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1. ‘Persian Gulf single charts.–Memoir.–Lieut. Houghton’
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume contains a ‘memoir’ written by Lieutenant Michael Houghton, draughtsman on board the Honorable Company’s ship Discovery, which consists of a description of places encountered during the East India Company’s survey of the Persian Gulf during the 1820s. The memoir covers the survey’s journey in a southwesterly direction along the Arab coast of the Gulf, between Moosendem [Musandam] and Debay [Dubai], and taking in the principal settlements of Shaum [Ash Sha‘m or Sha’am], Ul Umrah [Jazīrah al Ḩamrā’], Raumps [Ar Rams], Rasel Khyma [Ra’s al-Khaymah], Ul Umrah [Al Jazīrah al Ḩamrā’], Amulgawein [Umm al-Qaywayn], Aymaun [‘Ajmān] and Sharja [Sharjah]. At the front of the volume is a note written by Lieutenant John Michael Guy, Lieutenant Commanding the Honorable Company’s ship Discovery, and Officer in Charge of the Persian Gulf trigonometric survey (f 3), and a preface written by Houghton (f 4).The main body of the account provides observations of:landscape topography, including capes, mountains, inlets, bays, flora and fauna;landscape geology, including unusual rock formations, mineral deposits, ‘trap’ (igneous rock), and soil, leading at times to conjectures by the author on the historic formation of the geological landscape and its changing sea levels, with reference to the theories of contemporary scientists including Erhard Georg Friedrich Wrede and Christian Leopold von Buch;hydrography, including depths in fathoms, water currents, backwaters, and accessibility of waterways and their danger to vessels;human settlements, the names of which are transliterated into English, with descriptions of their condition (i.e. ‘deserted’), estimates of population size, tribal affiliation, details of the settlement’s chief economic activities (primarily fishing and date cultivation, with estimates of revenue), agriculture (crops and animal husbandry), descriptions of its notable built structures (forts, mosques, houses, tombs) and burial mounds;the various rulers of the region, with reference to the towns and populations they preside over, and in the case of the most prominent rulers (for example the ruler of Sharjah, Sultan ben Suggar [Shaikh Sultan bin Saqr Āl Qāsimī]) descriptions of their character, demeanour and attitude to their English visitors;climate, with details of winds, temperature and atmospheric conditions, with summaries of journal entries recorded between the months of October and May (no year stated, ff 22-24).Throughout the text Houghton makes frequent reference to ‘the expedition’, referring to the punitive expedition undertaken by the Honorable Company’s Marine to Ra’s al-Khaymah and the surrounding area (widely referred to as the ‘pirate coast’) in 1819.The volume should be read in conjunction with ‘Coast Views taken while employed on the Survey of the Arabian Side of the Gulf of Persia by Lieutenant M. Houghton, Draughtsman H.C. Marine’ (IOR/X/10310) and various maps and charts (drawn by Houghton) relating to the Arab coast of the Persian Gulf, between Musandam and Dubai (IOR/X/3680-3690).Physical description: Pagination: the volume has an original pagination system beginning at 3 and ending at 41. Numbers are located centre and top of each page of text.
2. 'Selections from State Papers, Bombay, regarding the East India Company's Connection with the Persian Gulf, with a Summary of Events, 1600-1800'
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume is Selections from State Papers, Bombay, regarding the East India Company's Connection with the Persian Gulf, with a Summary of Events, 1600-1800(Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, 1908). The work was prepared by Jerome Antony Saldanha.The volume consists of a summary of events in the history of the East India Company's involvement with Persia and the Persian Gulf, during the period 1600-1800, taken from various printed sources and the selections from the records of the Bombay Government as contained in the present volume (folios 8-39); followed by the selections themselves (folios 40-235); and eleven appendices containing farmans [firmans] and statements of farmans, reports on commerce with Persia and Arabia, a list of the East India Company's agents, and a glossary of words (folios 236-269).A list of records from which the selections had been made appears on folio 4v.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at 1 on the front cover and terminates at 270 on the last folio (there is no back cover). The numbers are written in pencil, are enclosed in a circle, and appear in the top right hand corner of the recto page of each folio. This is the system used to determine the sequence of pages.Pagination: there is also an original printed pagination sequence, numbered ii-lxiii (folios 4-39) and 2-459 (folios 40-269). These numbers appear at the top of each page.Condition: the volume is largely disbound because of deterioration to the binding, and there is no back cover. There is also significant damage to the edges of the front cover and some of the folios at the beginning of the volume, but this has not led to any loss of text.
