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13. ‘Administration Report on the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Maskat Political Agency for 1899/1900’
- Description:
- Abstract: Administration Report on the Persian Gulf Residency and Muskat [Muscat] Political Agency for 1899-1900, published by the Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India (Calcutta), forming part of the Selections from the Records of the Government of India, Foreign Department, and based on reports sent to Government by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and the Political Agent at Muscat.The report is divided up into a number of sections and subsections, as follows:Part 1, is a General Summary (folios 268-71) written by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm John Meade:Section 1: entitled General, includes: a report on the year’s rainfall and harvest; the Governorship of Bushire; public peace and tranquillity in and around Bushire; public health and measures to restrict cholera and the plague in the Gulf; Persian currency; customs house arrangements in Bushire; compensation claims; and the Resident’s tours through the region during the year;2: Oman – Muscat: including: a change in personnel, with the role of Political Agent being taken over by Captain Percy Zachariah Cox from Major Christopher George Forbes Fagan; the Sultan of Muscat’s finances; French proposals to construct a coal depot in Muscat; use of the French flag by Muscat vessels; association of the French flag with the arms and slave trades; the impact of cholera and plague in the region;3. Oman – Pirate coast, including: a list of the those shaikhs in the region who have met with the Resident in the past year; Arab-Persian relations over Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh], and the expulsion of Persians from that port; the discovery of a large pearl at Kumzār and its subsequent sale for a lower-than-expected price; the prevalence of smallpox on the Arab coast;4. Bahrain, including: the wounding of two British-Indian subjects; difficulties discharging cargoes in Bahrain; and the death of Aga Muhummad Rahim, the Native News Agent in Bahrain;5. El-Nejd, with no report due to the recommendation that no one be deputed to travel there;6. Koweit [Kuwait]: no particulars reported;7. Persian Arabistan: the navigation of the Kārūn river, and opening up of river and land routes for trade;8. Fars and Persian coast: Bandar-e Lengeh in Persian hands; the arrival of the British Vice-Consul for Bunder Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās];9. Persian Baluchistan: delays in compensation claims against the murder of Mowladad Khan; a change in the Directorship of the Persian Gulf Telegraphs Department; rumours of a revolt against the Shah in Persian Baluchistan;10. Slave Trade: numbers of slave captured and manumitted during the year;11. Piracy: cases of piracy reported during the year, with details of where and against whom they were committed;12. Navy: details of the movements of British naval vessels (Sphinx, Lapwing and Pigeon) and significant foreign vessels, including Russian warship Gilyak;13. Official Changes: changes in British personnel;14. Changes among foreign representatives, with particular reference to German, French and Dutch representatives.An appendix to part 1 (folios 272-75) includes statistical tables comprising meteorological data for the region; dispensaries in Bushire and data for the numbers of patients, diseases, surgical operations and income and expenditure of the Residency dispensary.Part 2 (folios 276-78) is a separate report from the Muscat Political Agency, written by Cox, with reports on events in Muscat, Rostak [Rustāq], Sohar, Soor [Sur], and Dhofar [Z̧ufār], including: accidental shootings by Wahabee [Wahhābī] tribesmen; the appearance in Muscat of cholera and the plague; British and foreign naval movements in Muscat; and a statistical overview of manumission applications heard at the agency.Appendix A to Part 2 (folios 278v-85) is a detailed report with statistical data on the cholera epidemic in Muscat and Oman, written by the Lieutenant-Colonel Atmaram Sadashiv Jayakar, Chief Surgeon at Muscat. Jayakar’s report contains historical data on outbreaks of cholera in Muscat, symptoms of the disease, mortality statistics, treatment and its results, preventative and sanitation measures. Civil hospital and dispensary statistics follow on folios 285v-287v.Part 3 (folios 288) is a trade report of the Persian Gulf for 1899, written by Meade. Its appendices (folios 289-328) comprise tables showing the value of all goods imported and exported to and from various parts of the Gulf region, and the numbers of vessels (with figures on tonnage) of various nationalities plying their trade in the region in each port.Part 4 (folios 329-30) is a separate trade report with statistical data for Muscat for 1899-1900.Part 5 (folios 331-35) is a trade report for Mohammerah [Khorramshahr] and the Kārūn river for the year 1899.Physical description: The report is arranged into a number of sections and subsections, with statistic data in tabular format directly following written sections. There is a contents page at the front of the report (f. 267) which lists the report’s contents in alphabetically ascending order, and refers to the report’s own pagination sequence.
