Abstract: This volume contains political and administrative diary entries filed by the Political Agent in Muscat at two week intervals. The subject matter of the entries varies greatly, and covers British political interests; local political affairs; visits of dignitaries; meteorological information; shipping; and tribal affairs. The more extensive entries narrate events that involve the Sultan of Muscat and Oman, or major political figures in Oman, and that may have political implications locally or internationally.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 198; 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 4-195; 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 A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence between British officials regarding the distribution and compilation of the monthly intelligence summary written by the Political Agency in Muscat. In addition, the file contains a limited amount of correspondence that discusses topics mentioned in the summaries as well as occasional extracts from them.The file also contains a copy of the 'Eastern Aden Protectorate Intelligence Summary No. 73 for the month of September 1945' (folios 61-63).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 118; 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in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.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: This file contains instructions sent by the British Residency and Consulate General at Bushire to the Political Agencies in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Muscat. The file contains a series of instructions on the appropriate content and form of intelligence summaries sent on a regular basis from the various Political Agents of the Persian Gulf to the Political Resident at Bushire.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 44; 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 3-17; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This volume contains the diary entries of the British Agent, Gwadur [Gwadar], in correspondence with the British Agent at Muscat. It contains letters and entries on various subjects but generally cohere around conflicts and violence in Iran's region of Baluchistan and possible repercussions in Gwadur. The volume also contains other miscellaneous political correspondence relating to claims of British firms, aviation records, and temporary passage and visits by dignitaries to Gwadur.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 402; 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 5-399; 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. The file has one foliation anomaly, f 172a.
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 26 December and received by the India Office via Brindisi on 19 January 1874, forwarding copies of papers relating to the enforced resignation of the Wuzeer of Persia [Vizier of Iran], his subsequent reinstatement by the Shah, appointment to the Governorship of Ghilan [Gilan], and call to Teheran [Tehran]. The item chiefly comprises telegrams and correspondence between William Taylour Thomson, HM Minister in Teheran, and Earl Granville, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and includes copies of intelligence reports to Thomson by Sir Joseph Dickson, Physician to HM Legation, in medical attendance upon the Shah, and copies of letters by members of the (Persian) royal household.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 364, and terminates at f 388c, 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 nine foliation anomalies: f 364a, f 365a, f 372a, f 373a, f 374a, f 381a, f 388a, f 388b, and f 388c.
Abstract: This file contains reports on the contemplated invasion of Oman by the Ibn Rashid clan of Jabal Shammar by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf. It also contains discussions on Turkish influence and jurisdiction on the Arab Coast between the Government of India and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf. Finally, the file also contains the September 1888-June 1889 Administration and trade returns.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 77; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence sent by the Political Agency at Bahrain to J G Ballie, Vice-Consul at Bushire [Bushehr], regarding Khan Bahadur Abdul Latif bin Abdul Jalil [Khān Bahādur ‘Abd al-Laṭīf bin ‘Abd al-Jalīl], former Director of Customs at Kuwait.The letters mention why the former Director was dismissed and explain the private conversation the Political Agency had with him on 21 March 1933, when he disclosed personal political affairs regarding Kuwait.