Abstract: The file contains correspondence related to the Iranian Government’s order known as the Tehran order, on treating people arriving at Persian ports from Bahrain, Muscat, Dubai and Oman as Persian subjects. The file also includes petitions raised by Muscat subjects whose passports were seized by the Iranian Customs.The main correspondents in the file are the British Residency and Consulate General, Bushire; the Secretary of State for India, London; His Majesty’s Minister, Tehran; the Political Agency, Muscat and the Government of Muscat and Oman.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 56; 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 3-54; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: The memorandum consists of printed papers on the subject of whether persons of Persian origin born in India are entitled to protection as British subjects. The question arose from the fact that Persia did not recognise British nationality in persons of Persian descent. In particular, it references the case of Agha Mehdee; a person of Persian descent who has enjoyed British subject status for a number of years. His status as a British subject is accepted by the Government of Persia, but they do not consider this to be a precedent to be conferred on others. The attitudes of France and Russia towards their subjects are considered in order to inform the British position on the matter. The papers included are outlined below.A letter (No. 1, folios 96-100) from William Taylor Thomson, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Persia, to Edward Henry Stanley, Earl of Derby, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, dated Tehran 15 February 1876, with the following enclosures:1. Translation of a memorandum from Minister for Foreign Affairs, dated 19 January 1876 respecting the position of Agha Mehdee;2. Memorandum No. 920 of 1868 respecting Nazir Mohammed Mehedee, signed W Whinvail, Acting Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, dated Bombay Castle 16 May 1868;3. Memorandum No. 2740 of 1870 respecting Nazir Aga Ahmed bin Aga Ali, signed Herbert Henry Jacomb, Under Secretary to the Government of Bombay, dated Bombay Castle 11 November 1870;4. Letter from Colonel Lewis Pelly, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, to E [Charles] Gonne, Secretary to the Political Department, Government of Bombay, dated Bushire 27 January 1872;5. Government Resolution No. 1905 regarding the position of persons of Persian parentage born in British territory, dated Bombay Castle, 27 March 1872;6. Opinion of J W [James Sewell] White, Advocate-General, Bombay, regarding the position of persons of Persian parentage born in British territory. It is dated Bombay Castle 5 March 1872;7. Telegram from Colonel Lewis Pelly, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, to E [Charles] Gonne, Secretary to the Political Department, Government of Bombay, dated Bushire 27 May 1872;8. Telegram from E [Charles] Gonne, Secretary to the Political Department, Government of Bombay, to Colonel Lewis Pelly, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, dated Bombay 7 June 1872;9. Telegram from Colonel Lewis Pelly, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, to E [Charles] Gonne, Secretary to the Political Department, Government of Bombay, dated Bushire 7 June 1872;10. Letter from Colonel Lewis Pelly, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, to E [Charles] Gonne, Secretary to the Political Department, Government of Bombay, dated Bushire 26 June 1872;11. Government Resolution No. 5446 regarding the position of persons of Persian parentage born in British territory, dated Bombay Castle 14 December 1872;12. Opinion of C J Mayhew, Acting Advocate-General, Bombay (No. 34), regarding the position of persons of Persian parentage born in British territory, dated Bombay 2 September 1872;13. Letter from Charles Umpherston Aitchison, Secretary to the Government of India, to Colonel Ross, dated Fort William 5 September 1874;14. Letter from G C Paul, Assistant Advocate-General, Bengal, to Charles Umpherston Aitchison, Secretary to the Government of India, dated Fort William 21 August 1874;15. Telegram from the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs to the Governor of Bushire, dated 22 Zuhejjeh 1292 (20 January 1876);16. Letter from William Taylor Thomson, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Persia, to B Schimanovsky, Russian Chargé d'Affaires, dated Tehran 25 January 1876 (enclosure in French);17. Letter from B Schimanovsky, Russian Chargé d'Affaires, to William Taylor Thomson, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Persia, dated 31 January 1876 (enclosure in French);18. Memorandum of a conversation between Mr Larcom and B Schimanovsky, Russian Chargé d'Affaires, respecting the laws regulating Nationality in Russia, dated Tehran 10 February 1876;19. Letter from William Taylor Thomson, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Persia, to R de Balloy, French Chargé d'Affaires, dated Tehran 10 February 1876 (enclosure in French);20. Letter from R de Balloy, French Chargé d'Affaires, to William Taylor Thomson, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Persia, dated Tehran 11 February 1876 (enclosure in French);21. Extract from "Les Codes Français" (enclosure in French);22. Extract from a law modified 7 February 1851 concerning persons born in France to foreign parents (enclosure in French).A memorandum (No. 2, folios 100-101) as to the protection to be granted to persons of Persian origin born in India, signed by A Walmisley, dated Foreign Office 20 April 1876. It considers a couple of cases; the case of 'Bagio', a Jew born to Ottoman parents; and 'Schlizzi', a man born in Ottoman territory, but who had resided for a time in England.