14. ‘WAR DIARY. ARMY HEADQUARTERS, INDIA. […] I.E.F. “D”. Volume 22. PART II. (From 16th to 31st May 1916).’
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume contains a chronological list of brief summaries of papers relating to the activities of the Indian Expeditionary Force D (also known as the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force) between 16 and 31 May 1916. This is accompanied by appendices containing copies and extracts of these papers, which include: letters, telegrams, notes, tables, and memoranda.A summary of the contents of this volume can be found at the start of IOR/L/MIL/17/5/3252. The volume concerns:Appreciations [reports] and intelligence summaries from the Directorate of Military OperationsConsiderations of supplies needed, including food and clothing for winter 1916Reports of future arrivals of German and Austrian troopsThe movement of Turkish [Ottoman] troopsRequests for aeroplanes, pilots, and anti-aircraft gunsMovements of Russian troops under General Baratoff [Nikolai Nikolaevich Baratov], including the occupation of Kasr-i-Shirin [Qasr-e Shirin] and action at HamralaThe construction of railways, including the Qurneh-Amarah [al-Qurnah to al-Kut] RailwayThe provision of river craftAwards and medals given to British and Russian soldiersOutbreaks of cholera and distribution of a cholera vaccineComplaints of shortcomings in accounting leading to delays in soldiers being paid.The following tables appear:The distribution of Turkish forces in Mesopotamia on folio 54The strength of Force D on 23 April 1916 on folios 29-30 and on 15 May 1916 on folios 57-59Changes in the distribution of the troops in Force D from the list of 14 May 1916 on folios 93-94.Physical description: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 121; 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 3-119; these numbers are printed and are located in the bottom centre of the recto side of each folio.Dimensions: 21 x 33cm
15. 'File 2/1 Epidemics (in Bahrain): Cholera, Smallpox etc & quarantine restrictions'
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains correspondence between the Political Agent at Bahrain, the Political Agent at Kuwait, the Government of India, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, the Adviser to the Government at Bahrain, the Medical Department of the Government of Bahrain, the Residency Surgeon & Chief Quarantine Medical Officer for the Arab Coast at Bushire, the American Consulate at Basra, and British Overseas Airways Corporation.The main subjects are:episodes of smallpox in Abadan, Bushire, Khorramshahr, and other places in the Gulf;cases of typhus in Abadan, and reports of the number of cases of the disease recorded in Bahrain in 1943 and 1944;yellow fever vaccines supply and lists of vaccinations given in Bahrain;quarantine regulations;suspected case of cerebrospinal fever;weekly health statements for Bahrain in 1950.The file also contain letters from Gray, Mackenzie & Co, requesting all passengers to produce smallpox vaccination certificates before leaving Bahrain; and a report from Arabian American Oil Company regarding a case of infantile paralysis in Dhahran.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 211; 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 2-156; these numbers are written in a combination of pencil and ink, but are not circled.
16. 'File 2/1 Medical. Epidemics - cholera - smallpox etc: returns and correspondence'
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains a letter from Gilbert E Brooke, Director of the League of Nations, Health Section, Eastern Bureau, in Singapore, requesting information on epidemics like cholera and smallpox in the area defined as 'Eastern Arena', including the Persian Gulf. The file also contains subsequent correspondence from the Political Agent at Bahrain and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, reporting episodes of smallpox in Bahrain.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover 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. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 4-10; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
17. 'File 2/5 Pilgrims: Precautions for Haj and others'
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains letters and correspondence between the India Office in London, the Foreign Office, the Political Residency in the Gulf, the British Embassy at Jeddah, the British Embassy at Baghdad, the Government of Bahrain, and the Political Agent at Bahrain. The main subjects are: statistics and arrangements for pilgrims to travel to Mecca, medical requirements, compulsory vaccinations against cholera, smallpox, and Yellow Fever.The file also contains:printed report of the 1945 Pilgrimage (ff 28B-35);printed report of the 1946 Pilgrimage (ff 39-48).The file contains copies of two notices from the Government of Bahrain and from the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Arabic and English.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 116; 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 4-80; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. The file contains the following anomalies: 28; 28A; 28B.
