Abstract: The file contains one letter sent by the Political Resident at Bushire to the Deputy Secretary to the Government of India regarding the future of the Kuria Muria Islands, Oman.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 3, these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: Correspondence discusses the issues involved in the purchase or lease of Masirah Island to Her Majesty's Government including:letter (ff 4-5) from R Peel, India Office to M R Bridgeman, Ministry of Fuel and Power. Discussion of a proposal to approach the Sultan of Muscat to sell or lease Masirah Island to HMG as a permanent base. Enclosed is a note by the Legal Adviser, India Office;letter from R Peel, India Office, to R M A Hankey, Foreign Office, regarding the form of Agreement of Retrocession in the event of it being decided to return the Kuria Muria Islands back to the Sultan of Muscat as part of the purchase or lease of Masirah Island. The Deed of Concession of the Kuria Muria Islands was not considered a suitable model. Possible precedents were the Dindings Agreement (Approval) Act of 1934 with the Sultan of Perak.A letter (f 11) from the Colonial Office to R T Peel, Foreign Office, expressing no objection to Masirah Island being attached to the charge of the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf for administration through the Political Agent, Muscat.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 in parallel between ff 3-11; 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 contains correspondence regarding gathering information related to the present conditions of the Kuria Muria Islands and the names of the leading chiefs or notables inhabiting them. The file also contains correspondence regarding the transfer of control of Kuria Muria Islands from the Aden to the Persian Gulf Residency; the Arabic names of the Islands; the position of the Kuria Muria Islands in relation to the separation of Aden from British India; and the future of the Islands.The main correspondents in the file are the Political Agency at Muscat; the Political Residencies at Aden and Bushire; the Hydrographic Department, Admiralty, London; and the Muscat and Oman, Council of Ministers.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 28; 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 2-27; 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 consists of a Colonial Office letter related to the administration of the Kuria Muria [Khuriya Muriya] Islands (folios 2-3), a note on Dhufar written by Gordon Noel Jackson, Assistant Political Agent Muscat (folios 4-12), and an India Office letter regarding the boundary between Muscat and the Aden Protectorate (folio 13).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 14; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: Correspondence concerning a proposal to land a survey party on the mainland of Oman in the vicinity of the Kuria Muria Islands. The papers cover the request for permission to make the landing and the advice that no such landing should be attempted due to the lawlessness of the area. The correspondence is between officials at the Political Residency in the Persian Gulf, the Political Agency in Muscat, the Government of India (Foreign and Political Department), and the Admiralty.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 8, these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: Correspondence and other papers connected to a survey of the area around the Kuria Muria Islands, in connection with the development of the Muscat-Aden air route. The papers cover: the question of control and legal status of the islands; the effort to obtain permission for the survey from the Sultan of Muscat and Oman; and arrangements for the Political Agent, Muscat, to join the survey. At the back of the file are several reports on the survey work, interactions with the inhabitants of Masirah Island, and other information of a medical, political, meteorological, anthropological, geological, and ecological nature (folios 48-73).Correspondence comes from: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; Political Agent, Muscat; the Residency, Aden; the India Office; the Colonial Office; the Government of India, External Affairs Department; the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf; the Admiralty; and the Air Officer Commanding, Iraq.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 74, these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The volume contains papers regarding the transfer of the civil administration of Aden from the Government of India to the Colonial Office, and the preparation of the Aden Colony Order in Council (1936), and 'Royal Sign Manual and Signet to the Governor and Commander in Chief of the Colony of Aden (1937)'.The volume is predominantly made up of correspondence between the India Office Political Department, the Colonial Office, the Aden Chief Commissioner (later Governor) Bernard Reilly, the India Office Legal Advisor's Department, and the Secretary of State for India. The volume also contains numerous heavily-annotated drafts of the Order in Council and the Royal Instructions, plus minutes of meetings held at the Colonial Office, and extracts from the Home Affairs Committee and the Joint Committee on Indian Constitutional Reform. Final drafts can be found at folios 13-20, in addition to copies of Reilly's inauguration speech (folios 25-28).The correspondence covers a range of topics, including: Indian and Arab sentiment over the transfer; problems of condominion; the importance of Aden to Britain's imperial aims; representations from the Indian and Aden business communities; the maintenance of representation for Aden subjects at the Bombay High Court; Aden's free port status; questions of income tax and salt duty; the wording of the Order in Council and Royal Instructions; and a proposal to list the Kuria Muria Islands as a named dependency of Aden, comparable to Shaikh Othman, Imad and Hiswa, and Perim.The volume includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the volume by year. This is placed at the end of the correspondence (folio 4).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 480; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The fold-outs on f 147, f 158 and f 159 are A and B items which are attached to the folios in order to add additional information about the document.
Abstract: This file concerns the status and administration of the Kuria Muria Islands [Jazā’ir Khurīyā Murīyā, Oman]. It features the following principal correspondents: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Political Resident, Aden; the Governor of Aden; the Secretary of State for India; the Viceroy of India; the British Consul General, Harbin; officials of the Colonial Office, the India Office, the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department, and the Government of Bombay's Political Department.The correspondence includes discussion of the following:A request for a concession to explore guano and phosphate deposits on the islands, submitted in 1931 by two residents of Harbin, China, named James Alexander Hunter and John B Kunst.The potential strategic importance of the islands.The transfer of control of the islands from the Political Resident at Aden to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf in 1931.The separation of Aden from the Bombay Presidency, under a new formation as a Chief Commissioner's Province, in 1932.The formal inclusion of the islands within the Aden Province in 1936, placing them legally under the administration of the Chief Commissioner of Aden.Whether or not administrative control of the islands should remain the responsbility of the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, despite the recent change to their legal status.The planned separation of Aden from British India, scheduled to take place on 1 April 1937.The visit of the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel William Rupert Hay) to the islands in April 1947.The properties of specimens of ore given to Hay by inhabitants of Hallaniyah [Al Ḩallānīyah] during his visit to the island.In addition to correspondence the file includes the following:A copy of an extract from the Aden Laws Regulation, 1891.An extract from an issue of
The Gazette of India, dated 1 April 1932, announcing the separation of Aden from the Government of Bombay and the formation of a Chief Commissionership of Aden.A copy of the Aden Laws (Amendment) Regulation, 1936 – an amendment to the Aden Laws Regulation, 1932, confirming the Kuria Muria Islands' status as part of the Aden Province.A copy of an article on the islands, written by Hay and considered for publication in the
Journal of the Royal Geographical Society.The aforementioned specimens of ore, given to Hay by inhabitants of Hallaniyah [Al Ḩallānīyah] during his visit to the island.The Swedish material in the file consists of contact details provided in a letter addressed to the Colonial Office from a correspondent named as Alex Ewin [Axel Elvin, editor of
Bonniers Konversations Lexikon,a series of Swedish encyclopaedias].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 (folio 2).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 147; 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.