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1. ‘File 5/188 I, 189 I Expenses incurred as a result of slaves taking refuge in consulates and agencies; manumission of slaves and general treatment of slave trade cases’
- Description:
- Abstract: The first part of the volume contains correspondence to and from the Political Residency between 1912 and 1927, relating to the costs of providing refuge to slaves seeking manumission, incurred by the Persian Gulf Political Agencies and Consulates. Letters between the Treasury of the Government of India and the Political Residency discuss the annual budget allocated to the suppression of the slave trade, from which dietary expenses, as well as clothing and repatriation expenses, were taken. Amongst the particular issues discussed are the expenses related to increasing numbers of slaves originating from Baluchistan in 1923 as a result of that area’s famine, and the increasing costs of feeding slaves due to rising food costs near the end of the First World War.The second part of the volume comprises correspondence sent between the Residency and Agencies/Consulates between 1910 and 1939 on how to deal with the manumission of slaves. The file includes guidelines for manumission (folios 56-58), created by Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Cox in his capacity as Persian Gulf Political Resident in 1912. Cox’s guidelines were distributed to the Gulf Agencies and Consulates. These guidelines responded to the ambiguities present at the time in determining whether manumission should be given: the date of an individual’s enslavement, where their owner resided, the nature of their servitude (domestic or otherwise). The guidelines outline the authorities (treaties and proclamations) governing the prohibition of the slave trade in the Gulf, and grounds and procedure for manumission. Procedure for manumission varies dependent on whether slaves have come from Persia, the Arab Coast (Kuwait, Bahrain, Trucial Coast, Muscat), and slaves from Persian territory under British protection. Queries over the status of slaves from Persia occupy a significant portion of the remainder of this part of file, due to official Persian policy regarding slaves having changed with Persia’s abolition of slavery in 1928. Also included is a revised set of manumission guidelines drawn up in 1938 (folios 127-29), intended to replace Cox’s earlier rules. These updated guidelines reflect the change in Persia (now Iran’s) policy towards slavery.Physical description: Foliation: Volume is foliated from the front cover to last folio with a small number in the top-right corner of each recto. Blank folios have not been foliated.
2. ‘File 5/190 III Manumission of slaves at Muscat: individual cases’
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume contains thirty-nine manumission subjects, each one involving the manumission request of one or more slaves, who had sought refuge at the Political Agency in Muscat (then under the charge of Major G. Murphy). Each manumission case follows a very similar pattern. Murphy sent a copy of the slave‘s manumission certificate (with covering letter) for the attention of the Secretary to the Political Resident, making his own recommendation as to whether manumission should be given. In most cases, the Secretary to the Political Residency responded by agreeing to the manumission request. In the case of slaves who had been kept in the Trucial Coast towns (Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi), a copy of the manumission statement was forwarded by the Secretary to the Political Resident to the Residency Agent in Sharjah (‘Īsá bin ‘Abd al-Latif), who was asked to make enquiries as to the validity of the slave’s statement.A small number of the manumission cases are more complex. In July 1931, the Political Residency heard of a slave who had had his right hand cut off and been imprisoned at the decree of the shaikh of Dubai, after having been accused of theft (folio 195). Enquiries made by ‘Īsá bin ‘Abd al-Latif suggested that the slave was caught in the act of robbery. A medical certificate from the Agency Hospital in Muscat verified the extent and recent nature of the punishment meted out on the slave (folio 199). The Political Resident (Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Biscoe) wrote to the Residency Agent (folio 215) to protest in the strongest terms to the shaikh of Dubai about the severity of the punishment handed out to the slave, insisting that imprisonment was the usual punishment in this day.Another case was brought to the attention of the Secretary to the Political Resident by the Political Agent Muscat in June 1932, in which a pearl diver from Umm-al-Qaiwain, who claimed to be a slave, requested manumission. ‘Īsá bin ‘Abd al-Latif agreed with the manumission request, commenting that, because the demand for and price of pearls had decreased considerably in recent years, many divers had become heavily indebted. He advised that, once the slave had been given his manumission certificate, he should return to Sharjah to enable the Residency Agent to carry out the necessary enquiries relating to the slave’s debt (said to be 520 rupees) in the Diving Court. Another manumission request was made by a slave who was kept at Kalba, near Muscat. The Political Resident requested that, in future, the Political Agent at Muscat treats affairs (including slaves) in Kalba, as the Political Agent Bahrain treats affairs in Qatar.Physical description: Foliation: The volume has been foliated with a circled number in the top-right corner of each recto, from the title sheet to the last folio of the volume. An earlier foliation system has been used on each manumission case, expressed as page xof ypages, written in pencil in the top-right corner of each recto. A very small number of these internal numbering systems do not run in the correct numerical sequence, suggesting that items were bound in the incorrect order.
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 5/190 IV Manumission of slaves at Muscat: individual cases'
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume contains correspondence relating to thirty-eight manumission cases, heard at the Political Agency in Muscat. All cases involve slaves who had absconded from the Trucial Coast, or slavery related incidents on the Trucial Coast. All cases were therefore referred to the Residency Agent at Sharjah (‘Īsá bin ‘Abd al-Latif). Each case follows a set pattern. The Political Agent in Muscat (three incumbents in the period covered: until March 1933, Major Bremmer; March to June 1933, Captain Alban; June 1933 to June 1935, Major Bremmer; from June 1935, Major Watts) sent the slave's manumission statement to the Political Resident (Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Fowle). In his covering letter the Political Agent noted any physical signs of mistreatment upon the slave's body, and recommended manumission. Upon receipt of the statement, staff at the Political Residency sent a letter to ‘Īsá bin ‘Abd al-Latif, requesting further details on the slave and his or her case. The Residency Agent responded to the Political Residency, with details of the case, and a recommendation of manumission.Most of the manumission cases are straightforward and follow the pattern described above. Unusual cases in the volume include a kidnapping incident (subject 21, folios 152-66), in which a woman of Sharjah made a statement at the Political Agency at Muscat, asking for help in retrieving her kidnapped daughter. In two cases (subjects 27 and 29, respectively folios 202, 221), reference is made to the Residency Agent at Sharjah sending a slave back to his owner, rather than hearing the request for manumission.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 297; 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, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
5. Political No. 162 of 1874, Forwarding Four Copies of the Report on the Administration of the Bushire Residency, including that of the Muscat Political Agency, with Reports on Trade for the Year 1873-74
- Description:
- Abstract: This item consists of copies of a Political Despatch from the Government of India Foreign Department to the Secretary of State for India, dated 8 September 1874, forwarding for information four copies of the report on the administration of the Bushire [Bushehr] Residency [not included in this item], including that of the Muscat Political Agency, with reports on trade for the year 1873-74.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 56, and terminates at f 57a, 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 two foliation anomalies: f 56a and f 57a.
6. Coll 29/2(6) 'Indian treasuries in Persian Gulf'
- Description:
- Abstract: The file concerns the financing of the Muscat Political Agency after the closing of the Indian Treasury, in 1948.The file is composed solely of internal correspondence between the Government of India, the Commonwealth Relations Office, the Political Agent at Muscat, and the Political Residency in the Persian Gulf.Folios 1-50 were taken away from the file and held in a folder titled 'Closed Period', because they were produced by a different Government department, the Commonwealth Relations Office. These folios have been reinstated in the file.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 71; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.