18. 'File 2/7 A Outbreak of Cholera in the Trucial Coast'
- Description:
- Abstract: The file contains telegrams, cyphers, and correspondence regarding measures against outbreaks of cholera in the Trucial Coast. The correspondence concerns updates on cases of cholera in Sharjah and Dubai, inoculations and quarantine regulations, and restrictions on travel to the Persian Gulf area for passengers who had not been inoculated.The file also contains medical advice and delivery of cholera vaccines from the Quarantine Medical Officer at the Victoria Memorial Hospital in Bahrain to the Residency Agent of Sharjah.The principal correspondents are the Quarantine Medical Officer at the Victoria Memorial Hospital in Bahrain, the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain, Bahrain Petroleum Company Limited, the Commonwealth Relations Office in London, the Residency Agent at Sharjah, the Political Agency at Kuwait, the British Ambassador at Baghdad, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, and the Political Agent at Bahrain.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 114; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
19. Measures in Relation to an Outbreak of Cholera in Aden
- Description:
- Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 99 of 1846, dated 27 August 1846. The enclosures are dated 31 July-24 August 1846.The item comprises a letter from the Secretary to the Government of India to the Secretary to the Government, Bombay, informing him that, subsequent to the recent (now subsided) outbreak of cholera in Aden: the details of any future outbreak should be reported by the Political Agent, Aden, to the British Consul in Egypt, in order to reassure the Egyptian Government of the true extent of the disease; and that, if the Bombay Government considers the outbreak sufficiently serious, a prohibition of passengers landing at Aden should be put into effect as a precaution.Also included are letters from the Chief Secretary to the Government, Bombay, notifying the Political Agent, Aden, of this policy, and requesting the opinion of the Bombay Medical Board as to the extent of the disease which would justify the prohibition measure being put into effect.The last two enclosures, the Bombay Timessummary of intelligence and the Bombay Overland Courier, are noted as ‘Missing 29.10.1906’.Physical description: 1 item (8 folios)
20. Persian Affairs
- Description:
- Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 118 of 1846, dated 14 October 1846. The enclosures are numbered 3-4 and are dated 14 to 15 August 1846, and relate to Persian [Iranian] affairs.Enclosure No. 3 consists of a letter from HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Persia, Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Sheil, to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, forwarding under flying seal a letter to the Secretary to the Government of India, enclosing copies of despatches addressed by Sheil to HM Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Earl of Aberdeen, dated 20 July to 10 August 1846. It also includes one letter from Sheil to HM Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Sir Stratford Canning, dated 10 August 1846.The despatches concern matters including:Sheil raising the claims for compensation of Hajee Noor-ood-deen [Ḥājī Nūr al-Dīn], a British subject, with the Persian GovernmentThe Persian Government having built up a ‘considerable’ artillery at Tehran, with Sheil enclosing a list of the guns and ordnance stores in the arsenal at TehranAn outbreak of cholera in TehranThe death from cholera of Meerza Abul Hassan Khan [Mīrzā Abū al-Ḥasan Khān Shirāzī, Īlchī-yi Kabīr], Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Sheil’s preference for his successorThe Persian Government having been persuaded not to recall the Persian Minister at Erzeroom [Erzurum], Meerza Tekkee Khan [Mīrzā Taqī Khān Farāhānī, also known as Amīr Kabīr], following an attack on him in which he nearly lost his life, two of his servants were murdered, and his property was stolen; and the Persian Prime Minister, Hajee Meerza Aghassee [Ḥājī Mīrzā (ʿAbbās Īravānī) Āqāsī], instead instructing him to seek redress for these events from the Turkish [Ottoman] Government, and in anticipation of this being readily accorded, to sign