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 96, and terminates at f 101, 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 file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: The file comprises correspondence from two distinct periods. Correspondence at the beginning and end of the file is dated 1909 to 1913 (ff 2-16, ff 52-87), and discusses the British protection of Bahrainis in Ottoman Turkey, in response to Ottoman Government representatives in Constantinople [Istanbul] questioning Britain’s claim of Bahrain being under its protection, and the registration and status of the increasing numbers of Bahrainis residing in the port of Mohammerah [Khorramshahr], thanks to that port’s relative stability and affluence. Some of this correspondence deals with a specific incident occurring in March 1911 in which three Bahrainis were detained by the Basra authorities, with the latter refusing to recognise that the men were under British protection (ff 56-63). The principal correspondents in these parts of the file are: the British Ambassador at Constantinople [Istanbul] (Sir Gerard Augustus Lowther); the British Consul at Bussorah [Basra] (Francis Edward Crow); the Acting British Consul for Arabistan (Arnold Talbot Wilson).The middle portion of the file (ff 17-50) comprises copies of correspondence from the Basrah [Basra] archives, dated 1873-1878, sent to the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Stuart George Knox) by Wilson in December 1910 (covering letter, f 16):letters dated 1878 from the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Charles Ross), reporting of the destruction of Zobara [Zubarah] by the Shaikh of el Bidaa [Al Bidda] with ‘two or three thousand followers’, under a Turkish flag (ff 20-21);letters dated 1873-1874, chiefly between the British Consul at Baghdad (Colonel Charles Herbert) and the British Ambassador at Constantinople (Sir Henry George Elliot), discussing a disagreement between British and Turkish Government officials over the Turkish Government’s intention to conscript Bahrainis residing in Turkish-administered Iraq into the Ottoman army, including a copy and translation of a memorial from the ‘Bahrainees of Kerbulla [Karbalā']’ (ff 22-50).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 88; 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 mixed foliation/pagination sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-87; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.Condition: There is considerable insect damage on some pages in the file, in the form of small holes in the paper. However the damage is not sufficient to impair the legibility of any text.
Abstract: This item consists of copies of correspondence, consultations, and minutes cited in, or enclosed with, political letters from the Government of Bombay. These political letters appear in IOR/F/4/2203/108134. The correspondents are: the Government of Bombay; Major Samuel Hennell, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; and Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Sheil, HM Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary at the Court of Persia [Iran]. It is the eighth in a series of thirty items.The item concerns a request by Meer Mahomed Hussein [Mīr Muḥammad Ḥusayn] to be considered a British subject, as he was born in India and had an Indian mother.The item contains a contents page, and the title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Draft 700/47, Coll[ection]: 18, Collection No 7 of No 37’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with f 672, and terminates at f 677 as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the item also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: This item consists of copies of correspondence, minutes, and consultations, cited in, or enclosed with, political and secret letters from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai]. The main correspondents are: the Government of Bombay; Captain Atkins Hamerton, British Agent at Muscat; the Court of Directors of the East India Company; the Foreign Office; the Imaum of Muscat [Imam of Muscat, Sayyid Sa‘īd bin Sulṭān Āl Bū Sa‘īd]. It is the first in a series of three items concerning the trade in enslaved people (the others are IOR/F/4/1958/85479 and IOR/F/4/1959/85480). The enclosures to the letters are contained in the following items.The item concerns:The rescue of enslaved children and their subsequent placement in households or in a trade at Aden or Bombay, or their return homeThe prevalence of the trade in enslaved people at Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh] and ZanzibarDiscussions of how frequently women and children were kidnapped from India and enslaved and sold at Zanzibar, and whether the Imaum of Muscat’s ships were involvedDiscussions of how involved the Imaum of Muscat was in importing enslaved people to IndiaThe difficulties of enforcing treaties abolishing the trade in enslaved people, and in persuading the Imaum of Muscat to agree to such treatiesThe system of importing free labourers from Zanzibar to Mauritius and the British attempts to persuade the Imaum not to permit this system because it was often used to perpetuate slaveryThe case of the
Joshua Carroll, a ship seized by the British on suspicion of it being a slaving ship, and the claims of the company which chartered it that it was engaged in legitimate trade to transfer free labourers to MauritiusThe request of the Nawaub of Sucheen [Nawab of Sachin, Ibrahim Mohammad Yakut Khan I] that the British return a dancing girl whom he had accused of theft and who had taken refuge at SuratAttempts of Neer Nusseer Khan of Sinde [Amir Nasir Khan Talpur] to persuade the British to pardon one of his officials who had been imprisoned for attempting to import nine children on his behalf.Affairs of the English brig
