Abstract: This item consists of copies of correspondence, consultations, and minutes cited in, or enclosed with, political letters from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai]. The correspondents are: the Government of Bombay; Major Samuel Hennell, British Resident in the Persian Gulf; and Saeed bin Tahnoon, Shaik of Aboothabee [Sa‘īd bin Ṭaḥnūn Āl Nahyān, Shaikh of Abu Dhabi]. It is the sixth in a series of twenty items on the Persian Gulf (the others are IOR/F/4/2180/106055, IOR/F/4/2180/106056, IOR/F/4/2180/106057, IOR/F/4/2180/106058, IOR/F/4/2180/106059, IOR/F/4/2181/106061, IOR/F/4/2181/106062, IOR/F/4/2181/106063, IOR/F/4/2181/106064, IOR/F/4/2181/106065, IOR/F/4/2181/106066, IOR/F/4/2181/106067, IOR/F/4/2181/106068, IOR/F/4/2181/106069, IOR/F/4/2181/106070, IOR/F/4/2181/106071, IOR/F/4/2181/106072, IOR/F/4/2181/106073, and IOR/F/4/2181/106074).The item concerns an accusation, later fully retracted, by Saeed bin Tahnoon that Moollah Houssein [Mullā Ḥusayn], British Agent at Shargah [Sharjah, written as Sargah in the title], has been taking bribes to conceal information from Hennell. The item also briefly mentions the deterioration in relations between Aboothabee and Debaye [Dubai].The item contains a contents page, and the title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Draft 282/47, P.C. [Previous Communication] 5573, Coll[ection]: 10, Collection No 6 of No 140’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with f 954, and terminates at f 965, 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 volume also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: This volume contains administrative reports and historical sketches concerning Persian Gulf affairs. The volume also contains a number of letters between Henry Lacon Anderson, Secretary to the Government, Bombay; A Hinlock Forbes, Acting Secretary to the Government, Bombay; and Captain Felix Jones, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf. The correspondence relates to the reporting of this information (folios 3-5 and 77-79). The historical reports themselves were prepared by Herbert Frederick Disbrowe, Assistant Resident.The volume contains reports covering two reporting periods:1 May 1858 to 31 May 1859 (folios 2-75): Joasmee [Āl Qaswāsim] (folios 6-19); Beniyas [Banī Yās] (folios 20-25); Debaye [Dubai] and Ajmaun [Ajman] (folio 26); Amulgavine [Umm al-Qaywayn] (folios 27-30); Wahabee [Wahhabi, Najd] (folios 31-33); Uttoobee [al-‘Utūb, Bahrain] (folios 34-50); Muscat (folios 51-63); and Persian Coast (folios 64-75);1 June 1859 to 31 May 1861 (folios 76-173): Joasmee (folios 80-86); Bokha [Bukhā] (folios 87-89); Himreeah [Ḥimrīyah] (folios 90-91); Beniyas (folios 92-93); Boo Felasa [Bū Falāsah] (folios 94-105); Ajmaun and Amulgavine (folios 106-107); Wahabee (folios 108-115); Uttoobee (folios 116-157); Muscat (folios 158-161); and Persian Coast (folios 162-173)The reports concern British relations with various Persian Gulf and Arabian rulers, including: Sa‘īd bin Taḥnūn Āl Nahyān, former ruler of Abu Dhabi; Zāyid bin Khalīfah Āl Nahyān, ruler of Abu Dhabi; Sa‘īd bin Buṭṭī Āl Maktūm and Shaikh Ḥashr bin Maktūm Āl Maktūm, rulers of Dubai; Sulṭān bin Ṣaqr Āl Qāsimī, ruler of Sharjah; ‘Alī bin ‘Abdullāh Āl Mu‘allā, ruler of Umm al-Qaywayn; Ḥumayd bin Rāshid Āl Nu‘aymī, ruler of Ajman; Amīr Fayṣal bin Turkī Āl Sa‘ūd, Wahhabi chief; Muḥammad bin Khaīfah Āl Khalīfah, ruler of Bahrain; Syed Soweynee [Sayyid Thuwaynī bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd], Sultan of Muscat and Oman; and Sayyid Mājid bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd, ruler of Zanzibar. Mention is also made of the Chief of Damaum [Damām], Seikh Mohomed bin Abdullah [Muḥammad bin ‘Abdullāh] (folio 34); the Sheikh [Muḥamad bin Thānī] of Biddah [al-Bida‘] on the Gutter [Qatar] coast (folio 36); and chiefs of Lingah [Bandar Lengeh] and Mogoo (folio 67), as well as Charrack (folio 68).The reports cover the following subjects: visits and interviews of the Political Resident and other British officials, including Commodore Jenkins and Commander Balfour, with local rulers; the slave trade; piracy and the upholding maritime peace; pearl diving and trade; judicial matters affecting British subjects (Banyans), as well as details concerning their status; native Residency Agents at Sharjah and Bahrain; smallpox outbreak; the death of Shaikh Sa‘īd bin Buṭṭī and the succession of Shaikh of Ḥashr bin Maktūm; the Perpetual Truce of Peace and Friendship (1861) between Britain and the ruling Āl Khalīfah family of Bahrain; relations and conflicts between local rulers, notables, merchants and the British; and relations with the Amir Faysal, the Imam of Muscat, the Persian Government and the Ottoman Empire.Marginal notes refer to various correspondence. In addition, annotations in pencil appear throughout the volume (particularly folios 103-105, 141-145, 157) and the front cover is marked 'Done' in blue.Physical description: Foliation: Foliation is written in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. It begins on the front cover, on number 1, and ends on the inside of the back cover, on number 176.Foliation errors: folio 1 is followed by folio 1A; folio 75 is followed by folio 75A.
