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1. ‘File 5/168 IV Manumission of slaves on Arab Coast: individual cases’
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume contains correspondence related to thirty-five slave-related cases or subjects, the majority of which deal with straightforward procedures of manumission. In these cases, the Residency Agent at Sharjah (‘Īsá bin ‘Abd al-Latif) wrote to the Political Resident at Bushire, enclosing a statement made by the slave(s), and advising whether he believed the slave (or slaves) should be manumitted. The Political Resident replied, informing ‘Īsá that he may do so.Three subjects in the file are extraordinary in nature, as follows:Subject 9 is a manumission case involving a women who took refuge with the Resident Agent in Sharjah in 1926, with her four children. The woman claimed that she was originally a free person who had been enslaved with her four children. Included in the subject correspondence (folio 108) is a handwritten manumission certificate (in Arabic) given to the woman by her mother, stating that the mother and her children were free people. The certificate is a unique example in the Bushire Slavery subject files of a handwritten manumission certificate, given to a slave by their owner.Subject 10 contains letters written in 1925 to the Political Resident (then Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Crosthwaite) from the shaikhs of Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Ra's al-Khaymah and Umm al-Qaywayn (folios 120-23, 129). The letters were a coordinated response between the Trucial Coast shaikhs, communicating their unhappiness about indebted slaves absconding from their boat masters, and the Political Resident’s perceived inaction on the matter. Each letter was sent to the Political Resident at the same time. The Political Resident responded by saying that he took the matter seriously, and requested the shaikhs to send details of absconding divers to him. The shaikhs of Dubai and Sharjah responded by sending details to the Political Resident of a number of divers’ balance books, that showed their level of debt and earningsSubject 30 documents an incident on the evening of 31 January 1931, when one-hundred armed men surrounded the Residency Agent’s house in Sharjah, demanding the return of a number of slaves. The incident was reported to the Political Resident, and HMS Hastingsdispatched to monitor the situation. Testimonies identified the ringleader of the armed gang as an associate of the shaikh of Sharjah, Saqr bin Sultan. British officials gave the shaikh an ultimatum to deport the man to Aden. Refusal to do so would result in the shaikh having to hand over 2,000 rupees and 100 rifles to British officials. The Political Resident and the Senior Naval Officer in the Gulf agreed that refusal to do this could result in the town being bombarded (folio 373). The shaikh refused to deport the ringleader, and on the day of the ultimatum, he delivered up 1,200 rupees and 60 rifles. This offer was refused by the Commanding Officer of HMS Hastings(389). Within hours of the ultimatum expiring the Shaikh delivered 2000 rupees and 100 rifles, but was ordered to replace six rifles that were found to not be in working order (folio 395).Physical description: Foliation: The volume has been foliated from the cover sheet to the last page of writing, using pencil numbers in the top-right corner of each recto. Each manumission subject has its own internal numbering system, also top-right of each recto, expressed as page xof subject y.Some pages in the volume were cropped when bound at a later date, meaning that text close to edges of papers has been lost, but not to such an extent as to be a detriment to readability.
2. ‘File 5/201 Manumission of slaves and rules relating to cases arising out of the pearling industry’
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume comprises two printed documents. The first is guidelines for the manumission of slaves, printed by the British Government’s Foreign Office Press, and issued to the Political Resident at Bushire. Part one of the guidelines is for the Persian shore of the Persian Gulf. It outlines the authorities (treaties) for manumission, grounds for manumission, and the procedures for manumission. The second part of the guidelines deals with the Arabian shore of the Persian Gulf. Bahrain, Muscat and the Trucial Coast are dealt with separately.The second printed document in the file is a set of guidelines for dealing with the various scenarios in which economic disputes might arise between captains, divers and merchants in the pearling industry in the Gulf. The guidelines are for use by British agents and representatives in Bahrain, Kuwait, Bandar-e Lengeh and the Trucial Coast. The emphasis in the rules is on the honouring of debts as a means to ensuring the financial stability of the pearling industry, and sets out the obligations of divers to their captains, duties of captains to their divers, captains to other captains regarding loans, and captains to their debtors.Physical description: Foliation: The volume is foliated in the top-right corner of each recto. The two printed reports that comprise the volume each have their own internal pagination systems.
3. 'File 5/190 V Manumission of slaves at Muscat: individual cases'
- Description:
- 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.
4. 'File 5/168 VIII Manumission of slaves on Arab Coast: individual cases'
- Description:
- 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.