Abstract: The volume comprises correspondence in English and Arabic between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Trenchard Craven Fowle), the Political Agent at Muscat (Ralph Ponsonby Watts), the India Office (John Percival Gibson, John Charles Walton), the Secretary to the Government of India, External Affairs Department (Olaf Kirkpatrick Careo, William Rupert Hay), the Agent to the Governor General for Baluchistan (Alfred Alan Lethbridge Parsons), the Sultan of Muscat (Sayyid Sa‘īd bin Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd), the Burmah Oil Company (William Ernest V Abraham, W A Gray, John H L Brownrigg) and Indian Oil Concessions Limited (Hamilton R Ballantyne, Lloyd Nelson Hamilton, Joseph Paul McCulloch) regarding a possible concession for the Jabal-i-Mehdi [Koh Mehdi] area of Gwadur [Gwadar] belonging to the Sultan of Muscat.The correspondence covers initial enquiries by both companies to His Majesty’s Government expressing interest in a concession through to the commencement of negotiations and the submission of draft concession agreements for the Sultan’s consideration.Also discussed in the volume is the boundary between Gwadur and Kalat [Kalāt] which would need to be demarcated before approval could be given for an oil concession at Gwadur. The correspondence discusses relations between the Khan of Kalat (Aḥmad Yār K̲h̲ān) and the Sultan of Muscat, including recent disagreements between both parties over customs and trade, and suggesting possible processes that could be followed in order to demarcate the boundary.A series of file notes which were maintained as a record of the correspondence in the volume can be found at folios 206-216.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 221; 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 6-216; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: This item comprises enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee [Bombay Secret Letter], No. 20 dated 2 February 1857. The enclosures are dated 5-20 January 1857.The enclosures comprise despatches of Lieutenant-Colonel John Jacob, Acting Commissioner in Sind [Sindh], to Lord Elphinstone, Governor and President in Council, Bombay, in which he forwards intelligence received from or via Captain William Lockyer Merewether, Acting Political Superintendent on the Frontier of Upper Sind.The papers notably cover and include:Intelligence claiming that the representative of the King of Persia [Shah of Iran], who approached Sirdar Goolam Hider Khan [Ghulām Ḥaydar Khān], the Governor of Candahar [also spelled Kandahar in this item], offering friendship with Dost Mahomed Khan [Dūst Muḥammad Khān Bārakzāy] and the Afghan people, was rebuffed by the Governor who emphasised that the nations will remain at war whilst Persia occupies Herat and reaffirmed the Afghan alliance with the BritishIntelligence purporting that the Murree [Marri] tribe have ‘assembled in large numbers for the purpose of plundering’ (f 271) and that British troops at the frontier outposts are on the alert for signs of an attackA report by Captain Henry Green, Assistant Political Superintendent on the Frontier of Upper Sind, concerning relations with the Khan of Kelat [Kalat], notably the Khan’s: reaffirmation of his friendship with the British; concerns about potential Persian incursions on his north and north west frontiers; belief in the unreliable loyalties of the tribes in the area of Candahar and Kelat; and support for the establishment of a British force at Quetta. Green also asserts the destabilising effect on the frontier of Upper Sind caused by the withdrawal of a regiment of Sind Irregular Horse for service in the Persian GulfConfirmation by the Governor of Kandahar of the receipt of treasure and arms despatched through the Bolan Pass for the Ameer Dost Mahomed Khan in October 1856.Physical description: 1 item (11 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises a copy of an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 57 of 1856, dated 9 August 1856. The enclosure is dated 12 March-16 April 1856.The enclosure consists of a letter from the Secretary to the Government of India to Lieutenant-Colonel John Jacob, Officiating Commissioner in Sind [Sindh], copied to the Secretary to the Government of Bombay. The Secretary to the Government of India confirms, in response to intelligence Jacob forwarded of alleged Persian [Iranian] threats to the territory of the Khan of Kelat [Kalat], that although the Government of India is under no obligation by treaty to assist the Khan of Kelat, in the current circumstances Jacob may assure the Khan that arms and money will be offered to him should there occur any unprovoked aggression on his territory by Persia, and Jacob should ascertain the level of subsidy the Khan might require.Physical description: 1 item (4 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee [Bombay Secret Letter], No. 2 dated 2 January 1857. The enclosures are dated 11-16 December 1856.The papers chiefly comprise two letters from Lieutenant-Colonel John Jacob, Acting Commissioner in Sind [Sindh], to Lord Elphinstone, Governor and President in Council, Bombay, forwarding the following documents:A copy of the report by Captain William Lockyer Merewether, Acting Political Superintendent on the Frontier of Upper Sind, concerning the convoy recently despatched carrying treasure (three lacs of rupees), arms and ammunition, destined for the Ameer Dost Mahomed Khan in Kandahar [Dūst Muḥammad Khān Bārakzāy]. The report details the journey of a party of the Sind Irregular Horse, under the command of Lieutenant W L Briggs, Acting Assistant Political Superintendent, including the escort provided by officers and men of the Khan of Kelat [Kalat] through Kelat territory and the Bolan Pass [also spelled Bolaan in this item] to Quetta [also spelled Quettah in this item] where Briggs transferred his consignment to a party of Dost Mahomed’s men (ff 34-38)A copy of a letter from Merewether who forwards intelligence he has received of: a Persian force assembled at Bunpoor [Bampur] on the frontier of Mekran [Makran]; news of Persian activities in Herat; and relations between the Khan of Kelat and Persia.Physical description: 1 item (16 folios)
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a secret despatch from the Government of India Foreign Department to the Secret Committee, Number 47 of 1856, dated 8 October 1856. The enclosures are numbered 3-4 and are dated 6 September to 8 October 1856.They consist of two despatches from the Acting Commissioner in Sind [Sindh, also spelled Sinde in this item], Lieutenant-Colonel John Jacob, to the Secretary to the Government of India, concerning the progress of the Persian [Iranian] invasion force in the vicinity of Kelat [Kalat], military affairs at Herat, the receipt of one lac [lakh, one hundred thousand] of rupees by officers deputed by the Khan [Khān] of Kelat, and guns, small arms and ammunition to be despatched to the Khan.The despatches include translated copies of letters from Fukkeer Mahomed Naib of Mekran [Faqīr Muḥammad Nā’ib of Makran] to the Khan of Kelat, and from Faiz [or Faize] Ahmed Baabee [Fayz̤ Aḥmad Bābī] to the Wukkeel [Vakil] of the Khan of Kelat, Moolla Ahmed [Mullā Aḥmad].Physical description: 1 item (6 folios)