Abstract: The file consists of a letter from Richard Thomas Prowse, Secretary to the Board of Customs, to the Under Secretary of State for India concerning the question of whether the Customs Consolidation Act 1876, empowers the Board of Customs to require, under penalty, names of suppliers and consignees of arms, ammunitions, and munitions of war.It includes a copy of the case as laid before the Law Officers of the Crown and their opinion.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 73, and terminates at f 75, 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 item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence, minutes and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, a Political Letter from the Government of Bombay to the East India Company Court of Directors, 31 January 1848. A copy of this Political Letter can be found at IOR/F/4/2238/112322, alongside details of further enclosures. The item is the fifty-eighth in a series of fifty-nine items on events in the Persian Gulf.The item relates to the new rule that all vessels belonging to ports under the ‘political control’ of Major Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf, who wish to trade in India must now carry a pass or register that has been signed by him. A list of the relevant shaikhs impacted by this is present at folio 618. The item also relates to a similar requirement that all vessels sailing under the flag of the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat must have a pass or register countersigned by Captain Atkins Hamerton, Her Majesty’s Consul and Company’s Agent in the Dominions of the Imam of Muscat.The issue is raised that affected vessels may have already departed for the season without the necessary paperwork. Solutions to this problem are discussed by the following: Hennell; Henry Young, Collector of Customs at Bombay [Mumbai]; and the Government of Bombay.The title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Bombay Political Department’, ‘Draft No. 345/48, Coll: 2, Vol: 58’, ‘Collection No. 14 of No. 21’ and ‘Examiner’s Office’. The title page also contains a note that relevant correspondence can be found in Collection No. 1 accompanying despatch from the Government of Bombay, 18 June No. 82 of 1848.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 614, and terminates at f 626, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the item also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: The item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence, minutes and resolutions, cited in, or enclosed with, a Political Letter from the Government of Bombay to the East India Company Court of Directors, dated 28 April 1854, and found at IOR/F/4/2575/152543. It is the sixth in a series of thirteen items about the Persian Gulf.The item relates to discussions about whether Arab or Persian [Iranian] vessels trading in Indian ports should be required to produce certification documents to avoid paying double customs duties. The advantages and disadvantages of enforcing such measures are debated. The discussion also includes references to the General Treaty with the Arab Tribes of the Persian Gulf (1820), a Government Gazette notification from 9 January 1839, and Act VI of 1848 passed by the Government of India.Correspondents include: Captain Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Resident in the Persian Gulf; Richard Spooner, Acting Collector of Customs, Bombay; Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq]; John George Taylor, British Agent at Bussorah [Basra]; and the Government of Bombay.Taylor's correspondence includes a report on the types of documents currently used at Bussorah and Kowait [Kuwait] with respect to external trade.The item also contains example documents at folio 293 recto and folio 306.Except from an extract of the Government Gazette from 9 January 1839 (folio 294 verso), the rest of the item dates from 1853-54.The title page of the item contains the following references: 'Bombay Political Department', 'P.C. [Previous Communication] 8964', Draft Number '908 [18]54', 'Collection No. 1 of No. 32 of 1854', 'Vol: 6', and 'Examiner's Office'. Originally, the Collection number was given as '6' but this has been crossed out and replaced with '1'.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 288, and terminates at f 308, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the item also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: This item consists of copies of correspondence, consultations, and minutes cited in, or enclosed with, political letters from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai]. The correspondents are: the Government of Bombay; Heskeal Yusoof [Ḥizqīl bin Yūsuf], Acting British Agent at Muscat; and Syud Thooenee [Sayyid Thuwaynī bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd, Governor of Muscat]. It is the thirteenth in a series of fifteen items on the Persian Gulf (the others are IOR/F/4/2131/101199, IOR/F/4/2131/101200, IOR/F/4/2131/101201, IOR/F/4/2131/101202, IOR/F/4/2131/101203, IOR/F/4/2131/101204, IOR/F/4/2131/101205, IOR/F/4/2131/101206, IOR/F/4/2131/101207, IOR/F/4/2131/101208, IOR/F/4/2131/101209, IOR/F/4/2131/101210, IOR/F/4/2131/101212 