the treaty with the PorteThe Russian Minister to Persia, Prince Dolgorouki [Prince Dimitri Ivanovich Dolgorukov] having addressed a ‘violent and personally threatening’ letter to Hajee Meerza Aghassee, calling on him to disavow in writing language which had been attributed to him, as well as any intention of going to war with Russia, which the Persian Prime Minister had complied withThe Court of Spain attempting to negotiate a treaty of commerce with the Persian GovernmentThe intention of the Russian Government to send a war steamer from Astracan [Astrakhan] twice a month laden with merchandise to the coast of Asterabad [Gorgan], and the opposition of the Persian Ministers to repeated visits of a Russian war ship to the Persian CoastThe Shah [Muḥammad Shāh Qājār] complaining to Sheil about the encroachments of Russia in the direction of Asterabad.Sheil’s despatches include enclosed copies of the following: correspondence between Sheil and Meerza Abul Hassan Khan; autograph letters from the Shah to Hajee Meerza Aghassee; correspondence between Prince Dolgorouki and Hajee Meerza Aghassee; and letters from Aghassee to Meerza Tekkee Khan and Sheil.Enclosure No. 4 is a letter from Sheil to the Secretary to the Government of India, dated 5 August 1846, informing him, for the information of the Governor-General, of the death of Meerza Abul Hassan, in view of him having been a pensioner of the British Government.Physical description: 1 item (67 folios)
21. Vol 67, 68: Native Letters Inward
- Description:
- Abstract: This file consists mostly of translations of letters received by the Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire, Major David Wilson, from a number of East India Company native agents. The letters concern developments on both sides of the Gulf. The most prominent correspondents are the following: Goolab [Gulab Anandadas], Native Agent at Muscat; Mirza Ally Akbar [Mirza Ali Akbar], Native Agent at Shiraz; and Moollah Houssein [Mullah Husain], Native Agent at Sharjah. In addition, there are letters from native representatives at Bahrein [Bahrain], Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh] and Isfahan. Aside from the aforementioned correspondence, this file contains a small number of translations of letters addressed to the Resident (and in the case of two letters, to Captain William Sowden Collinson and William Bentick, Governor General of India, respectively) from local rulers, including the following: His Highness the Imam of Muscat [Sa‘īd bin Sultān Āl Bū Sa‘īd, Sultan of Muscat and Oman]; Sooltan bin Suggur [Sulṭān bin Saqr Āl Qāsimī, ruler of Ra's al-Khaymah and Sharjah]; Shaik Abdool Russool Khan [Shaikh ‘Abd al-Rasūl Khān, Governor of Bushire]; Shaik Tahnoon [Tahnun bin Shakhbut Āl Nahyān, Shaikh of Abu Dhabi]; Shaik Abdoollah bin Ahmed [Shaikh Abdullah ibn Aḥmad Āl Khalīfah, Shaikh of Bahrain]; His Royal Highness the Shah of Persia [Fatḥ ʿAlī Shāh Qajar]; and His Royal Highness the Prince of Shiraz [Ḥusayn ‘Alī Mīrzā]. These letters appear either as attachments to the native agents' letters, or as singular items.Recurring themes found throughout the letters from the various native agents include relations between local rulers (both friendly and hostile) and the numerous visits undertaken by those rulers. The letters also discuss topics which are specific to the agent's region or location: agents writing from the ports of the Gulf report on the arrival and departure of ships (including French brigs); the Acting Agent at Bahrein provides updates on the pearl diving season; Mirza Ally Akbar [Mirza Ali Akbar], writing from Shiraz, relays information on the effects of the cholera outbreak in Tabreez [Tabrīz] and discusses relations between the Prince of Shiraz and the Russians.Physical description: Pagination: There is a pagination sequence which is written in ink, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio and in the top left corner of the verso of each recto.Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. This sequence begins on the front cover, on number 1, and ends on the last folio of writing, on number 79. This is the sequence used by this catalogue to reference items within the file.Condition: Some of the folios in this file have been damaged at the edges; as a result, some of the text has been lost.