3. 'Precis Containing Information in regard to the First Connection of the Hon'ble East India Company with Turkish Arabia, as far as the Same Can Be Traced from the Records of the Bombay Government, together with the Names of the Several British Residents and Political Agents Who Have Been Stationed at Bagdad [Baghdad] and Bussorah [Basra] between A.D. 1646 and 1846, accompanied by Other Information'
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume is Precis Containing Information in regard to the First Connection of the Hon'ble East India Company with Turkish Arabia, as far as the Same Can Be Traced from the Records of the Bombay Government, together with the Names of the Several British Residents and Political Agents Who Have Been Stationed at Bagdad[Baghdad] and Bussorah[Basra] between A.D. 1646 and 1846, accompanied by Other Information(Calcutta: Foreign Department Press, 1874).The volume includes a five paragraph introduction stating that the record had been compiled following a request to the Government of Bombay from the Government of India (folio 15). The information is a mixture of précis and direct quotation, with comments. The sources are correspondence; minutes; extracts from proceedings; treaties; lists; the diary of the Bombay Government; the diaries of Surat and Gombroon [Bandar Abbas]; reports; committee reports; dispatches to the Court of Directors; statements from the Military Auditor-General; and firmans.The record includes selected information on appointments; personnel; treaties; trade; relations with the Ottoman authorities; diplomatic contacts; political developments; climate and health; administration; and naval and martime affairs.Five appendices at the rear of the volume (folios 85-109) give transcripts of treaties between England/the United Kingdom and the Government of the Ottoman Empire (the Sublime Porte), signed 1661-1809; and a 'Memorandum on the present condition of the Pachalic [Pachalik] of Bagdad and the means it possesses of renovation and improvement' dated 12 November 1834.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at 1 on the first folio bearing text and terminates at 109, on the last folio bearing text. The numbers are written in pencil and enclosed in a circle and appear in the top right hand corner of the recto page of each folio. There is also an original printed pagination, numbered i-xxviii (index); [1]-137 (main body of text); [i]-xlix (appendices).Condition: the volume is disbound and has lost its front cover.
4. Enclosure in letter from William Digges Latouche to the Secret Committee of 13 May 1783
- Description:
- Abstract: A translated copy of a letter from a French Minister to French representatives in India carried by the messenger M Cotinal, copied by William Digges Latouche, Resident at Bussora [Basra].The letter claims that the King of England [King George III] intends to take over the territories controlled by the East India Company in India and reduce the Company to a commercial interest, make peace with the Marattas [Marathas] and Hyder Ali Khan [Ḥaydar ‘Alī, Ruler of Mysore], and thereafter expand English territorial control in India. The letter urges French representatives to make Indian rulers and the East India Company aware of the scheme in order to resist it.This copy was enclosed in Latouche’s letter to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors for Affairs of the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies (East India Company), dated 13 May 1783 (IOR/L/PS/9/76/28 and 29).The original French version of this letter is catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/76/30 and 37.Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
5. Enclosure in Letter from William Digges Latouche to the Secret Committee of 13 May 1783
- Description:
- Abstract: A copy of a letter from a French Minister to French representatives in India carried by the messenger M Cotinal, copied by William Digges Latouche, Resident at Bussora [Basra], on 26 May 1783.The letter claims that the King of England [King George III] intends to take over the territories controlled by the East India Company in India and reduce the Company to a commercial interest, make peace with the Mahrattas [Mahratas] and Hyder Alli Khan [Ḥaydar ‘Alī, Ruler of Mysore], and thereafter expand English territorial control in India. The letter urges French representatives to make Indian rulers and the East India Company aware of the scheme in order to resist it.The copy was enclosed in Latouche’s letter to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors for Affairs of the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies (East India Company), dated 13 May 1783 (IOR/L/PS/9/76/28 and 29).An English translation of the letter can be found in IOR/L/PS/9/76/31. A duplicate of the same letter is catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/76/37.Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)