Abstract: This file contains several types of documentation with information on the condition of the country, arrivals and departures of ships, movement of British representatives, missionary enterprises, aviation etc. However, the bulk of the file consists of weekly reports containing the main political news of the day filed by the Political Agent in Muscat to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf. The reports are organised as a series of bullet points representing the events of each day of the week. Of note are a series of regular standardised forms titled 'Statement of Arms and Ammunition landed at 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 271; 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 A previous foliation sequence between ff 14-204 and between ff 236-270, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: Bound volume containing two secret reports, both authored by Colonel Wilfrid Malleson (referred to as Division of the Chief of the Staff in the first report, and Assistant Quarter Master General for Intelligence in the second), and both issued by the Division of the Chief of the Staff in 1909.The first report is entitled
Statistics regarding the Masqat [Muscat] Arms Traffic (Revised.)(ff 4-16), and contains several appendices and fold-out tables giving details of: caravan routes along which arms trafficking is carried out on the Makran coast; total values of arms and ammunition imported into Muscat and other Persian Gulf ports; importers and (European) exports of arms.The second report is entitled
Special Reports on the Masqat Arms Traffic, Season 1908-09(ff 17-60), and comprises a number of reports on the arms trade through Muscat, submitted by ‘secret agents’, and a map illustrating the arms traffic from Muscat to Persia, Baluchistan and Afghanistan (f 59). The report also includes two appendices, lettered G and H. Appendix G is a letter (in French) dated 28 October 1907, from M Pick to Messieurs Malcom and Company of Muscate [Muscat]. Appendix H comprises lists (in French) of arms for sale, with prices given in French francs.The voluime includes a map illustrating the Muscat arms traffic, dated 1909, indicating routes taken by the Muscat arms trade from the Persian (Makran) coast and inland, into Persia, Baluchistan and Afghanistan (f 59).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 62; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: this part also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: This volume contains papers relating to the supply and gifting of arms and ammunition to the Sultan of Muscat and Oman during roughly the first half of the Second World War between 1939 and 1942. The papers are primarily receipts and lists of weapons and ammunition requested and subsequently transported from India to Muscat. Most of the correspondence takes place between British Political Agent in Muscat and representatives of the Government of India, however the file contains letters from Sultan Sa'id bin Taymur himself, and the Sultan's military representative in Muscat.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 260; 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 1-260; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: The file discusses the Ruler of Kuwait's wish to import arms to maintain his territorial power by land.The file contains correspondence, permits to export arms and ammunition from Muscat to Kuwait, invoices and receipts for articles - mainly machine guns, other arms, accessories and ammunition - received by the Political Agent at Kuwait and supplied to the Ruler of Kuwait.The principal correspondents are: the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Mubarak bin Sabah Al-Sabah; the Foreign Office; the Political Residency in the Persian Gulf; the Political Agent at Muscat; and the Political Agent at Kuwait.There are numerous letters and statements in Arabic within the file, mostly correspondence with the Ruler of Kuwait, often with English translation.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 325; 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 1-253; 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 volume contains:Accounts of goods received on board the East India Company ship
Loyall Cook[usually written as
Loyal Cooke], including East India Company goods, goods for the Captain and members of the crew, goods for the Supercargoes, stores of food and drink for the crew, Carpenter’s stores, Boatswain’s stores, and Gunner’s storesA list of men (crew) on board the ship, with columns listing their names, ‘quallificacons’ (positions), ages, and country (nationalities)A list of places where the ship moored by date, which also records wind directions and weather conditions by date, between November 1708 and 4 March 1709.The volume includes the inscriptions ‘No838’ and ‘Moses Baker, Wailer [?]. 9br.[November] 8: 1708’ (on folio 4 verso).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 23; 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 5-16; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: Memorandum, written by the India Office, regarding the sale of rifles by the Australian and New Zealand Governments to India, and a large quantity of Australian ammunition which had been shipped to Muscat.