Abstract: The file contains two items. The first is 'A note on the Dhufar Province, Southern Arabia' by Gordon Noel Jackson dated 23rd June, 1943, Kuwait. This typed note is 8 pages and has sections on topography; climate; people; economy and finance; agriculture; administration; airport; security; of scientific interest; sport.The file also includes a 78 page printed report on 'The geology and mineral resources of Dhofar province, Muscat and Oman' by Sir Cyril S Fox. This report includes introductory remarks; physical geography; details of tour; geological considerations; economic minerals; industrial possibilities. The printed report includes a sketch map of Dhofar.Physical description: Foliation starts on first page of volume and continues to last page. Foliation in pencil in encircled numbers in top right corner of recto. Alternative foliation system starts with 34 on f.1 and continues to f.8. ff.9-54 are a booklet; f.55 is the envelope for the booklet. Additional foliation on 4 slips pasted into the booklet (18A, 20A, 21A, 26A).
Abstract: The memorandum is a report authored by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Edward Stewart, Bengal Staff Corps, dated 4 July 1881. Its purpose being to convey the results of his intelligence gathering mission to the North-Eastern Frontier of Persia.The report largely consists of a narrative detailing Stewart's journey from Tehran to the frontier, which he undertook under the guise of an Armenian horse dealer from Calcutta. The narrative details events that unfolded during the course of his journey, but also includes detailed observations on the landscape and settlements he passes through. This includes general observations on the local economy, fauna, geology, history, and politics. Military matters are also a consideration, and it therefore includes details on Persian armaments, fortifications, garrisons, and how easy an army could be transported through the region.Much discussion is given to raids undertaken against Persia — primarily by the Biluchis and the Turkoman — and efforts by Persian authorities to defend against them. Some attention is therefore given to slave trading in the region, and how recent Russian activities have curbed the opportunities to profit from the practice. It also concerns itself with Russian expansion in the region and the extent that the Persians are willing to assist them.On folio 106 is an extract from the Times (August 1880) concerning the Indian Prince Ram Chunder; Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart claims to have met him during the course of his mission.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at f 105, and terminates at f 129, 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 memorandum also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: A printed volume regarding the geology of Mesopotamia and the surrounding region. The volume was prepared on behalf of the Admiralty and printed by the Admiralty Naval Staff, Intelligence Department.The volume contains five maps and nine diagrams.The volume is divided up into the following chapters:I. The Geological Position of Mesopotamia;II. The Geology of Mesopotamia;III. The Geology of the Persian Gulf;IV. The Geology of the Persian Front;V. The Geology of the Armenian Borderland;VI. The Geology of the Arabian Borderland;VII. The Geological History of Mesopotamia and its Borderlands, and the Origin of the Mesopotamian Sunkland;VIII. The Economic Geology of Mesopotamia and its Borderlands;IX. Bibliography;Note on Transliteration of Place-Names;Index.Physical description: Pagination: the volume contains an original printed pagination sequence.Foliation: the file's foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio (except for the front cover, where the folio number is located on the verso).
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.
Abstract: The file comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, and notes, relating to the search for and potential development of mineral deposits in the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman.Correspondence in the file includes the discussion of the following issues:The availability of reports from 1901 on the coal seams of Sur (ff 2-4)Specimens of minerals for identification sent in the 1940s by the Political Agent, Muscat to the Director, Geological Survey of India, CalcuttaAssessments of the potential economic value of their deposits and arrangements for further surveysActivities and interest of American geologistsMinerals discussed include coal, silver, quartz, lead sulphide, calcium carbonateCorrespondence relating to the survey of Dhofar and subsequent report 'The geology and mineral resources of Dhufar' province, Muscat and Oman', by the geologist, Sir Cyril Sankey Fox, late Director, Geological Survey of India.The file features the following principal correspondents: the Director, Geological Survey of India; the Political Agent, Muscat (Captain Richard Ernest Bird); the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior); Political Agent, Bahrain (Major Tom Hickinbotham); and officials of the Government of India.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 204; 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 contains correspondence on two matters in 1937 and 1940 respectively:Correspondence (includes copy of original letter in Arabic, folio 3) in 1937 concerns a complaint from the Sultan of Muscat and Oman about the arrival in Buraimi of a relative (Sultan bin Zaid) of the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi with representatives of an oil company to undertake oil reconnaissance.Correspondence in 1940 discusses proposed visits to Gulf by officers of Geological Survey of India.This correspondents are the Political Resident in the Gulf (William Rupert Hay); the Political Agent, Muscat; the Sultan of Muscat and Oman [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr].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. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence relating to the supply of water to Kuwait from the Shatt-al-Arab estuary which lies within the territory of Iraq. The papers contain incidents relating to the payment of customs duties, the customary drawing of water from populations surrounding the estuary, and the boring of water wells within Kuwait as an alternative. The majority of the correspondence is between the Political Agency in Kuwait, the Political Residency at Bushire, and a variety of experts and Kuwait Oil Company employees with expertise to bear on the matter of obtaining fresh water supplies for Kuwait.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 234; 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. Two irregular additional foliation sequences are present in parallel between ff 30-233; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.