties in excess of five per cent.It includes papers concerning the British Government asking the governments of the United States of America and France to agree to the modification of Article 3 of the Commercial Treaty between Muscat and the United States of 1833, and Article 10 of the Treaty between Muscat and France of 1844, respectively, which prevented the Sultan from levying import duties in excess of five per cent, in order to enable the general tariff and the tariff on alcohol and cigarettes to be increased.The volume also includes papers regarding the question of the revision of the tariff provisions of the Commercial Treaty of 1891 between Muscat and the United Kingdom, which also precluded the Muscat Government from imposing import or export duties higher than five per cent.In addition, the volume includes papers relating to the eventual proposal to abandon attempts to secure a modification of the Muscat Commercial Treaties with France and the USA, and instead to raise the tariff rate against all goods other than those carried in French and American vessels and those covered by the Commercial Declaration between Muscat and the Netherlands of 1877. This was due to the United States Government only being willing to consider the modification of the 1833 Treaty with Muscat on the basis of the accord of most favoured nation treatment to US nationals as well as US goods, which the Muscat Council had raised objections to, and which the India Office considered unacceptable.The papers consist of correspondence, draft treaty articles, India Office Political and Secret Department minute papers, reports, memoranda, and copies of the Maskat [Muscat] Order in Council, 1915 and the Maskat (Amendment) Order in Council, 1922.The main correspondents are as follows: the India Office; the Government of India Foreign and Political Department; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Foreign Office; the British Embassy, Washington; and the British Embassy, Paris.The volume also includes: letters from the Sultan of Muscat and Oman to the Political Agent at Muscat, dated 9 March 1930, and to the Officiating Political Resident at Bushire, dated 25 August 1931, which are in Arabic with English translations; and letters in French from the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs to the British Ambassador to France, dated 15 October 1930 and 29 September 1931.The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 484; 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.A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.