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 12 of 1850, dated 27 February 1850.The enclosed papers, dated 6 November 1849 to 2 January 1850, concern affairs in Persia [Iran]. They comprise despatches from Justin Sheil, British Envoy and Minister to the Court of Persia, and William Taylour Thomson, British Chargé d'Affaires in Tehran, to Viscount Palmerston [Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston], Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Copies of these despatches are sent to the Government of Bombay and the Government of India.Several matters are covered by the papers, including:Sheil’s overland journey to Persia and his arrival in Tabreez [Tabriz, also spelled Tabriez in this item]Sheil’s conversations with Prince Bahman Meerza [Bahman Mīrzā Qājār] in exile in Teflis [Tbilisi]Relations between the Russians and Circassians, Russian military strength along the Kuban frontier, and recent outbreaks of conflictSheil’s diplomatic engagements with Persian officialsNews from the civil war in Khorassan [Khorasan] and British efforts of mediationProgress of the Turco [Ottoman Iraq]-Persian Boundary CommissionRelations between Russia and Persia, including Russian demands to build a military hospital in Persian territorySheil’s assessment of the Persian Government and country in generalUnrest in the city of Ispahan [Isfahan]Relations between the Imam i Joomeh [Emām-e Jomʿa] in Tehran and the Persian Prime MinisterConflict in the province of Asterabad [Golestan]The lifting of the siege of Bushire [Bushehr].Physical description: 1 item (37 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 7 of 1850, dated 15 February 1850.The enclosed papers, dated 19 November to 13 December 1849, concern affairs in Persia [Iran] and the Ottoman Pachalic [Pashalik] or Bagdad [Baghdad]. They comprise correspondence between Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Acting Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [corresponding approximately to present-day Iraq]; Lieutenant-Colonel William Fenwick Williams, British Survey Commissioner for the Turco-Persian Boundary Commission; Major Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire [Bushehr]; Sir Stratford Canning, British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Constantinople [Istanbul]; the Government of Bombay; and the Government of India in Fort William.Several matters are covered by the papers, including:A request by Lieutenant-Colonel Williams for the presence of East India Company cruizers at Bussorah [Basra] to support the work of the Boundary CommissionPolitical affairs in Oudh [Awadh]The ongoing civil war in Khorasan, including an envoy sent from there to TehranRelations between the Ottoman Government and the Mujtahids of Kerbellah in Turkish ArabiaThe movements of Abdi Pasha [Abdul-Karim Pasha], the Governor of BagdadRevenue collection in Hendieh [Hindiyah] DistrictThe death of the Muntifik [al-Muntafiq] Sheikh and the election of his brother as successorThe encampment and activities of the Anizeh [‘Anizah] tribePolitical affairs in Sulimanieh [Sulaymaniyah].Physical description: 1 item (19 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 84 of 1842, dated 18 July 1842.The enclosed papers comprise minutes, correspondence, and memoranda, and concern affairs in Aden and the Red Sea. The correspondence is principally between Stafford Bettesworth Haines, the Political Agent at Aden; Lieutenant-Colonel Stratford Powell, Adjutant General of the Army, Bombay; Captain Robert Oliver, Superintendent of the Indian Navy; the Government of Bombay; and the Government of India.Several matters are covered by the papers, including:Affairs within the Aden Settlement and Protectorate, including relations with the tribes in the hinterlandThe status of military forces at Aden and the need to strengthen fortificationsAffairs at Mussowah [Massawa], Tedjoura [Tadjoura], and Mocha, including the plan to depose the Ruler of Mocha by the Ottomans, with British assistanceTurkish non-observance of the obligations of the commercial treaty between the Ottomans and the British [Treaty of Balta Liman, 1838] at various Red Sea ports.Physical description: 1 item (61 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 10 of 1850, dated 16 February 1850.The enclosed papers, dated 19 December 1849 to 15 February 1850, concern affairs in Abyssinia [Ethiopia and Eritrea] and on the Red Sea coast. They consist of a letter from Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Political Agent in Aden, to the Government of Bombay, in which he forwards a report by Lieutenant Adams, Commander of the East India Company schooner,
Constance. The report concerns his visits to Mussawa [Massawa], Hodeida [Al Hudaydah] and Mocha, and relays news from these places. The report, or extracts from it, are then forwarded to the Government of India, Fort William, and the British Consul General in Egypt, Charles Augustus Murray.Adams’s report covers various matters, including:French relations with the ruler of Adwa and the Patriarch of AbyssiniaHeavy duties being levied at ports along the Red Sea coast, particularly MussawaThe poor financial state of the Ottoman officers and troops in the region, and their efforts to raise moneyPolitical affairs in YemenPostal routes in Yeman and surrounding region.Physical description: 1 item (10 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 8 of 1850, dated 15 February 1850.The enclosed papers, dated 5 November 1849 to 15 February 1850, concern affairs in the territories of the Imaum [Imām] of Muscat and Oman. They comprise minutes and correspondence between Captain Atkins Hamerton, British Consul and East India Company Agent, Zanzibar; Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Political Agent, Aden; and the Government of Bombay.The papers mainly concern the exile of the Imaum's [Sa‘īd bin Sulṭān Āl Bū Sa‘īd] eldest son, Hillal [Hilāl bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd] to Lamoo [Lamu] on the East African Coast.Physical description: 1 item (11 folios)
Abstract: This file contains the Political Agent in Muscat's fortnightly political reports to the Political Resident in Bushire. The subject matter of the papers varies widely. Significantly, they contain numerous exchanges on the slave trade, and the recognition by the Government of India of Sayyid Faisal ibn Turki as Sultan of Muscat.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 145; 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 papers relating a number of political, logistical and economic topics, listed on the front cover of the file, and divided into sections accordingly. These include a memorandum on geographical knowledge of Oman by Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Barrett Miles from May 1879; Fujairah affairs from May 1879-January 1880; Gwadur [Gwadar] affairs from September-Octtober 1879; papers on a proposal for the establishment of telegraph station at Muscat from June-October 1879; dispute between Arabs of Sur and Ras al-Hadd from October-November 1879.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 105; 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 a partial translation of a text entitled 'Tenets of the Ibadhi Sect of Oman' from a MS Arabic work entitled the 'Keshf-ul-Ghummeh' of the Shaikh Sarhan bin Sa`id bin Sarhan bin Mohammed el-`Alawi a native of Oman. The translation and introductory notes are by Major Edward Charles Ross, Political Agent, Muscat. The file also includes an abstract of the Portuguese-Omani treaty of 1872, and the translation of the 1828 Perso/Muscat treaty.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 49; 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 papers that consist primarily of political correspondence between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf with the Political Agent in Muscat. Of note is a report by Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Barrett Miles on the Bereymi [Buraymī] Oasis. The papers also discuss ongoing political affairs in Gwadur [Gwadar].Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 84; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The file contains one foliation anomaly, f 38A.