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 6; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: This part of the volume comprises correspondence, memoranda, notes, and other papers relating to the first years of the East India Company Residency in Bagdad [Baghdad, also spelled Bagdat in this volume]. The first section (folios 4-153) consists of letters from Sir Harford Jones, Resident at Bagdad, to Henry Dundas, President of the Board of Control. The letters contain intelligence, news, and, Jones's views on the matters discussed. Various subjects are covered, including:The French invasion of Egypt and their campaign in Syria, including the seizure of Alexandria (July 1798), the French defeat by the British at the Battle of the Nile (August 1798), the reaction of the Ottoman authorities to the invasion, the Siege of Acre (March-May 1799), and the Battle of Aboukir [Abu Qir] (July 1799)British fears of a French overland invasion of India and concerns about French influence in the regionEvents in Khorassan [historic region of Greater Khorasan, including north-east Iran and parts of present-day Afghanistan], including the Afghan ruler Zeman Shah's [Zamān Shāh Durrānī] advances on the Punjab, Persian plans to take Herat, and Jones's recommendation to the Government of India that a British representative be installed at Caboul [Kabul]Ottoman military efforts against the growing power of the Whabee [Wahhābī, also spelled Whahaubee in this volume] State in Central ArabiaThe East India Company's victory over Tippoo Sultan [Sulṭān Fātiḥ ‘Alī Ṣāḥib Tīpū, or Tīpū Sulṭān] and the consolidation of their imperial power in IndiaEvents in Europe, particularly those relating to the Napoleonic WarsTreatment of the Christian community in BagdadPolitical affairs in Persia [Iran], India, and Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq]Relations with the Persian Court and the Ottoman Governor of the Baghdad Vilayet, Soliman Pashaw [Sulaymān Pāshā], including the diplomatic missions to Persia of Meerza Mehdi Ally Khan [Mīrzā Mahdī ‘Alī Khān Bahadūr] and Captain John MalcolmRussian movements and ambitions in the CaucasusPlague in Bagdad and the surrounding regionsCommercial and administrative matters.The second section (folios 154-512) consists of the enclosures to Jones's letters to Dundas which cover the same subjects.Correspondence included as enclosures is between Jones and various diplomatic and governmental officials, intelligence sources, merchants, and East India Company representatives from across the region, including: Robert Page Abbott, Agent for the East India Company at Aleppo (following his death in 1799, his wife, Louisa Abbott (née Vernon), took on the duties of Agent); John Barker, Consul at Aleppo; the Government of Bombay; Peter Tooke, East India Company Agent at Constantinople [Istanbul]; Francis Werry, Consul at Smyrna; John Spencer Smith, Ambassador to the Ottoman Porte at Constantinople (after November 1799, Earl of Elgin [Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin]); Nicholas Ducci, Agent at Latachia [Latakia]; Chairman of the East India Company Court of Directors; Rear-Admiral John Blankett, Commander of HMS
Leopard, stationed in the Red Sea; Samuel Manesty, Resident at Bussora [Basra]; and Lord Minto [Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto], Envoy to Austria.Documents of note here include:A memorandum by Harford Jones on what preparations might be made for his Residency in Bagdad, dated London, 1 July 1798 (ff 4-7)Papers, in French, seized by the Ottoman authorities following the arrest of France's representatives in Bagdad, including Napoleon Bonaparte's proclamation to the Egyptian people following the seizure of Alexandria (ff 163-169)A short note by Jones on the history of the ruling families of Persia since Nadir Shah [Nādir Afshār] (f 171)The prospectus, in French, of a 'Commercial Company established in France under the auspices of the King for trade with Asiatic Turkey, Persia, and India' [French East India Company] (ff 173-174)A memorandum by Jones on the Whabee (ff 181-184)A letter, in Italian, from Accre [Acre] resident, Luigi Malagamba, concerning the French advance along the eastern Mediterranean coast towards Accre (ff 210-211)Extracts from the
Bombay Courier Extraordinary, dated 4 June 1799 (ff 248A-248)A report by John Barker on the roads, conditions, resources, governance, inhabitants, and distances of the region between the eastern Mediterranean and the Euphrates River, dated 1799 (ff 264-268)A memorandum by Jones on the industry and trade of the copper deposits of the Taurus Mountains, dated 1 December 1799 (ff 294-302)Extracts of a report on the events which led to the loss of HMS
Trincomaleein the Red Sea on 13 October 1799 (ff 304-306)A letter, in Latin, from Father Fulgentius a S Maria, Carmelite Vicar Apostolic of Persia and Mesopotamia and complaining of unjust treatment by the Ottoman authorities, dated Bagdad, 10 February 1800 (ff 331-332)Letters, in Persian, from Wafadar Khan [Raḥmat Allāh Khān Sadūzāʾī Kāmrān Khayli], Prime Minister to Zeman Shah, and concerning recent events of the time and the proposal of sending an English envoy to Afghanistan, dated Candahar [Kandahar], January 1800 (ff 351-352)News bulletins from Lord Minto in Vienna concerning events of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe (ff 485-488) and including an abstract of the Treaty of Lunéville (ff 495-496).Physical description: 1 item (511 folios)
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay, Secret Department, to the Secret Committee, Number 2 of 1850, dated 3 January 1850.The enclosed papers, dated 10 October to 15 November 1849, concern the affairs of the Ottoman Pachalic [Pashalik] of Bagdad [Baghdad]. They comprise correspondence between Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Acting Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq]; Henry Rawlinson, British Consul, Bagdad; Stratford Canning, British Ambassador at Constantinople [Istanbul]; Viscount Palmerston [Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston], Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; and the Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department.The papers cover several matters, including:The arrival in Bagdad of Namik Pasha [Mehmed Emin Namık Pasha, or Muḥammad Amīn Nāmiq Pāshā], Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Irak [Iraq] and military operations around Hindieh [Al-Hindiyah] to combat an uprising of the local Arab populationRelations between Namik Pasha and Abdi Pasha [Abdul-Karim Pasha, or ‘Abd al-Karīm Pāshā], the Ottoman Governor of BagdadPolitics and morale within the Ottoman Army and GovernmentThe costs of the military operations in the PachalicPolitical affairs in Sulimanieh [Sulaymaniyah].Physical description: 1 item (16 folios)
