Abstract: The volume contains correspondence between Government of India officials and the Political Resident of the Persian Gulf, on the question of the disposal or repatriation of slaves manumitted in the Gulf region, in response to concerns from the Government of Bombay over the potential social consequences of settling further Africans in the city (folio 5). British government officials in London and India discussed the practicalities of sending freed slaves to Britain’s possessions in East Africa, where freed slaves could be employed in the region’s agricultural plantations (folio 13 onwards).In December 1897 Captain Hugh Daly, Deputy Secretary to the Government of India, wrote to the Political Resident (Lieutenant-Colonel Malcome Meade), requesting him to liaise with Her Majesty’s acting Consul-General at Zanzibar, Basil Cave, to arrange for the dispatch of freed African slaves to be repatriated at Zanzibar (folio 23). A batch of correspondence from 1899/1900 documents the arrangements made by the Political Resident (then Major Percy Cox) to send eleven liberated slaves to Zanzibar. Particular attention is paid to keeping the cost of the freed slaves’ passage back to Africa to a minimum.The remainder of the file covers the period 1897 to 1905, and deals with specific cases of emancipated slaves being dispatched to Zanzibar, either from the Political Residency in Bushire or the Political Agency in Muscat. This includes a report written by the Political Resident (Major Charles Kemball) in Nov 1902 outlining the numbers of slaves transported over a two year period (1900-1902) from Muscat to Zanzibar, including method and cost of transport (folio 82).Physical description: Foliation: The volume has been foliated with a small circled number in the top-right corner of each front-facing page, beginning with the front cover and running to the last folio.
Abstract: The volume contains correspondence exchanged between the Political Resident in Bushire (Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm J. Meade) and his assistant (John Gaskin), the Political Agent Muscat (Major Christopher Fagan, and from October 1899 Major Percy Cox), and staff of the Government of India. Correspondence begins with an enquiry from the India Office in London to the Government of India, in response to a letter sent to
The Timesnewspaper by the Anti-Slavery Society, relating to British authorities’ procedure in surrendering fugitive slaves in Aden and Muscat.The Political Resident and Political Agent Muscat discussed the procedure of assessing and granting manumission. The assistant secretary to the Government of India enquired into the possibility of applying the current practice of manumission at Muscat to the Persian Gulf generally. Internal Residency memorandums between Meade and Gaskin, noted that such measures would further intensify hostile feelings on the part of the Arab shaikhs to the British Government, and it was noted that the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi was seeking closer links with the French Consul at Muscat (folios 17-18). The memorandums also explore the merits of making the children of slaves legally free, but this measure was rejected on the grounds that it would be too expensive to administer.In office notes from early 1899, Fagan described in detail the manumission procedure there, including the Sultan’s role in the process (folios 29-30). It was noted (folios 24) that slaves seeking refuge in Muscat tended to be manumitted, irrespective of whether their case merited manumission according to the Treaty signed with the Sultan of Muscat. In 1899 Meade embarked on a tour of the Arab shaikhdoms, in order to inform the Shaikhs of their obligations in relation to the suppression of the slave trade. The memorandum gives details of the tour made on HMS
Lawrenceand the Meade’s meetings with the shaikhs of Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Ra's al-Khaymah and Umm al-Qaywayn, and their respective responses (folios 47-49).In a letter to the Political Resident of February 1900, Cox noted what he regarded as a lack of British Protection in current manumission certificates (folios 53-55). Enclosed with Cox's letter is a specimen manumission certificate issued by the Agency in Muscat (folio 56). Cox noted in his letter that the British Consul at Muscat issueds certificates in his own name, and not in the name of the British government.Physical description: Foliation: The volume is foliated from front cover to inside back cover with pencil numbers in the top-right corner of each front-facing page.
Abstract: The volume contains copies of covering letters sent with copies of the 1873 Slave Trade Proclamation, which was reissued on an annual basis. The letters were sent by Bushire Political Residency staff to a range of British representatives around the Gulf, including the Political Agents (Bahrain, Muscat, Trucial Coast, Consulates), representatives at the region’s telegraph stations (including Jask), and a representative of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company at Ganawah [Bandar Ganaveh]. The volume also contains numerous replies from recipients of the treaty, responding that they have posted or distributed it as requested.The volume also contains two copies of the treaty (folios 93 and 148). The treaty is printed in five languages (English, Arabic, Marathi, Gujarati and Kanarese). In a letter of 1926 to the Political Resident (Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Prideaux), the Political Agent in Kuwait (James More) notes the poor quality of the Arabic translation of the treaty. In response, Prideaux arranges for an improved Arabic translation be sent to him by More, for use on future reprints of the treaty. The revised translation is distributed for the first time in 1929. The two copies of the treaty enclosed reflect the ‘before’ (folio 93) and ‘after’ (folio 148) versions of the Arabic treaty text.Physical description: Foliation: The volume is foliated from the front cover to last folio, with small numbers in the top-right corner of each recto. Folio number 7 is omitted, and that there are some instances where the reverse side of pages are numbered if they are written or printed on.