Abstract: Genre/Subject Matter:This black and white photograph shows Khan Sahib Said Abdul Razzak al Razzuki, Residency Agent, Sharjah in the foreground, with a building behind him in the background.Temporal Context:The creation date is derived from the postmark stamped on an envelope (folio 30) which follows the photograph in the file of which this photograph is part. The envelope was posted in London, is addressed to A C B Simon at the India Office, and is embossed with the logo of the Iraq Petroleum Company Limited, City-Gate House, Finsbury Square, London, on the back.Inscriptions:Typed on reverse of image: ‘Khan Sahib Said Abdul Razzak al Razzuki Residency Agent, Sharjah. native of Kowait.’Physical description: Dimensions: 175 x 117mm
Abstract: The file is concerned with the financing and construction of a rest house at Sharjah for the use of the passengers of Imperial Airways. It contains correspondence authorising expenditure, outlining the procedure to be followed for making payments, and reporting on the progress of construction. It also contains statements of expenditure submitted periodically by the Persian Gulf Political Resident to the Secretary of State for India, for subsequent submission to the Air Ministry. These statements generally outline the following: allowances made against the construction of the rest house, the personal subsidy paid to the Shaikh of Sharjah, rent paid to the Shaikh of Sharjah for the aerodrome, pay for guards at the aerodrome, and an allowance paid for additional accounting work undertaken at the Persian Gulf Residency.The file also contains two reports, dated between 1932-33, related to early difficulties encountered by Captain Kenneth Mackay, Supervising Engineer, in the construction of the rest house: see folios 97-112 and 131-143. Particular attention is given to the attitude of the Residency Agent for the Trucial Coast, Khan Bahadur Isa, and the attitude of local rulers.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 168; 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 is largely made up of correspondence, with occasional internal India Office notes, and records of inter-departmental meetings. The subject matter is the establishment of an aerodrome on the Trucial Coast to facilitate the transfer of Imperial Airways' Europe-India route from Southern Persia to the Arabian Coast. There is some material related to the selection of a suitable site. However, much of the file is concerned with negotiations with Shaikh Sultan bin Saqar, Ruler of Sharjah; Sharjah was selected by British officials as the most promising site for a landing ground. The file therefore contains a number of reports on the political situation at Sharjah, the progress of negotiations, and discussion over terms and conditions. A copy of the final agreement can be found on folios 225-228.The agreement with the Shaikh of Sharjah provided for the construction of a rest house to be owned by the Shaikh but rented by Imperial Airways. The file therefore includes discussion relating to arrangements for the financing and construction of the rest house. There is also a detailed consideration of the measures needed to ensure its security, and measures to be taken by British forces in the event of an attack on the facility: see folios 18-27 for a copy of the
Sharjah Defence Scheme.The file also contains discussion between British officials over their response to the following two proposals submitted by the Government of the Netherlands: a proposal for Anglo-Dutch-French co-operative partnership in approaching civil aviation matters linking Europe and the Far East, with a particular view to negotiations with Persia; and a request for access to the Arab Coast air route.In addition to the immediate response to the Netherlands Government, the file includes discussion related to how British policy over the Trucial Coast should develop in response to developments in civil aviation.Also contained within the file are a number of papers circulated by the Committee of Imperial Defence's Standing Official Sub-committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East. These papers relate to a proposal from Imperial Airways to use landplanes along the Arabian Coast route instead of flying boats; the file contains extensive technical comparisons between the ‘Hannibal’ four engine landplane (the Handley Page H.P.42) and three engine ‘Calcutta’ flying boat (the Short S.8).There is a limited amount of discussion, towards to front of the correspondence, over the state of British negotiations with Persia. However, this is not the focus of the file.A couple of letters from the Government of the Netherlands are in French (see folios 296-301) and the final agreement with the Shaikh of Sharjah (folios 225-228) is in both English and Arabic. The vast majority of the file is in English.The main correspondents are as follows: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Hugh Vincent Biscoe, and later Trenchard Craven William Fowle), the Political Agent at Kuwait (Harold Richard Patrick Dickson), and the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf. It also includes correspondence with officials of the following governmental departments: the Admiralty, the Air Ministry, the Foreign Office, the India Office, and the Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India.Most of the material in the file covers the period 1932 to 1935. Only a single letter, dated 31 March 1940, falls outside this range.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 637; 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, 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 two leading and ending flyleaves.