22. British Agents
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume contains correspondence relating to the employment and activities of British Agents responsible to the Persian Gulf Residency at Bushire. The correspondents include: Felix Jones, British Resident at Bushire; the Government of Bombay; Captain Christopher Palmer Rigby, British Consul and Agent at Zanzibar; Syed Thuweynee [Thuwaynī bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd], Sultan of Muscat; the British Agency at Muscat; Commanders of the Persian Gulf Naval Squadron; the British Agency at Sharjah; the British Agency at Shiraz; Prince Tahmasp, Governor of Fars; Charles Murray (later Charles Alison), British Minister at Tehran; and Lieutenant R W Whish, Commander of the Mahi.The volume is organised into sections, each relating to a different topic, as follows:Subject 1: Relates to the British Agent at Muscat, covering the following matters:the dismissal of Heskael bin Yusuf as Agent due to lack of communication and inefficiency;the appointment by Jones of Henry Chester as Agent, and his subsequent removal because of the need for officers of his rank in the navy;the argument, put forward by Jones, for the need for a British-born agent at Muscat because of the sensitive political situation (the political split between Zanzibar and Muscat), a new telegraph station at Muscat that requires the expertise to operate, the slave traffic in Oman, and the growing influence of foreign powers (France) in the country;the appointment of William Pengelley as Political Agent at Muscat.The section contains (folios 24-32) detailed instructions for new agents at Muscat and a discussion of the protection to be given to banyans (Indian traders) in the region and the extent of British jurisdiction.Subject 2: relates to friction and disagreement between Jones and Hormuzd Rassam, appointed temporarily as British Agent at Muscat, caused by the former communicating directly with the Sultan of Muscat and the latter considering himself under the authority of the Residency at Aden, not Bushire.Subject 3: relates to Hajee Yacoob [Ḥājī Ya‘qūb], British Agent at Shargah [Sharjah], including praise and reward for his good service, and compensation paid to the family of Hajee el-Mir [Ḥājī al-Mīr], a munshi who drowned off Sharjah and was employed at the Agency.Subject 4: also relates to Ḥājī Ya‘qūb, specifically the transferral of a boat in store at Bassadore [Bāsaʻīdū] to Sharjah for the use of the Agent.Subject 5: relates to the position of British Agent at Shiraz after the Anglo-Persian War. Matters covered include:the re-appointment of Meerza Mahomed Hussun Khan [Mīrza Moḥamad Ḥasan Khān] as agent by Jones and his subsequent dismissal in favour of Hajee Mahomed Khuleel [Ḥājī Moḥamad Khalīl], who had been appointed by Charles Augustus Murray, British Minister at Tehran;the disagreement between Jones and Murray following these events;the routes of communication with India to be used and whether, if Shiraz is bypassed, to retain an agent there.Subject 6: relates to the resignation of Ḥājī Moḥamad Khalīl as agent at Shiraz and a cholera epidemic affecting the city.Subject 7: relates to the appointment of E N Castelli as British Agent at Shiraz, his retirement shortly afterwards, and the re-appointment of Moḥamad Ḥasan Khān. Also briefly covers Charles Murray's return to Europe on sick leave.Subject 8: consists of correspondence between the Resident at Bushire and Castelli, Agent at Shiraz, on miscellaneous topics, including the case of a Persian merchant in Bombay, naturalised as a British subject, seeking legal protection in Persia, and the death of Mirza Mahomed Ali Khan [Mīrza Moḥamad ‘Ali Khān] Nawabi Hindi.Subject 9: relates to the work of several munshis employed by the British Government, including:interpreter Meerza Mahomed Jawad [Mīrza Moḥamad Jawād] joins a mission to Muskat [Muscat];praise for the work of Abdool Kurrem [‘Abdul Karīm];Abdool Cassim [‘Abdul Qāsim] transferred from the Cliveto the Aucklandto be appointed the Commodore's munshi.Subject 10: relates to a claim by Khulfan Rattonsee on the estate of the deceased brother of Moolla Ahmed [Mullā Aḥmad], British Agent at Lingah and complaints made about former Muscat Agent, Hezkiel.Subject 11: relates to leave granted to Khodadad bin Mahomed [Khudādād bin Moḥamad], Slave Agent at Bāsaʻīdū, in order to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca.Physical description: Foliation is written in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. It begins on the first folio of writing, on number 2, and ends on the inside of the back cover, on number 303. There are the following irregularities: f 55 is followed by f 55A; f 90 is followed by f 90A; f 106 is followed by ff 106A-B; f 158 is followed by f 158A; f 162 is followed by f 162A; f 195 is followed f 195A; f 207 is followed by f 207A; f 218 is followed by f 218A; f 237 is followed by f 237A; f 238 is followed by f 238A; f 255 is followed by f 255A; f 267 is followed by f 267A; f 278 is followed by f 278A; f 280 is followed by f 280A; f 286 is followed by f 286A.