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation for this description commences and terminates at folio 121, 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 also present in parallel between folios 6-153; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: Printed copies of correspondence and memoranda relating to the arms traffic in the Persian Gulf:a letter from Leonard William Reynolds of the Government of India, dated 29 June 1909 (ff 2-3)a confidential letter from the British Minister to Belgium, Arthur Henry Hardinge, to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Edward Grey, dated 3 May 1909 (f 4)a letter from the Political Agent at Maskat [Muscat], Robert Erskine Holland, dated 5 July 1909 (ff 4-5)a memorandum written by Wilfrid Malleson of the Intelligence Branch, Indian Army Headquarters, dated 10 July 1909, also signed by the Officiating Chief of Staff in India, Herbert Mullaly, and the Chief of Staff in India, Beauchamp Duff (ff 6-7)further copies of correspondence signed by Malleson, Mullaly, Duff, and others including the Commander-in-Chief in India, Horatio Herbert Kitchener, and the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, Spencer Harcourt Butler (ff 8-10)a confidential memorandum written by Robert Erskine Holland, dated 27 June 1909 (f 11)Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 11; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: this part also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence concerning the Bahrain Government's search for an armourer. The correspondence is between the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain (Charles Dalrymple Belgrave), the Political Agent, Bahrain (Hugh Weightman), the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior), and the Government of India (External Affairs Department).The papers include requests from Belgrave for qualified armourers from India, particularly those familiar with Vicars Berthier guns, and later the proposal that a suitable candidate from Bahrain be sent to India for training.At the back of the file is a letter from the Political Agency in Bahrain complaining about the competency of traffic police and suggesting that training be given.Folio 21 is internal office notes.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 22; 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 correspondence, orders, invoices, and receipts for articles - mainly machine guns, other arms, accessories and ammunition - received by the Political Agent at Kuwait and supplied to the Ruler of Kuwait.The principal correspondents are: British India Steam Navigation Company; Embarkation S & S, Karachi; the Ruler of Kuwait, Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah; the Political Residency in the Persian Gulf; and the Political Agent at Kuwait.There are numerous letters and statements in Arabic within the file, mostly correspondence with the Ruler of Kuwait, often with English translation.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 588; 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 4-587; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence between British officials regarding the supply of arms and ammunition to the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah.Contrary to the file's title, the majority of this correspondence concerns the Shaikh's purchase of several Lewis Machine Guns (and ammunition) in 1929 and a related training programme that was delivered to a number of his men by Iraq-based Royal Air Force (RAF) officials in November of that year. The correspondence also covers his purchase of a saluting gun and desire to buy an aircraft.The main correspondents in the file are British officials from the Political Agency in Kuwait, the RAF in Iraq, the Political Residency in Bushire and India Office officials in London. It also contains correspondence between Shaikh Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah and the Political Agency in Kuwait, much of which is in Arabic (with translations in English).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 223; 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 6-218; 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 contains correspondence between British officials regarding the desire of the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, to purchase a three-pounder saluting gun [cannon] to affix to his recently-built motor dhow in 1932 (folios 2-41). Subsequently, the correspondence in the file discusses a request made by Shaikh Ahmad in 1948 to purchase another saluting cannon of the same type, a thousand rifles (with a million rounds of ammunition) and two hundred pistols (folios 42-95).The correspondence is primarily between the Political Agency in Kuwait and the Political Residency in Bushire, but the file also contains a limited amount of correspondence with Shaikh Ahmad (in Arabic accompanied by English translations).On folio 8, the file contains a simple, hand-drawn diagram of the base of a three-pounder saluting gun.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 95; 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; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence between British officials regarding Britain supplying Qatar with arms and ammunition.The correspondence is primarily between officials at the Political Agency in Bahrain, the Political Residency in Bahrain and the British Agency in Doha. The file also contains letters sent to the Political Agency in Bahrain by the ruler of Qatar, Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Jāsim Āl Thānī as well as his son (and successor) 'Ali bin ‘Abdullāh Āl Thānī. These letters are in Arabic and accompanied by English translations.The file contains correspondence that discusses Shaikh ‘Abdullāh's desire for arms, exactly what type of arms and ammunition should be provided and the importation of arms into the country, as well as the broader political context of these events.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 160; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top centre of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-142; these numbers are written in a combination of blue ink and pencil, but are not circled.