Abstract: The volume comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, and notes, relating to oil concessions in Muscat territory.The discussion in the volume relates to the following issues:Correspondence with officials of Petroleum ConcessionsDiscussions with Major Frank Holmes about visiting Sultan Sa'id bin TaimurAwarding of a separate concession for Dhofar.Included in the volume is a copy of the draft agreement between Petroleum Concessions and Sultan Sa'id bin Taimur (ff 65-77). Also included (folio 15) is a hand-written letter in Arabic by Sultan Sa'id bin Taimur to the Political Agent, Muscat concerning a new oil survey.The principal correspondents in the volume include the Political Agent, Muscat; the Secretary of State for India; the Sultan of Muscat and Oman [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr].Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 212; 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 2-212; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
Abstract: This file contains a copy of correspondence dated February 1950 between the British Residency, Bahrain and the Eastern Department, Foreign Office (G W Furlong), copied to the Political Agent, Muscat (Major F C L Chauncy), concerning the abandonment of the Dhofar oil concession. It also contains a letter from the British Residency, Bahrain, to Chauncy with information on the termination of Dhufar concession by Petroleum Concessions Ltd.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 5; 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 comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, and notes, relating to oil concessions in Gwadur which formed part of the territories of the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman and dependencies.The discussion in the file concerns:Negotiations over oil concessions in GwadurCorrespondence between officials of the India Office and the Burmah Oil CompanyIssues and concerns over the boundary between Gwadur and Kalat State.Included in the file is a copy (folio 10) of a table 'Gwadur Oil Concession – rival offers' detailing the difference in value of the competing oil companies, Indian Oil Concessions and the Burmah Oil Company.The file features the following principal correspondents: the Political Agent, Muscat (Ralph Ponsonby Watts); the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Trenchard Craven William Fowle); the Sultan of Muscat and Oman [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd]; representatives of the Burma Oil Company Limited; an official of the Petroleum Department (Frederick Charles Starling); the Secretary of State for India, London; the Governor-General in Baluchistan; Secretary to the Government of India in the External Affairs Department, New Delhi.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 47; 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: The volume comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, and notes, relating to an oil concession in Gwadur [Gwadar] which formed part of the territories of the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman and dependencies.The discussion in the volume includes:The application by the Burmah Oil Company for a prospecting licence in GwadarDraft agreements for oil concessionsIssues and dispute concerning the boundary between Gwadur and Kalat State.Included in the volume is a copy (ff 224-237) of the draft agreement between the Sultan of Muscat and Oman [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd] and the Burma Oil Company Limited.The file features the following principal correspondents: the Political Agent, Muscat (Ralph Ponsonby Watts); the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Trenchard Craven William Fowle); the Sultan of Muscat and Oman [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd]; representatives of the Burma Oil Company Limited; an official of the Petroleum Department (Frederick Charles Starling); and officials of the India Office, London.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 247; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
Abstract: The file comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, and notes, relating to oilfields in the Gulf excluding Muscat territory.The discussion in the file relates to:Negotiations over concessions for oil exploration in the Trucial CoastThe impact of the negotiations on the behaviour of the Trucial Shaikhs and their territorial claims and boundary disputesKuwait oil – the jurisdiction over the subsoil and seabed immediately adjacent to territorial waters (ff 19-26), particularly in the light of a proclamation by the President of the United States of America (Harry S Truman).Included in the file is a copy (folio 17) of a telegram dated 2 March 1938 from the Political Agent, Kuwait, to the Secretary of State for India, London, conveying the news that the Kuwait Oil Company had discovered oil in Kuwait territory.The principal correspondents are: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Trenchard Craven William Fowle); the Political Agent, Kuwait (Gerald Simpson de Gaury); the Secretary of State for India; and the Managing Director, Petroleum Concessions Limited (Stephen Hemsley Longrigg).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 27; 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: The volume contains correspondence related to slave manumission cases heard at the Political Agency in Muscat. The majority of the manumission cases featured in the volume are straightforward, with correspondence following a regular pattern. The Political Agent at Muscat (Major Watts for most cases, who was in charge from June 1935 to April 1939) sent slave manumission statements to the Secretary to the Political Resident in Bushire. In those cases where slaves had absconded from the Trucial Coast, the Political Residency referred the details of the case to the Residency Agent at Sharjah (‘Īsá bin ‘Abd al-Latif until August 1935, 'Abd al-Razzaq Razuqi from 1936) requesting he make enquiries into the slave's story. In many of the Residency Agent's enquiries, it was found that slaves were not in fact slaves, but indebted divers who were seeking to escape their debts. In a number of cases the Sharjah Agent sent details of divers' debts to the Political Residency (see for example, folios 170-175). In these situations the Political Residency authorised the issue of a manumission certificate to the indebted pearl diver, on the proviso that he return to the Residency Agent at Sharjah to settle his debts.Subject 7 of the volume includes a statement made at the Political Agency at Muscat in 1935, by a man who was seeking to retrieve his son, who he claimed had been kidnapped from him (folio 54). Enquires by the Residency Agent at Sharjah revealed that the man in fact gave his son as security against a debt, and that the boy would be sold unless the security was paid back (folio 67). Ongoing investigations carried out by the Political Agent at Bahrain (Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Loch) showed that the boy was sold (or 'mortgaged') three times, twice in Ajman and once in Sharjah, the last time to an uncle of the Shaikh of Sharjah. The Political Resident wrote to Loch in July 1936, stating that there is a 'clear case against the shaikh of Sharjah for breaking his Slave Trading Agreements with us.' However, it was noted that 'any action against the shaikh of Sharjah might have an adverse effect on [Frank] Holmes' negotiations about oil, and also make us unpopular in Sharjah.' (folio 87) The Resident suggested a fine of 500 rupees for the Shaikh of Sharjah, as punishment for the slave trading offence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 449; 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 331-449, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