Abstract: The volume comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, printed reports, memoranda, and notes, relating to the manumission procedure in Kuwait. Correspondence also discusses the procedure to follow if Kuwait slaves take refuge at other British agencies in the Gulf. Further discussion surrounds the issue of consistency of practice and whether guidelines should be issued by the Government of India.Included in the volume is a copy (ff 34-44) of typed notes 'Part 1:Notes for Guidance on Persian shore of Persian Gulf; Part 2: Notes for guidance on Arabian shore of Persian Gulf' with sections on Kuwait, Bahrain, Maskat and Trucial Coast.Also included (folio 79) is a copy of the proclamation issued by the Government of India in 1873 'notifiying the penalites which British subjects will incur by illegally possessing and in any way trafficking in slaves, or aiding others in such traffic.'The principal correspondents in the volume include the Political Agent, Kuwait (Stuart George Knox; James Carmichael More); the Political Agent, Bahrain (Francis Beville Prideaux); the Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign Department (Sir Louis William Dane); the Assistant Resident, Bushire (Richard Lockington Birdwood); the Ruler of Kuwait (Shaikh Mubarak bin Sabah al-Sabah; Shaikh Salim al-Mubarak al-Sabah).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 148; 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 also present in parallel between ff 2-147, and ff 3-133; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence related to twenty manumission applications made by slaves from Qatar, taken down by staff at the Political Agency in Bahrain. Many of the cases in the file feature only the slave's manumission statement, with little else in the way of correspondence.In the first case in the file, there is a British manumission certificate (folio 6), and an original, handwritten manumission certificate, given to a slave by his master (folio 5). Case 3 involves the manumission application of a female slave from Qatar, found embracing the flagstaff at the Political Agency in Bahrain. The woman also requests the retrieval of her children, who are in the custody of the Shaikh of Qatar. There are angry exchanges in letters between the Political Agent at Bahrain (Captain Tom Hickinbotham) and Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Jāsim Āl Thānī, over access to the children (folios 22-23, 25-26), with Shaikh ‘Abdullāh stating that he resents 'interference in matters about which agreements were concluded [in 1916] between me and H.E. Sir Percy Cox'. Office notes suggest that the mother lied about the ages of her children, resulting in the Agency having 'got into trouble with the Shaikh of Qatar' (folio 14).Physical description: Foliation: The file has been foliated from the front cover to the inside back cover, using circled numbers in the top-right corner of each recto page. The following foliation anomalies occur: 1, 1A, 2, 2A.
Abstract: The file contains papers and correspondence sent between the Political Agency and the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain (Charles Dalrymple Belgrave) between 1935 and 1945, relating to civil and criminal court cases in Bahrain. The cases raised include property theft (folios 26-29), disputes over land ownership (folio 59), inheritance (folios 13-19), accidential death (folio 48), and liability for the dangerous condition of roads (folios 33-34).Correspondence between the Political Agent and Belgrave in early 1945 relates to a court case involving an Iranian complainant. The case had proceeded through the Bahrain (domestic) courts for a number of years, on the presumption that the man was a native Bahraini. The Political Agent (Cornelius James Pelly) and Belgrave discuss the implications of the man's revelation that he is Iranian, and whether the case should now be transferred to the Political Agent's court, which has jurisdiction over non-Bahraini subjects (see folios 55-74, and office notes at folios 99-101). The case leads to the republishing of a Government proclamation, stating that no cases may be transferred from the Bahrain Court to the Agency Court on claims of nationality, unless the claim is made at the first hearing (folio 74).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 102; 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 2-101; 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: The file contains correspondence related to around sixty cases, involving slaves who have applied for manumission at the Agency in Bahrain. Copies of correspondence relating to many of these cases can also be found in the following Bushire Residency files: 'File 5/161 IV Manumission of slaves at Bahrain: individual cases' (IOR/R/15/1/205), 'File 5/161 V Manumission of slaves at Bahrain: individual cases' (IOR/R/15/1/206), and 'File 5/168 V Manumission of slaves on Arab Coast: individual cases' (IOR/R/15/1/209).Many of the items in the file relate to the financial difficulties caused by Gulf's dwindling pearling industry, and the effects this had on the status of region's slaves. The file includes numerous applications made by pearl divers for
barwa– documents freeing them of their contractual obligations to their
nākhudā(boat captain). Copies of
barwasare included throughout the file. Other correspondence (folios 98-99) raises the issue of pearl divers with debts fleeing from the pearling towns on the Trucial Coast to Bahrain.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 340; 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 286-338; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. The file contains five foliation anomalies, including f 1a, f 1b, f 1c and f 82a, and missing out f 14.