Maria:Captain Turner’s apology for confining one of the Imaum’s seaman in the
MariaThe false accusation of mate of the
Mariaof murderThe Imaum’s attempt to use the
Mariato obtain the inheritance of a man who died at Tamatava [Toamasina, Madagascar].The item includes a contents page and the title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Draft 596, P.C. [Previous Communication] 3593, [Season] 1842’ and ‘Examiner’s Office’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with f 530 and terminates at f 694, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the item also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: This item contains graphic descriptions of slavery.This item consists of copies of correspondence, minutes, and consultations, cited in, or enclosed with, political and secret letters from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai]. The main correspondents are: the Government of Bombay; Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, British Political Agent at Aden; Khojah Reuben, Native Agent at Muscat; the Government of India; Captain Atkins Hamerton, British Agent at Muscat on a mission to Zanzibar; Captain Samuel Hennell, British Resident in the Persian Gulf. It is the third in a series of three items concerning the trade in enslaved people (the others are IOR/F/4/1958/85478 and IOR/F/4/1959/85479).The item concerns:British proposals of methods to end the trade in enslaved people and potential political and practical consequences of these methodsThe extent of slavery and the trade in enslaved people at Zanzibar and India, and the involvement of the Imam of Muscat [Sayyid Sa‘id bin Sulṭan Al Bu Sa‘id] and his shipsThe kidnap and sale of women from IndiaThe involvement of individuals in the Persian Gulf in the trade in enslaved peopleThe difficulties of determining the nationality of crews and ships for the purpose of applying pre-existing treaties which limit the trade in enslaved peopleThe case of the
Kallah Kassaim[
Qal'ah Qasim], which transported enslaved people while flying British colours and subsequently changed to flying the Imam of Muscat’s flag, including copies of her licence and passThe importation of enslaved people into Shargah [Sharjah] and the non-cooperation of Sultan bin Suggur [Shaikh Sultan I bin Saqr al-Qasimi, Shaikh of Ra’s al-Khaymah] in resolving this matter; the eventual release of four Soomalee [Somali] women, the circumstances of their enslavement, and their return to BerberaA dispute between Sultan bin Suggur and Khalifa bin Shaikboot [Shaikh Khalifah bin Shakhbut Al Nahyan, Shaikh of Abu Dhabi] involving each of them plundering the other's territoryRelations between British and American citizens at Zanzibar and the influence of their respective officials over the Imam of MuscatThe arrival of Her Majesty’s sloop of war
Lilyat Zanzibar, and her seizure of the
Joshua Carrollon suspicion of her being equipped to carry enslaved peopleThe trade in enslaved people at Berbera and the possibility of its suppression.The item includes letters sent by the Imam of Muscat to Queen Victoria, Lord Aberdeen [George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen], and Lord Palmerston [John Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston] requesting that they modify their plans for the suppression of the trade in enslaved people (ff 210-219).The item includes a contents page and the title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Draft 596, P.C. [Previous Communication] 3593, [Season] 1842’ and ‘Examiner’s Office’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with f 4 and terminates at f 220, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the item also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: Enclosures no. 2-4 to a despatch from the Secret Department, Bombay [Mumbai] Castle, dated 24 February 1848. The enclosures are dated 21 January-8 February 1848. The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence relating to a decision by the Government of Bombay to allow a merchant named Hajee Aga Baba [also written as Hajee Agha Baba] to be considered a British subject. The correspondents are the Government of Bombay and the Government of India.Physical description: 1 item (5 folios)
Abstract: The file consists of a letter from William Rupert Hay, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf to R E Ellison, Political Agent, Muscat, dated 19 February 1949 asking him to establish how many members of the Hindu community in Muscat had been resident there for over two generations, and whether certain other communities in Muscat originating from the Indian sub-continent considered themselves Indians or Pakistanis. Hay writes that there was no need to take Gwadur [Gwadar] into consideration at that time. The letter encloses copies of correspondence from the Commonwealth Relations Office and Foreign Office dated January 1949 relating to the future of the Hindu community in Muscat, and the proportion of that community that would become United Kingdom citizens under the terms of an amendment to the British Nationality Act, 1948.The covering dates of the correspondence (the main body of papers in the file) are 20 January 1949 - 19 February 1949. The closing date in the overall date range is provided by an entry in the notes at the rear of the file.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at 1 on the front cover and terminates at 6 on the last folio before the back cover. The numbers are written in pencil and appear in the top right hand corner of the recto page of each folio.