and IOR/F/4/2131/101213).The item concerns a dispute between the authorities at Muscat and a merchant from Mandavee [Māndvi], Shed Herjee bin Hussonjee [Shed Hīrjī bin Husonjī], who was contracted to farm the customs at Muscat, but was removed from his position and asked for Heskeal Yusoof’s help in reclaiming his expenses from the Government of Muscat.The item contains a contents page, and the title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Draft 252/46, P.C. [Previous Communication] 5171, Collection No 2 of No 133’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with f 753, and terminates at f 763, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the volume also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: The item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence and minutes cited in, or enclosed with, a Political Letter from the Government of Bombay to the East India Company Court of Directors, 31 January 1848. A copy of this Political Letter can be found at IOR/F/4/2238/112322, alongside details of further enclosures. The item is the fifty-ninth in a series of fifty-nine items on events in the Persian Gulf.The item relates to the issue of whether vessels from the ‘Persian or Arabian’ Gulfs require passes in order to obtain the privilege of paying single duties on the goods they import to Bombay [Mumbai], as opposed to the double duties charged for ‘foreign bottoms’ [goods carried on foreign vessels]. Henry Young, the Collector of Customs at Bombay, notes that not all vessels from the Gulfs have carried such passes. Young cites several cases where merchants and leaders have petitioned for refunds after being charged double duties. An audit of such a claim is present at folios 630-631.The item also relates to a pass granted to the bugla,
Sad-ool Barree [Sa‘d al-Barī], by the Governor of Judda and Hubusha [a province under the Ottoman Empire with Jeddah as the principal city] and discussions about whether this document needs to be countersigned by a British officer in order to be considered valid.Correspondents include: Young; Major Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf; Charles Augustus Murray, Her Majesty’s Consul General in Egypt; and the Government of Bombay.Judda is also rendered as Djeddah in the text.The title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Bombay Political Department’, ‘Draft No. 345/48, Coll: 2, Vol: 59’, ‘Collection No. 15 of No. 21’ and ‘Examiner’s Office’. The title page also contains a note that relevant correspondence can be found in Enclosures N[umber]s 16 [and?] 19 accompanying despatch from the Government of Bombay, 6 August No. 70 of 1847.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 627, and terminates at f 639, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the item also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: Correspondence relating to the reform of customs and finance at Muscat. Includes the contract of the Financial Adviser, Bertram Thomas and the financial statements he prepared for the state of Muscat.Correspondents include Colonel Francis Beville Prideaux, Political Resident Persian Gulf; Bertram Thomas, Finance Minister, State of Muscat; Taimur bin Faisal [Taymūr bin Fayṣal], Sultan of Muscat; Major Gerald Patrick Murphy, Political Agent, Muscat; Senior Naval Officer Persian Gulf.Physical description: There is one incomplete foliation sequence and one complete foliation sequence. The complete sequence is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of each folio. It begins on the title page, on number 1, and runs through to 217, ending on the inside of the back cover of the volume. Anomalies: f 22A; f 26A.
Abstract: Correspondence relating to the Amir of Ja'alan and the collection of customs at Sur. Letters discuss the strategy for enforcing customs collection in Sur and the visit in HMS
Penzanceof Heir Apparent, Saiyid Said bin Taimur [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr], President of the Council of Ministers in order to re-establish Sultanate authority in Sur. Correspondence discusses the constraints on the actual use of British naval power and the preferred use of the Muscat Levies as well as possible use of air power. Includes a hand-drawn map of Sur (folio 87) with discussion of the tribal divisions in the town and of the village of Aiqa inhabited by the Bani Bu Ali.Correspondents include Air Headquarters, Iraq Command, Hinaidi; Air Ministry, London;Trenchard Craven W. Fowle and Reginald George Alban, Political Agent, Muscat; Hugh Vincent Biscoe, Political Resident, Persian Gulf; Foreign Secretary, Government of India; Stuart Edwin Hedgecock, Financial Adviser, Ministry of Finance, Muscat; Saif bin Ali bin Saif [Saif bin ‘Alī bin Saif], Wali of Sur; Iskander, Director-General of Customs, Muscat; 'the people of Aiqa'; Ali bin Abdullah Al Hamudah [‘Alī bin Abdullāh al-Ḥamūdah], Amir of Ja'alan.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation system in use is the sequence of numbers appearing in a circle in the top right hand corner of each folio.