Abstract: The majority of the file is correspondence relating to about forty-eight manumission applications, most of which were made at the Political Agency at Bahrain. Some applications are made with the Residency Agent at Sharjah, and forwarded to the Agency at Bahrain for submission to the Political Resident in Bushire. Other applications involve Trucial Coast slaves applying for manumission at the Political Agency at Muscat. These applications were sent by the Muscat Agency to the Political Residency at Bushire, from where they were forwarded to the Political Agency at Bahrain for enquiries to be made at Sharjah.Aside from the manumission applications, the file also includes printed copies of the Proclamation of the Slave Trade Act (1873), distributed annually around the British offices of the Persian Gulf (folios 30-32, 215-217), and an Arabic copy of the Saudi Government's 1936 regulations regarding the slave trade (folio 178, with an English translation on folios 180-184).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 340; 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; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. A previous foliation sequence between ff 303-348, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence relating to forty-one manumission cases, heard at the Muscat Political Agency. All of the cases included in the file are straightforward in nature. Most of the cases include manumission statements taken down from the slave at the Muscat Agency, which were sent to the Political Agent in Bahrain for a decision. In those cases where the slave resided or was owned by a master based on the Trucial Coast, correspondence between Agency staff and the Residency Agent at Sharjah is included, which attempt to verify the slave's story. Correspondence from the Sharjah Agent was returned in Arabic with English translations. In most cases, the manumission statements were given by enslaved individuals seeking their own manumission. In eight of the cases in the file, manumission statements were given by persons seeking the restoration of family members.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 340; 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; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. A previous foliation sequence between ff 303-348, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence related to two manumission cases originating with the Political Agency in Muscat. Case number 1 is a straightforward case (folios 6-12) involving a male slave who has absconded to Muscat, and includes a copy of the manumission statement sent by the Muscat Agency to the Bahrain Agency for approval (folio 8). Case number 2 involves the abduction of a woman and two daughters by a Kalba inhabitant (folios 13-30). Correspondence relayed from the Bahrain Political Agent (Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Crabshaw Galloway) to the Shaikh of Kalba via the Sharjah Agent seeks to recover sufficient finance from the alleged kidnapper to enable the relatives of the abducted women to buy their freedom. As the alleged kidnapper has moved to Fujairah and is described by the Shaikh of Fujairah as being in 'bad financial circumstances', the Bahrain Agent requests that the Shaikh of Fujairah bear the costs for securing the release of the kidnapped women (folios 22).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 31; 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 file contains correspondence and papers relating to fourteen separate slave trading incidents reported on the Trucial Coast by the Residency Agent at Sharjah ('Abd al-Razzaq Razuqi). The incidents include an owner's attempt to sell his servant's daughter into slavery, and the trafficking of persons from Persia to the Trucial Coast, and the sale of slaves by their owners.The Residency Agent sent reports of the incidents to the Bahrain Political Agency, accompanied by statements from those involved (witnesses, victims, the accused traders) and correspondence exchanged between the Agent and the ruler in whose dominion the incident took place. These papers were sent to the Bahrain Agency as a bundle of papers, and included copies of the original Arabic correspondence, with accompanying English translations. An original copy of a travel permit (issued by the Political Agency in Bahrain, and confiscated by the Sharjah Agent from a suspected slave trader) is included in the file (folio 11C).Physical description: Foliation: The main foliation sequence begins on the front cover and terminates at the back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled and can be found in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Foliation errors: 11A, 11B and 11C; 132A and 132B; 359A and 359B; 383A and 383B; 405A and 405B; 406A, 406B and 406C; 407A and 407B.
Abstract: The file contains twelve cases of slavery or applications for manumission, heard by the Residency Agent at Sharjah. While the final three cases in the file (involving nine slaves) are straightforward manumission applications, other cases are more complex, and involve larger amounts of correspondence exchanged between the Residency Agent in Sharjah and the Bahrain Political Agent on one hand, and the Bahrain Political Agent and Political Resident on the other.Cases of note include the following. Case no. 2, in which a man sought the retrieval from slavery of his sister and cousin, who were kidnapped ten years previously. The sister was found to be married and did not want to leave her family (folios 16-70). Case no. 5 in which a man requested the liberation of his son who, enquiries by the Residency Agent at Sharjah revealed, was originally mortgaged (i.e. sold) by the father to another man for 40 rupees, to be paid back in 20 days (folios 139-42). Case no. 6 is a manumission application made by an indebted diver accused of two cases of theft in Dubai (folios 175-272).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 360; 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 five foliation anomalies, including f 91a, f 91b, f 98a and f 168a, and missing out f 245.