Abstract: The file contains correspondence regarding attempts to negotiate an Anglo-Persian arms convention, intended to regulate arms traffic in the Persian Gulf. The correspondence concerns the following:the changing patterns of arms traffic in the Persian Gulf;Persian attitudes to the Slave Traffic Convention (1882) and the Arms Traffic Convention (1925);the right to inspect third party shipping, and to verify the flags flown by vessels in the Persian Gulf;previous negotiations with Anoushirvan Khan Sepahbodi, and the proposals submitted by him on 24 April 1933;the subsequent withdrawal of those proposals by the Persian [Iranian] Government;a new Persian proposal, presented on 30 May 1934.The principal correspondents are the Foreign Office, HM Representative at Tehran, the Secretary of State for India, and the India Office Political Department. The file also contains communications received from the Persian Government, and a draft of the proposed agreement (folios 41-45). The formal British response can be found at folios 12-13.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the end of the correspondence (folio 2).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 58; 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 file contains papers related to the position of the Gulf States – Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Bahrain, Dubai, Kalba, Kuwait, Ra's al-Khaymah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Qaywayn – under the Convention on International Civil Aviation (1946), also known as the Chicago Convention. Much of the correspondence is concerned with whether the signature of the United Kingdom (UK) on the Convention can be said to cover these states, and whether the UK can or should assume the responsibility of managing civil aviation matters on their behalf. It also considers whether the UK should represent the Sultan of Muscat and Oman.The file also contains correspondence related to the deputation of Maurice Patrick O'Connor Tandy, Kuwait Political Agent, to Cairo for a meeting of the Middle East region of the Provisional International Civil Aviation Organization (PICAO) in October 1946. The file is also concerned with the applicability of recommendations made by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to aerodromes in the Persian Gulf, and measures for the joint operation of airfields by Royal Air Force (RAF) and civil aviation authorities.The main correspondents are as follows: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf(Sir Charles Geoffrey Prior, and William Rupert Hay), officials of the India Office (the Commonwealth Relations Office from August 1947), and officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.The file contains a number of published and typed agreements, reports, and proposed standards for International Aviation:International Civil Aviation Conference. Part I. Final Act and Appendices I-IV. Chicago 7 December 1944. Printed by HM Stationery Office 'Misc No 6 (1945)’ Cmd 6614: folios 401-432Agreement between HM Government in the United Kingdom and the Provisional Government of the French Republic relating to Air Transport between British and French Territories. Printed by HM Stationery Office ‘Treaty Series No 7’ Cmd 6787: folios 304-315ICAO
, Air Routes and Ground Aids Division, Third Session. Montreal (1947). Doc 4809-AGA/558: folios 120-192PICAO,
Recommendations for Standards, Practices and Procedures: Facilitation of International Air Transport (FAL). Montreal (June, 1946). Doc 2005. FAL/40: folios 99-114.Memorandum on the views of the United Kingdom on FAL recommendations published by PICAO. CIV 15593: folios 90-95ICAO,
Search and Rescue Standards and Recommended Practices Approved by the Air Navigation Committee. DOC 5045 AN/579/2/1/48: folios: 68-79Ministry of Civil Aviation
General Principles to be followed at Joint/User Airfields Overseas. CIV 16788-16789: folios 13-18Ministry of Civil Aviation
Explanatory Memorandum on division of responsibilities for Telecommunication. CIV 16790-16791: folios 19-38Comments of the United Kingdom respecting the final report of the AGA Division of ICAO. CIV 16669: folios 11-12The 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 last folio with 432; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: a number of printed booklets in the file have their own parallel pagination sequences.
Abstract: The file is concerned with proposals for the construction of an airfield – suitable for very heavy bombers – at Dhahran by the United States Army Air Transport Command as a wartime necessity, and applications from the United States to the United Kingdom for the latters support in obtaining permission from Saudi Arabia. See folios 239-241 for a brief on these proposals.The file also contains papers related to proposals for the post-war civil operation following the construction of the airfield, and the transfer of ownership from the United States to Saudi Arabia. Related papers concern proposals from Trans World Airlines for the development of civil aviation in Saudi Arabia, and counter proposals from the British Government for a civil air mission. This includes the use of Dhahran by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC).A typed copy of a report by a Ministry of Civil Aviation Technical Survey Party on aerodromes in the Middle East and Persian Gulf (1947) has also been included: see folios 26-55. The minutes of a subsequent meeting held by the Civil Aviation Planning Committee on 1 April 1947 to discuss the reports findings can be found on folios 18-19.The main correspondents in the file are as follows: HM Minister at Jeddah (Sir Laurence Grafftey-Smith), officials of the Foreign Office, officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and officials of the India Office (Commonwealth Relations Office from August 1947).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 (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 260; 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 file contains correspondence regarding pearl diving in the Persian Gulf, primarily in Bahrain. The majority of this correspondence is between British officials but the file also contains correspondence from a number of external parties interested in gaining access to the Persian Gulf pearl market. The British officials are from the Board of Trade, the Government of India, the Political Agency in Bahrain and the Political Residency in Bushire (Bahrain after 1946).Much of the correspondence contained in the file relates to an attempt by British authorities to find an alternative export market for Persian Gulf pearls after the newly independent Government of India imposed a ban on the importation of these pearls into the country.The file also contains correspondence related to the importation of dates from the Gulf into India, the granting of a pearl diving concession in Saudi Arabia and several other matters that primarily relate to external parties enquiring for information regarding the Gulf's pearling industry.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 166; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located at the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-163; these numbers are also written in pencil and are circled, but are crossed through.