Abstract: Correspondence relating to actions against the Bani Bu Ali [Banī Bū ‘Alī] in Sur in 1932 who were claiming independence from the Muscat State. Correspondence discusses how the Bani Bu Ali led by Shaikh Ali bin Abdullah al-Hammuda [Muḥammed bin Nāṣir al-Ḥamūdah] were rebelling against the Sultan of Muscat's authority and in particular the creation of a customs post in Aiqa. Shaikh Ali had deployed armed forces to Aiqa fort and prevented the establishment of the customs post. The timing for deployment of aircraft from Iraq including Wapitis and flying boats is discussed and in particular the implications of reconnaissance flights during Ramadan. One Wapiti crashed 40 miles south of Muscat but the occupants were unhurt and safely rescued. Saiyid Said bin Taimur [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr] visited Sur in a sloop along with HMS
Emerald. Correspondence details the agreement of the Foreign Office, Air Ministry and India Office in London to the use of aircraft. A letter from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty concurs in the action whilst expressing concern over the use of aircraft and the repercussions this could have on relations with Arab rulers, and suggests only use of naval bombardment. The Air Ministry responded noting the Political Resident's view that 'action by warship alone would be entirely ineffective; past history has shewn this.' The India Office notes that the action proposed by the Government of India were based on discussions with the Senior Naval Officer Persian Gulf and Air Officer Commanding, Iraq; furthermore, 'aerial demonstration will precede punitive air action.'The Political Agent, Muscat discusses the relations between the Bani Bu Ali ,[Banī Bū ‘Alī] Bani Bu Hassan [Bani Bū ‘Hasan] and Bani Amer; also the likely response of the Bani Bu Ali to any British attack and the need to take precautions to avoid the experience of a British Indian force in 1821. In 1821 a force was dispatched to avenge the defeat there of a different expedition the previous year but three hundred of the Bani Bu Ali attacked at night resulting 16 killed. Correspondence discusses the negotiations with Shaikh Ali bin Abdullah bin Abdullah bin HammudaCorrespondence between the Air Officer Commanding, Edgar Rainey Ludlow-Hewitt and Colonel Hugh Vincent Biscoe, Political Resident, Persian Gulf discusses the reconnaissance photos and the bombing of the Jaalan [Ja’alān] fort following the dropping from aircraft of warning messages. There are also extracts from a report by Group Captain W L Welsh on reconnaisance by two Rangoons and three Wapitis of the Sur area with arrangements for the deployment of flying boats to conduct bombing missions and their protection by the Muscat Infantry.Correspondence includes letters betweeen Saiyid Said bin Taimur, Sultan of Muscat and Oman, to Shaikh Ali bin Abdullah and Hugh Vincent Biscoe, Political Resident Persian Gulf. Following aerial demonstrations by Rangoon flying boats Shaikh Ali accepted the customs post and agreed to meet the Sultan on board the Sultan's vessel. The Senior Naval Officer Persian Gulf wrote to Shaikh Ali informing him that as he had accepted the customs post the bombardment would not take place.Includes aerial photos (ff 128D-128P) of Jaalan and Khor Janaba which were made in preparation for a possible punitive bombing raid. Also includes a sketch map of Khor Janaba and an enclosure with a 'Sheikhly family of Bani Bu Ali.Correspondents include H.V. Biscoe, Political Resident Persian Gulf; Trenchard Craven Fowle, Political Agent Muscat; Edgar Rainey Ludlow-Hewitt, Air Headquarters, Iraq Command, Hinaidi; Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf; Eion Pelly Donaldson, India Office, London; Christopher Llewellyn Bulloch, Air Ministry, London; No. 203 (Flying Boat) Squadron; Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty; Saiyid Said bin Taimur, Sultan of Muscat and Oman; Shaikh Ali bin Abdullah bin Hammudah; Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, Simla.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation system in use is the sequence of numbers in the top right hand corner of each folio including the covers.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence regarding alleged smuggling activities from Kuwait into Iraq. Primarily, the file contains internal correspondence between British officials but it also includes correspondence between British officials and Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ, the ruler of Kuwait.As well as general discussions regarding British attempts to mediate between Iraq and Kuwait, the correspondence also discusses a number of specific incidents including an alleged incursion into Kuwaiti territory made by Iraqi Government armoured cars, the shooting of two Kuwaiti subjects by Iraqi police and shots being fired by Iraqi Customs officials at a Kuwaiti vessel near Warba Island.The file contains a write-up of an interview that took place in September 1934 between Shaikh Aḥmad and Ralph Ponsonby Watts, the acting Political Agent in Kuwait (ff 122-126) as well as a write-up of an informal conversation, that also took place in September 1934, between Percy Gordon Loch, the acting Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Tahsin Beg 'Ali, the Mutasarrif [Governor] of Basrah, and Dr Naji Beg Al Asil, the Director General of Foreign Affairs for the Government of Iraq (ff 127-132).The file also contains a note on Iraqi-Kuwaiti Smuggling written in July 1934 by Trenchard Craven William Fowle, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (ff 65-66) and a bi-lingual Arabic/English copy of suggestions proposed to Shaikh Ahmad by the Government of Iraq in September 1934 (f 145).Physical description: Condition: Formerly a bound correspondence volume, the majority of the file's folios are now loose and unbound.Foliation: The file's foliation is written in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. The foliation sequence, which should be used for referencing, begins with the first item of correspondence, on number 1, and ends on the last folio with text, on number 235. The file contains the following foliation errors: f 115 is followed by f 115A; f 151 is followed by ff 151A-B; the following numbers are missing from the sequence: f 11, f 160.