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay, Secret Department, to the Secret Committee, Number 15 of 1850, dated 16 March 1850.The enclosed papers, dated between 15 and 17 January 1850, concern affairs in the Ottoman Pachalic [Pashalik] of Bagdad [Baghdad]. They comprise a despatch sent by Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Acting Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq] to the Government of India, Foreign Department, enclosing copies of Kemball's letters to Sir Stratford Canning, British Ambassador to the Ottoman Government, Constantinople [Istanbul].Several matters are covered by the papers, including:The alleged financial malpractices of Nijib Pasha [Mehmed Necib Pasha, or Muḥammad Najīb Pāshā], former Ottoman Governor of BagdadThe perceived apathy and indolence of the current Governor, Abdi Pasha [Abdul-Karim Pasha, or ‘Abd al-Karīm Pāshā]Administration of the tribes in the Hindieh [Al-Hindiyah] districtRequired repairs for the Hindieh dike [dyke].Physical description: 1 item (9 folios)
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay, Secret Department, to the Secret Committee, Number 82 of 1842, dated 18 July 1842.The enclosed papers, dated between May and July 1842, comprise minutes, correspondence and reports, and concern affairs in the Persian Gulf. The correspondence is between Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Dundas Robertson, Officiating Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Military Auditor General, Bombay; Captain Atkins Hamerton, British Consul and East India Company Agent in the Dominions of the Imaum [Imām] of Muscat; the Government of Bombay; and the Government of India.The papers cover several matters, including:The British withdrawal from the Island of Karrack [Kharg] and the re-establishment of the Residency at Bushire [Bushehr]The recommendation that Karrack become a sanatarium for sick EuropeansThe question of compensating the Residency Shroff following the attack on his house in Bushire in 1838Relations with the Wahabees [Wahhābīs] of Nedjd [Najd]Affairs of Bahrein [Bahrain]Question of where Captain Hamerton should reside within the Imaum of Muscat’s dominions and his efforts to procure suitable quarters at Zanzibar.A section of the item (ff 251-329) relates to affairs in Persia [Iran] and Central Asia, as well as the Persian Gulf. It consists of copies of despatches sent by Sir John McNeill, Envoy to Persia, to the Earl of Aberdeen [George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen], Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. The papers cover the following matters:News of the war in Afghanistan, including intelligence from Herat, Cabool [Kabul], and Candahar [Kandahar], and a translated copy of a letter (ff 282-289) from Mahomed Akber Khan [Muḥammad Akbar Khān], Afghan military leader, giving an account of the killing of William Hay Macnaghten, Political Agent at CaboolThe Persian response to the British defeat in AfghanistanRelations between Russia and Persia, particularly along the coast of the Caspian SeaDelivery of the ratified commercial treaty between Britain and Persia to the ShahAffairs in Bokhara [Bukhara], including the suspected execution of the British-employed messenger, Ephrain, suggestions that compensation should be given to his family, and the imprisonment of British officers Colonel Charles Stoddart and Captain Arthur Conolly, including a copy of the latter’s journal (ff 300-313)William Taylour Thomson’s visit to Merve [Merv].Physical description: 1 item (116 folios)
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay, Secret Department, to the Secret Committee, Number 4 of 1850, dated 10 January 1850.The enclosed papers, dated 17 October to 17 November 1849, concern affairs in Persia [Iran]. They consist of correspondence between: William Taylour Thomson, British Chargé d'Affaires, Tehran; Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Farrant, Acting British Chargé d'Affaires (en route to Tehran); Viscount Palmerston [Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston], British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; and Lieutenant-Colonel William Fenwick Williams, British Commissioner for the Turco [Ottoman Iraq]-Persian Frontier Commission.Several matters are covered by the papers, including:The unsettled state of affairs in Persia, including rebellion in Khorasan, the murder of the Deputy Governor in Ispahan [Isfahan], and the difficulty of administering the provincesRelations between the Persian Government and the Muslim clergy, in particular between the Prime Minister and the 'chief priest' [Emām-e Jom‘a] in TehranProgress of a commission to settle the Turco-Persian frontier.Physical description: 1 item (19 folios)