Abstract: Confidential notes of a journey made through Persia [Iran] from Shiraz to Jashk [Jāsk], via Fassa [Fasā], Dārāb, Bandar Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās] and Mīnāb, by John Richard Preece, Assistant Superintendent of the Telegraph Department, Persia. The report was published by the Intelligence Branch, Office of the Quarter Master General in India, and printed by the Superintendent of Government Printing, India in Calcutta [Kolkata] in 1884.The report is diaristic in form, running from Preece’s departure from Shiraz on 29 January 1884, through to his arrival in Jashk on 19 March 1884. The report records: topography; settlements, including some descriptions of their size, population, condition; weather conditions on the route; the condition of roads; agricultural and industrial activity, including livestock numbers; water sources. Two tables of statistics follow the report, both dated 15 August 1884. The first contains temperature and barometer measurements taken by Preece throughout the course of his journey, the second is a list of stations along the route, and the distances between them in miles.Places referred to in the text are given their names in Persian script in the margin throughout.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 28; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, 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: This file contains correspondence regarding a proposed journey from Muscat across southern Arabia to Hadhramaut in Yemen by the explorer, James Theodore Bent.The correspondence focuses on Bent's request for an Indian surveyor in the employ of the Government of India to accompany him on the trip as he had done on a previous journey.Also discussed is the issue of whether or not Bent should inform the Turkish [Ottoman] Government of his intentions. The correspondence is between officials at the India Office, the Foreign Office, the Political Residency in Bushire, the Government of India and the Royal Geographical Society in London.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 10; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence regarding a number of trips made in Oman, primarily by Percy Zachariah Cox the Political Agent in Muscat. It includes correspondence with the Survey of India Department, the Government of India and the Political Residency in Bushire. In addition to this correspondence, the file contains the following documents:A detailed account of payments made to shaikhs and their retinues by Cox during a trip from Abu Dhabi to Muscat in 1902 (folios 20-21)'Notes to Accompany Sketch Map of Route Taken by Major P. Z. Cox, on a Journey from Abu Thabi [Dhabi] to Muscat Overland, May & June 1902' (folios 29-34)Account of trip to the district of Dhufar written by Major W G Grey, Political Agent in Muscat, that was related to the possibility of coal deposits being located there (folios 45-50)Report by Captain H W Dowding of trip made in the vicinity of Soor [Sur] and Karyat [al-Quraiyat] in 1901 (folios 63-85).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 92; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence between British officials related to two topics:A request made in 1911 by the Danish Legation in London (on behalf of the Royal Danish Geographical Society) for the British Government to support a proposed Danish expedition to Oman and Hadhramaut in Yemen. The request was turned down by the Foreign Office (folios 4-8)A request made in 1922 by Isidor Morse, a 'naturalised Englishman' born in the United States of America, to enter the Omani interior in order to hunt for the Arabian tahr (a type of goat). This request was turned down by the Political Agency in Muscat (folios 9-15).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 17; 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: This file contains a report compiled by Captain George J Eccles commandant at the Muscat Infantry on the interior of Oman in November and December of 1926. The file contains a detailed description of the expedition let by Eccles and included geologists and members of the National History Society. The expedition began at Beit al Falaj near Muscat and proceeded through Khaburah, Sham, Mahadhah, and Sohar. The report covers relations with and between various tribes visited on the expedition, including the Bani Umar, Bani Ali, and the Bani Ka'ab tribes. The expedition's formal title was that of a Geological Surveying Party of the D'Arcy Exploration Company.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 48; 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 44-47, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: This file contains a single report compiled by Colonel Miles, the Political Agent in Muscat, on a visit to the Buraimi in 1875. The report contains an extensive description of the Colonel's journey, including the geographic and botanical features of the region between Muscat and Buraimi as well as any military fortifications that exist. The report also describes the various tribal and clan leaders and their relationships to the Wahhabis in Nejd and the Sultan of Muscat and Oman. Most of the report is a personal account of Colonel Miles' impressions of the ruins and hamlets of the region, their ancient origins in legend and contemporary situation.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 30; 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: Harry St John Bridger Philby's account of his journey in the southern regions of the Najd, published for the Arab Bureau by the Government Press in Cairo, 1919.The journey was taken in May to June 1918 while the author was in Riyadh for the purpose of maintaining relations with Ibn Sa‘ud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥman bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd], ruler of Najd, on behalf of the British Government. Travelling 640 miles from Riyadh to Wadi Dawasir [Wādī al-Dawāsir] and back along a different route, he reports any geographical, meteorological, agricultural, demographic, and historical information that he deems of use to the British government. Included are notes on the tribes and wells of the area.Folio 46 is a foldout map of the route taken.Physical description: Foliation: the sequence is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. It begins on the front cover, on number 1, and ends on the inside of the back cover, on number 48.Pagination: there is also a printed pagination sequence that begins on the first page of the account proper and continues through to the last page of the account.