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence regarding alleged smuggling activities from Kuwait into Iraq.Primarily, the file contains internal correspondence between British officials discussing efforts to resolve the issue. It also contains correspondence between British officials and their Iraqi counterparts as well as correspondence between Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ, the ruler of Kuwait and Trenchard Craven William Fowle, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf.The broader political implications of the tensions between Iraq and Kuwait are discussed in the file alongside details regarding Britain's mediation between the two sides.The file contains a write-up of a meeting held at the Foreign Office in March 1935 to discuss the issue of smuggling that was attended by representatives of the Foreign Office and the India Office and by Archibald Clark Kerr, the Ambassador Designate at Baghdad (ff. 112-118).Physical description: Condition: A bound correspondence volume.Foliation: The file has an incomplete foliation sequence and a complete foliation sequence. The complete foliation sequence, which should be used for referencing, begins on the first folio after the front cover, on number 1A, and ends on the last folio of writing, on number 223. The file contains the following foliation errors: f 1 is followed by ff 1A-D; f 108 is followed by ff 108A-B; f.110 is followed by f 110A; f 157 is followed by f 157A.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence regarding alleged smuggling activities from Kuwait into Iraq. The correspondence discusses a number of topics including incursions into Kuwaiti territory made by Iraqi Customs and Police Forces, anti-Smuggling measures adopted by the Iraqi Government and negotiations between the two sides mediated by the British.Primarily, the file contains internal correspondence between British officials discussing efforts to resolve the issue. It also contains correspondence between British officials and their Iraqi counterparts as well as correspondence between Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ, the ruler of Kuwait and Harold Richard Patrick Dickson, the British Political Agent in Kuwait.The file contains a write-up of a meeting held at the Foreign Office in London in July 1935 and attended by Shaikh Aḥmad and representatives from the India Office. It also contains a list of violations of Kuwaiti territory by Iraqi Customs and Police Forces between 1933 and 1936 (ff. 158-161) and a list of attacks made on Kuwait in the Iraqi press from the same period (ff. 198-200) as well as a rough sketch map of the bay of Kuwait (f. 29).Physical description: Condition: A bound correspondence volume.Foliation: The file's foliation is written in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. The foliation sequence, which should be used for referencing, begins on the title page, on number 1, and ends on the inside of the back cover, on number 258. The file contains the following foliation errors: f 1 is followed by ff 1A-C.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence regarding smuggling from Kuwait into Iraq. The correspondence covers a number of topics including discussions regarding the current level of smuggling activity between the two countries, incursions into Kuwaiti territory made by Iraqi Customs and Police Forces, interference with Kuwaiti vessels by Iraqi Customs launches within Kuwait territorial waters, the importation of cars and tyres into Kuwait, the activities of Shaikh Subah Al Nasir Al Subah [Ṣabāḥ al-Nāṣir Āl Ṣabāḥ], a grandson of Shaikh Mubārak Āl Ṣabāḥ and the shooting of Shaikh Mohamed Ahmad Al Jabir Al Sabah [Muḥammad Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ] by Iraqi police forces.Primarily, the file contains internal correspondence between British officials, but it also contains translated copies of correspondence between Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ, the ruler of Kuwait and the British Political Agent in Kuwait, as well as correspondence between the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the British Embassy in Baghdad.The file contains an original letter (f. 143v) from Shaikh Aḥmad to Charles Geoffrey Prior, the British Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, dated 24 October 1944. The letter is in Arabic and signed by Shaikh Aḥmad.Physical description: Condition: A bound correspondence volume.Foliation: The file's main foliation sequence commences at the title page and terminates at the last page of content (i.e. text); these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A second foliation sequence is present between ff 2-222; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.The file also has a pagination sequence that is present in the index section at the back of the volume; these numbers are written in a combination of blue crayon, black ink, and pencil.The file contains the following foliation errors: 58, 58A, and 58B; 68, and 68A; 195, and 195A.