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, No. 106 of 1842, dated 30 September 1842. The despatch is on the information supplied by the Assistant Resident, Arnold Burrowes Kemball, and Resident in the Persian Gulf, Colonel H D Robertson, on the ‘slave trade’ between Africa and the Gulf, to HM Chargé d’Affaires in Tehran.Physical description: 1 item (31 folios)
Abstract: The memorandum, printed for the use of the Foreign Office, was compiled on 12 February 1908 and contains information compiled by the India Office on British political and commercial interests in the Persian Gulf, including Pearl Fisheries (folios 58v-63); General Trade Statistics and German Competition (folios 64-66); Lighthouses (folios 66v-67v) and British Cables (folios 67v-71).The memorandum contains five maps:'Sketch to illustrate positions of Flagstaffs at Elphinstone Inlet and Sheep Island (Musandim Peninsula)' (f 26);'Sketch of Approaches to Kuweit Harbour and Shatt Al Arab' (f 47);'Sketch Map of the Persian Gulf and Arabian Coast' (f 75);'Sketch Map of the Persian Gulf and Arabian Coast' (f 82);'Persia and Afghanistan' (f 83).Physical description: Foliation: The foliation for this description commences at f 18, and terminates at f 83, since 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 also present in the bottom right-hand corner of the recto of each folio. These numbers are written in pencil, but are not circled. Pagination: This section of the volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: A copy of a letter from Francis Warden, Chief Secretary of the Government of Bombay [Mumbai], to Dr Andrew Jukes, sent from Bombay Castle and dated 10 May 1821. The letter charges Jukes with a mission to the Gulf to discuss with Persian officials the issue of Kishm [Qeshm], which is claimed by Persia [Iran] and Muscat and has been occupied by British troops. The letter contains instructions for this mission. It also addresses Persian complaints against Captain William Bruce, Resident at Bushire [Būshehr].Annexed to the letter are:A copy of a letter from George Foster Sadlier to Sir Evan Nepean, then Governor of Bombay, sent from the cruiser
Mercuryoff Muscat Cove and dated 17 May 1819. The letter reports the Imam of Muscat’s approval of the potential landing of British troops in the Imam’s territories. It also discusses the question of sovereignty over territories in the Gulf including Kishm.Copies of letters from Mountstuart Elphinstone, Governor of Bombay, to the King [Shah] of Persia [Fath-‘Ali Shāh Qājār] and the Prince of Shīrāz[Husayn ‘Ali Mīrzā Farmānfarmā, Prince-Governor of Fārs] dated 12 May 1821. The letters announce Jukes’s mission to the Gulf.The letter was enclosed in the letter from Henry Willock, HM Chargé d’Affaires in Persia, to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 1 September 1821 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/75).Physical description: Condition: the letter was perforated in an attempt to stop the spread of disease.
Abstract: A copy of a letter from Major Deschamps (also spelled Duchamp), Acting Political Agent on Kishm [Qeshm], to Francis Warden, Chief Secretary of the Government of Bombay [Mumbai], sent from Kishm and dated 11 March 1821.The letter relays reports that Hussein Ally [Husayn ‘Ali Mīrzā Farmānfarmā], Prince of Shīrāz, is amassing troops and ships. It also forwards a translation of a letter from the Prince to Deschamps in which the former states he has written to Bombay [Mumbai] and sent an envoy to Kishm to protest against the British presence and construction works on the island. (A duplicate of this letter is catalogued as (IOR/L/PS/9/69/64).The letters were enclosed in the letter from Henry Willock, HM Chargé d’Affaires in Persia, to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 1 September 1821 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/75).Physical description: Condition: the letter was perforated in an attempt to stop the spread of disease.
Abstract: A copy of a letter from Sir Charles Colville, Commander-in-Chief at Bombay [Mumbai], to Henry Willock, HM Chargé d’Affaires in Persia [Iran], sent from Bombay Castle and dated 19 March 1821.The letter concerns the Persian claim to sovereignty over the island of Kishm [Qeshm]. Colville advises Willock to inform the King [Shah] that Persia’s claims will be considered by the Marquis of Hastings, Governor-General of Bengal, and to stress Britain’s need for a base to combat ‘piracy’ in the Gulf.The letter was enclosed in Willock’s letter to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 10 July 1821 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/66).Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: A list of ships belonging to Indian ports trading with Muscat and the Gulf, detailing ports of origin, ship names, and tonnage.The list was sent by Ephraim Stannus, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, to Henry Willock, HM Chargé d’Affaires in Persia [Iran], as part of a report on trade in the Gulf (IOR/L/PS/9/69/191).The report was enclosed in Willock’s letter to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 14 July 1824 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/186).Physical description: The letter was perforated in an attempt to stop the spread of disease.
Abstract: A table displaying the number and estimated tonnage of ships from Persian [Iranian] ports trading with Muscat and the Gulf.The table was sent by Ephraim Stannus, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, to Henry Willock, HM Chargé d’Affaires in Persia, as part of a report on trade in the Gulf (IOR/L/PS/9/69/191).The report was enclosed in Willock’s letter to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 14 July 1824 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/186).Physical description: The letter was perforated in an attempt to stop the spread of disease.
Abstract: A copy of a letter from Francis Warden, Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay [Mumbai], to Major-General William Grant Keir, Commander of the 1819 expedition to the Persian Gulf, sent from Bombay Castle and dated 26 January 1820.The letter commends Keir for his actions in the Gulf and instructs him on political affairs in the region following the expedition, in particular concerning Bahrein [Bahrain], the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat, and Persia [Iran].The letter was enclosed in the letter of Henry Willock, HM Chargé d'Affaires in Persia, to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 6 July 1820 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/26 and 29).Physical description: 1 item (4 folios)