Abstract: This file consists of letters related to several general subjects of the East African-Arabian Slave trade; domestic Omani politics; general affairs of trade. Of note are circular letters from the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf to Trucial Coast Shaikhs and the Sultan of Oman on their responsibility for the eradication of slavery. These also include Arabic copies of engagements entered into by the Trucial Shaikhs of the Persian Gulf with the British Government for the abolition of the African slave trade. The file also includes the Muscat Agency administration report 1871-72, and Fortnightly Muscat Agency news reports. Ancillary sections pertain to correspondence on the 1872 lease of Bandar `Abbas, and correspondence relating to Makran dependencies of Muscat.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 450; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The volume contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, telegrams and minutes regarding the administration of, and situation in, Mesopotamia [Iraq] following the Asia Minor Agreement of 1916, more commonly known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement, between the French and British governments, and the Anglo-French Declaration of November 1918. The volume also concerns the subject of self-determination in Persia [Iran].The papers notably cover:Discussion of advance interpretations of the 1916 AgreementThe Anglo-French Declaration of November 1918, which publicised their intentions and policy in the former Ottoman territories of Syria and IraqPresentation of the 1918 Declaration to the President of the United States of America by the French Ambassador to the US, Jean Adrien Antoine Jules JusserandDisagreement between the British and French visions of the future administration of MesopotamiaThe situation in southern KurdistanThe 1919 Paris Peace ConferenceApprehensions of the Baghdad Jewish community about the tenor of the Anglo-French Declaration, including a petition to the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, requesting to be made subjects of the British CrownReaction to the Declaration from the across the Arab worldDisagreement among the British over the form that Britain’s control in Mesopotamia should takeThe views of the principal sheikhs [shaikhs] of Mesopotamia on the 1918 AgreementDiscussion among British officials of the benefits of control over Mesopotamia and the view of the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, Arnold Talbot Wilson, on the situation in MesopotamiaDiscussion of the potential candidates for the head of the new state of IraqReports on consultations with political and religious leaders and inhabitants from across Iraq on the future Government of IraqThe views of Sir Percy Cox and Arnold Wilson on the situation in MesopotamiaThe question of the future political status of Mesopotamia, including the views of British officers serving in Syria and the HejazDiscussion of the question of Iraqi self-determination.Notable documents in this volume include:Text by Sir Percy Cox regarding ‘The Future of Mesopotamia’ (ff 308-310 and ff 270-272)Extracts from
The Times, 26 November 1819, including a series of articles under the title ‘The Arab Campaign’ (ff 230-232)The statutes for the independence of Iraq (ff 127-130)A memorandum by Major W H Young regarding the future of Mesopotamia (ff 99-112)Copies of ‘Self-determination in Iraq’ in Arabic (ff 75-97) and English (ff 57-73).The principal correspondents are: the India Office, Political Department; the Governor-General of India; the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; the Military Governor and Political Officer, Baghdad; Government of India, Military Department, the French Ambassador to the United States; and the British Embassy, Paris.The volume includes a divider, which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 334; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Multiple intermittent additional mixed foliation/pagination sequences are also present. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves. The sequence contains two anomalies: f 181a and f 181b.
Abstract: This volume contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, telegrams and minutes regarding the administration of and situation in Mesopotamia [Iraq] after the Agreement of 1916 between the French and British governments and the self-determination of Mesopotamia.The papers notably cover:The argument for establishing Mesopotamia as a British ProtectorateDescription of the general situation in MesopotamiaRelations between British officers and those in MesopotamiaResolution on Mesopotamia, Mosul, Baghdad and BasraThe statutes for the independence of Iraq (ff 127-130)Conversations regarding self-determination in MesopotamiaMention of British troops movements in MesopotamiaMilitary reports regarding disturbances around Mesopotamia.The principal correspondents are: Political Department, India Office, London; Viceroy and Governor-General of India in Council; Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; Military Governor, Baghdad; Military Department, India Office.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 256; 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 intermittent foliation sequences are also present between ff 15-256 and ff 32-57; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves. The sequence contains one foliation anomaly: f 196a.