23. Bagdad Pachalic Affairs
- Description:
- Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 152 of 1846, dated 30 Dec 1846. The enclosures are dated 27 October 1846.The two enclosures consists of: a copy of a despatch from Major Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq], to Henry Wellesley, HM Minister Plenipotentiary at Constantinople [Istanbul], relating to affairs in the Bagdad Pachalic [Baghdad Pashalik, also spelled Baghdad in this item] (the despatch is copied to the Governor and President in Council, Bombay, and the Governor-General of India, for information); and a copy of a despatch from Rawlinson to the Government of India.The papers cover the following matters:The assurances received from Colonel Justin Sheil, HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Tehran, of the Persian [Iranian] Government’s intention to meet the wishes of the Governor of Baghdad with regard to measures to be taken against ‘Kurdish chiefs’ Ahmed Pasha of Sulimanieh [Aḥmad Pāshā of Sulaymaniyah], Russool Pasha [Rasūl Pāshā] of Rewanduz [Ruwandiz or Rawandiz] and Abdullah Beg Sharaf Baini [‘Abdullāh Beg of the Sharaf Baynī tribe], and Rawlinson’s report that as the former two have moved to different territories action may no longer needed against themThe refusal of the Persian Consul at Bagdad to carry out the instructions of the Governor of Kermanshah to explain and apologise to Ottoman authorities for the delay in reparation owed by Persia for the violent incident at Kurbela [Karbala]The cholera in Bagdad, which Rawlinson reports is said to have and carried off at least 5000 persons but now appears to have abatedThe Governor of Bagdad’s concentration on maintaining order in the Pachalic, partly due to the reappearance of the Anizeh [Anezī] tribe outside the cityThe concern expressed to Rawlinson in a letter from British merchants in Bagdad at the temporary withdrawal of the steamer Nitocrisfrom the rivers of Mesopotamia. The letter is signed by Stephen Lynch & Co, Arrathon Brothers, Alexander Hector & Co, John Taylor and Co, and Messrs Mills and Co.Physical description: 1 item (12 folios)
24. Bagdad Pachalic Affairs
- Description:
- Abstract: This part of the volume consists of a copy of an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 105 of 1847, dated 30 December 1847. The enclosure concerns affairs in the Baghdad Pachalic [Pashalik, also spelled Pashalic in this item]. It is numbered 3 and is dated 28 October 1847.The enclosure consists of a letter from the Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq] and Consul at Baghdad [also spelled Bagdad in this item], Major Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, to the Secretary to the Government of Bombay in the Political Department, forwarding copies of two despatches to the Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign Department. These two despatches enclose a copy of a despatch from Lord Cowley, HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Constantinople [Istanbul] to Rawlinson, and copies of despatches to Cowley from Rawlinson and from Lieutenant Arnold Burrowes Kemball as Acting Consul at Baghdad. The despatches to Cowley include an enclosed letter from Rawlinson to HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Tehran, Colonel Justin Sheil, and a letter to Rawlinson from the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Lord Palmerston.The despatches report on matters including:Instructions reaching Baghdad from the Sublime Porte [the Government of the Ottoman Empire] exempting British Indian subjects from the passport regulations instituted by the Turkish [Ottoman] Government, and Lord Cowley reporting that he has obtained an