Abstract: The file comprises four items of correspondence in the period 1939 to 1950 relating to a concession for prospecting for oil in Gwadur (at that time a dependency of the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman).Issues discussed include the withdrawal in 1939 of the Burma Oil Company from negotiations with the Sultan of Muscat and Oman [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd] and renewed interest in 1950 following a seepage of oil.Issues discussed include the issue of the claim of the Government of Pakistan on Gwadur and the definition of its boundaries.The correspondents are: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Rupert Hay); the Political Agent, Muscat (Frederick Charles Leslie Chauncy); the Foreign Office; the India Office; and the Managing Director, Burmah Oil Company (William Ernest Victor Abraham).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 6; 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: The file comprises correspondence relating to negotiations for concessions to undertake oil exploration in the Gulf.The file includes (ff 5-9) a letter from the Secretary of State for India, London, to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Trenchard Craven William Fowle). This letter has an enclosure from the Under-Secretary of State for India (John Charles Walton), to an official of the Petroleum Department (Frederick Charles Starling).This enclosed letter discusses the issues relating to oil exploration in the Gulf outside Muscat territory including Kuwait's neutral zone, Bahrain, and the Trucial Coast. Issues discussed include nationality and ownership structure of oil companies according to the Red Line Agreement, responsibilities of the relevant sheikh for guarantees of safety; and conditions for approval of options.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 12; 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: The volume contains correspondence relating to in excess of 100 manumission requests heard by the Residency Agent at Sharjah ('Abd al-Razzaq Razuqi). The manumission statements were sent to the Political Resident for reference purposes only, all decisions on manumission cases in Sharjah now being made by the Political Agent in Bahrain. The vast majority of manumission cases are straightforward requests for manumission from slaves, employed as domestic servants and pearl divers, on the grounds of ill-treatment, being given insufficient earnings from pearling, or the fear of being sold to another owner. A few isolated cases are more complex, and involve the kidnap or sale of individuals. In such cases, the Residency Agent wrote to the shaikh in whose dominions the incident took place, requesting action and reminding him of his obligations in relation to the historic slave trade treaties signed by his predecessors. In one instance the Residency Agent sent a letter to the Shaikh of Ajman [Rashid bin Humaid], demanding his intervention. Shaikh Rashid retrieved the kidnapped woman in question, but demanded sixty rupees from her family to cover the costs associated with the woman's restoration. The family were warned by the Shaikh to leave Ajman, in light of the debt not being paid.The manumission statements show that an increasing proportion of female slaves were being manumitted on the grounds that they understood that they were to be sold (which would constitute a trade in slaves; an illegal act). Pearl divers represented a significant proportion of those men seeking manumission, often on the grounds of insufficient earnings being given to them by their masters.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 203; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers.
Abstract: Memorandum providing an overview of the British connection with Basidu [Bāsa ‘īdū](on the island of Kishm [Qeshm]) in terms of status and rights from c 1820-1928. Covering:introduction to the location of Basidu and its strategic importance;extent of the British Concession;status of Basidu – control by the Imam of Muscat, British settlement, Persian protest against British occupation, recognition of Kishm as Persian territory, and the legal position of Basidu;1868-1926 – consideration of British options, and the decisions made;1926-28 reassertion of Persian claims – status of concessions including coaling stations, and the Persian threat to occupy British Basidu August-September 1928, and resulting British naval precautions.It includes a summary detailing the legal position in regard to Basidu and the value of retaining the coaling station. In addition, a list of points referred to in connection with the Persian Gulf Sub-Committee, and the view expressed by the Government of India are also given.Written by John Gilbert Laithwaite of the India Office.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 57, and terminates at f 59, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: The file consists of five volumes containing copies of oil concessions in the Persian Gulf region and correspondence between British officials related to them.1) Persian Gulf - Concessions in Bahrein [Bahrain], Kuwait &c. (sic) Correspondence 1932 to July, 1933 (folios 1-140);2) Qatr [Qatar] Oil Concession and Connected Documents; Dubai Oil Concession and Connected Documents; Sharjah Oil Concession and Connected Documents (folios 141-170);3) Memorandum and Articles of Association of Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Limited (folios 171-210);4) Concession Agreements with Ajman (1951), Dubai (1937), Sharjah (1937) and Umm Al Qaiwain (1945) (folios 211-300);5) Notes concerning the Abu Dhabi Petroleum Company Ltd (folios 301-306).The notes include a map of the company's pipelines and terminal facilities, a map of its air routes, a diagram of its central production facilities at Habshan and an aerial photograph of Jabal Dhanna.Physical description: Condition: A mixture of loose sheets and bound pamphlets contained in five separate volumes.Foliation: The foliation sequence runs through five parts as a single continuous sequence. This sequence commences at the first folio in part one and terminates at the last folio in part five, which is a photographic item in a polyester sheet; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The file contains the following foliation errors: 158, and 158A; 276, and 276A.
Abstract: This file contains the Roster of Employees of Petroleum Concessions Limited in Bahrain, Qatar, and the Trucial Coast. The rosters contain information on the position, date of engagement and the nationality of employees at the various locations of the Concession's operations. Most of the rosters cover factory floor and clerical employees with some junior management also named. Some folios include the names of employees at senior management level.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 59; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.