Abstract: The volume comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, and notes, relating to the:Shaikh of Kuwait's date gardens on the Shatt al-`ArabTurkish demand that Kuwaitis should take out Turkish Nationality Certificatesregistration of Shaikh Mubarak's property at Faddaghiyaoffer of a cash salary to Shaikh of Kuwait as QaimaqamThe principal correspondents in the volume include the Political Agent, Kuwait, Stuart George Knox; the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Mubarak al Sabah; and the Political Resident in Turkish Arabia, John Gordon Lorimer.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 309; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located at the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-308; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: The early papers in the file relate to complaints by the Iranian Government over the treatment of Persian citizens in Bahrain; but the file mostly concerns the enactment of the Bahrain nationality and property laws, and the preparation of the Bahrain (Amendment) Order in Council (1937).The correspondence is mostly between the Political Agent, Bahrain; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; and the India Office. There is also some correspondence from the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain (Charles Dalrymple Belgrave), and the Residency Agent, Sharjah. Enclosures include correspondence from the Foreign Office; the Government of India; the British Legation, Jedda [Jeddah]; and HM Minister, Tehran.The papers cover: the response of British officials and the Government of Bahrain to complaints by the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs of harsh and discriminatory treatment of Persian subjects in Bahrain, May-August 1933; the registration by the Political Agency, Bahrain of British subjects and foreigners in Bahrain, September 1933 - May 1934; the registration and treatment of Persians in Bahrain, May-July 1934; discussion of the British Government's right to jurisdiction over all foreigners in Bahrain, November 1934; proposals for, and the drafting and publication of the Bahrain nationality and property laws, February 1935 - May 1937; the preparation and publication of the Bahrein (Amendment) Order in Council, 1937, and Kings Regulation regarding the ownership of immovable property in Bahrain by foreigners, 1937; and enquiries into the legal status of the ownership by Bahrainis of real property in the Hejaz and Iraq, May-July 1937. The dates given refer to main items of correspondence, and may include enclosures of an earlier date.The Arabic language content of the file consists of nine folios: Government of Bahrain notices in Arabic and English (folios 11-12); and drafts of official letters prepared by the Residency Agent, Sharjah (folios 218-224). The French language content of the file consists of one folio of press cuttings (folio 159).The covering dates give the dates of the main items of correspondence; the earliest document in the file is an enclosure dated 6 May 1933 (folio 7), and the last dated addition to the file is a note showing that the last item of correspondence was received at Bahrain on 23 July 1937 (folio 304).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 335; 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 also present in parallel between ff 5-330; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in same position as the main sequence. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: The file relates to the working of the Bahrain nationality and property laws, which required foreigners in Bahrain to submit lists of immovable property to the District Court. This requirement particularly affected Persian (Iranian) citizens in Bahrain, and had an impact on relations with the Government of Iran.The correspondence is principally between the Political Agent, Bahrain (and Assistant Political Agent, Bahrain); the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the India Office; and officials of the Government of Bahrain. There is also correspondence from the Government of India. Enclosures include correspondence from the Foreign Office; HM Minister, Tehran; and HM Ambassador, Iraq.The papers cover: protests by the Government of Iran against the Bahrain property and nationality laws, July 1937, January 1938; the decision to issue a notification that the Bahrain property law applied to Iranian nationals, August-November 1937; interpretation of the Bahrain property law, January-June 1938; a report on the effect of the property law on Iranian subjects in Bahrain, some of whom decided to adopt Bahrain nationality, 25 January 1938 (folio 77); translations into English of approximately thirty letters from individuals to the Political Agent, Bahrain, reporting the ownership of property in Bahrain, with descriptions of the property concerned, January-May 1938; repetition of Iran's claim to sovereignty over Bahrain, May 1938; the need for an amending law to cover the failure to register property when required to do so, March, July-December 1938, resulting in the simultaneous publication of the amending law by the Government of Bahrain, and the
Bahrain Property Law Amending Regulation, 1938(folios 197-98); and correspondence concerning attempts to evade the provisions of the property law by making gifts of land to minors, October-November 1938. The dates given refer to main items of correspondence, and may include enclosures of an earlier date.The Arabic language content of the file consists of approximately twelve folios, mostly copies of notices and proclamations (all with English translations) sent by the Government of Bahrain to the Political Agent, Bahrain.The date range gives the covering dates of the main items of correspondence; the earliest document in the file is an enclosure dated 2 July 1937 on folio 8, and the last dated addition to the file is an entry in the notes dated 17 August 1939 on folio 239.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 242; 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 also present in parallel between ff 4-239; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence between officials at the India Office and the Foreign Office regarding the legal status and historical development of Bahraini and Kuwaiti nationality. The rear of the file also contains correspondence and notes regarding the delineation of the Iraqi-Kuwaiti frontier.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 41; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Two additional foliation sequences are present in parallel; one between ff 2-40 and one between ff 36-38; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.