assurance from the Porte that it is not their intention to enforce the orders recently promulgated for the compulsory sale of properties belonging to foreignersThe progress of the cholera epidemic in the Baghdad PashalicSuffrok [Ṣufūq bin Fāris al-Jarbā’, also spelled Suffook in this item], the ‘de jure Chief’ of the Shammar tribe and his son Ferhan [Farḥān bin Ṣufūq al-Jarbā’] having so far complied with the summons of Nejib Pasha to present themselves at Baghdad, with Nejib Pasha [Gürcü Mehmet Necip Pasha, or Muḥammad Najīb Pāshā, also spelled Negib Pasha in this item, Wali of Baghdad] investing Ferhan as Sheikh [Shaikh] in lieu of his father, rather than their rival Ayudeh [‘Ūdah?]The state of the Turco-Persian frontier, including Nejib Pasha complaining to Rawlinson about the dangers to which Turkish subjects are exposed by the ‘incapacity’ of the Governors of Kermanshah and Senna [Sanandaj] to control the ‘Koordish’ [Kurdish] tribes residing within the Persian [Iranian] lineNejib Pasha issuing orders directing that the Turkish guard ship be withdrawn from its position at the mouth of the Haffar Canal, a position remonstrated against by Sheil as a breach of engagement, and that it be moved to the Bussorah [Basra] roadsThe conduct of Suffook, the Chief of the Shammar, after he had been restored to favour by Nejib Pasha, being (in Rawlinson’s words) ‘offensive to the dignity and hurtful to the interests of the Government to which he owes allegiance’, leading to him being killed by Gunj Agha [Kunj Āghā], who had been sent by Nejib Pasha; and Rawlinson’s view that although Nejib Pasha strenuously denies it was a premeditated murder, the ‘Arab’ tribes over whom Suffook had ‘extraordinary influence’ will view it as a treacherous murder and resume their 'old habits' of isolation from all contact with the Turkish authoritiesNejib Pasha asserting the supremacy of the secular authorities over the ‘fanatical party’ connected with the tomb of the ‘Soonee’ [Sunni] saint Sheikh Abdul Kadir [Shaikh ʿAbd al-Qādir Gīlānī or al-Jīlānī], through actions including the removal of the Mufti of Baghdad from office and the principal men associated with the shrine being arrested and transported to Bussorah, in response to what Rawlinson describes as the threat of imminent insurrection, and Rawlinson’s approval of the actions of Nejib PashaNegib Pasha despatching Sadik Beg [Ṣādiq Beg] to Bussorah, for the purpose, Rawlinson believes, of him seeking compensating sources of revenue following the order of the Porte to abolish the Ihtisab duty [a tax on markets in the Ottoman Empire] throughout the Pashalic, with these sources of revenue likely to include the imposition of a twelve per cent duty ad valorem on horses exported to India, which Lord Palmerston has stated to Rawlinson would be disapproved by HM GovernmentRawlinson having a ‘full and very satisfactory’ conversation with Sadik Beg regarding the suppression of the 'slave trade' [trade in enslaved people] between Bussorah and the African Coast, with Sadik Beg appearing prepared to give full effect to the prohibitory instructions issued from Constantinople and Baghdad on the subjectRawlinson’s view that it would be advantageous for him to visit Bussorah himself in December 1847, after the convention of the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Major Samuel Hennell, with the ‘Arab Chiefs’ [prohibiting the transportation of enslaved African persons on board vessels belonging to Bahrain and the Trucial States] has come into operation, in order to for him to be able to examine personally the working of the present system.Physical description: 1 item (22 folios)
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