Abstract: This file concerns the movements of Wilfred Thesiger at the end of his second crossing of the Empty Quarter [al-Rub‘ al-Khālī]. Correspondence in the file is between the Political Officer, Sharjah; the Political Agent, Bahrain; the Political Resident, Bahrain; the Political Agent, Muscat; the Residency Agent, Sharjah; G W Furlonge and B A B Burrows, Foreign Office, London; and Richard ('Dick') Bird, representative of Petroleum Development Oman.Details concern Thesiger’s arrival in Abu Dhabi on 16 March 1948 and his intention to proceed to Buraimi [al-Buraymī]; the preference of the Sultan of Muscat for Thesiger not to visit Muscat and the cancellation of his visa to enter the Sultanate of Oman; Thesiger's intention to collect plants and animal specimens at Buraimi and to travel from Abu Dhabi to Bahrain by dhow; Bird's desire that Thesiger should not proceed anywhere south of the village of Hafit [Ḥafīt]; Thesiger's legal status during his travels and restrictions on his movements; the retention of Thesiger's Bedouin and their raid on Bani Qitab; his arrival in Bahrain; requests by Thesiger for ammunition; concerns that he was responsible for raiding in Saudi Arabian territory; and his nickname 'Mubarak bin London'.The file also includes summaries of intelligence gathered from Thesiger (ff 38, 42) and Bird's letter regarding Thesiger's presence in Buraimi (ff 54-55).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 64; 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 1-61; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: The volume comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, and notes relating to the Najd mission to Ibn Sa‘ūd by Harry St John Bridger Philby, Political Officer. Correspondence mainly concerns the dispatch and arrival of supplies for St John Philby: tea, tobacco, film, ammunition and arms, camping equipment, and medical supplies. After some correspondence (folio 64) St John Philby, signs his name and 'Pol Dept' thereafter. St John Philby also requests tents for Ibn Sa‘ūd. After St John Philby's mission is finished, arrangements are made to send his kit to his brother Ralph Montague Philby, Naval Transport Officer, Basra.Correspondence also discusses the dispatch of geological and natural history specimens to the Bombay Natural History Society. The volume includes correspondence in Arabic with Ahmad El Jaber Es Subah and Abdullah en-Nafisi who were helping with the supply operation.Correspondents include: Harry St John Bridger Philby, Political Department, the Political Agent at Kuwait; (Percy Gordon Loch; Daniel Vincent McCallum) Director of Sea Transport, Basrah; Deputy Civil Commissioner, Basrah Wilayet; Officer Commanding,
H.T. Kalika.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 269; 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 1-267; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: Sketch-map of the area west of Ma‘arrat an Nu‘mān, Syria, drawn by Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell. The map indicates the names and locations of settlements. Aside from an outline in the northwest quarter of the map, which may represent a body of water, no other topographic details are shown. The place names are written in black ink, with some underlined in pencil. A map is drawn onto a pencil grid.Physical description: Dimensions:250 x 196 mm.Materials:Pencil and ink on paper.
Abstract: This item consists of copies of a Political Despatch from the Government of India's Foreign Department to the Secretary of State for India, dated 21 July 1873 and received by the India Office's Political Department on 21 August 1873, forwarding copies of letters from the Political Agent and Consul at Zanzibar and the Resident at Aden respectively, which provide information regarding the Livingstone Expedition into East Central Africa, as well as news from Zanzibar.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 255, and terminates at f 260, 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. The sequence contains three foliation insertion anomalies: f 255a, f 257a, and f 259a.
Abstract: This item comprises enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee [Bombay Secret Letter], No. 7 dated 16 January 1856. The enclosures are dated 17 December 1855-14 January 1856.The papers chiefly comprise correspondence between Brigadier William Marcus Coghlan, Acting Political Resident and Commandant, Aden, and the Secretary to Government, Bombay, covering the following matters:Relations with and between the tribes in the vicinity of Aden, including the ‘Foutheli Chief’ [Aḥmad bin Abdullāh al-Faḍlī, also spelled Foudheli in this item]The continued British blockade of Berbera, including the Government of Bombay and Government of India's: scepticism regarding the alleged ‘solemn warning’ (f 50) given by the Elders of the Habur Owel Tribe [Habr Awwal, also spelled Habr Owel and Habr-Awel Tribe in this item] which was apparently disregarded by Lieutenant Richard Francis Burton leading to the ‘disastrous termination of the late Somali Expedition’ (f 54); and criticism of Coghlan for accusing Burton ‘in very positive terms, of culpable carelessness’ (f 55). Coghlan vigorously defends his position particularly referring to the depositions which indicate that warning was indeed given.Also included in this item is a letter from the Secretary to the Government of India to the Secretary to Government, Bombay, questioning the ‘professions to peace’ of the Foutheli Chief, whom they consider endangers the security of the trade of Aden.Physical description: 1 item (12 folios)