IOR/L/PS/5/271

Government of India Foreign Department letters marked ‘Secret’, ‘General’, or ‘Political’ and sent to His Grace the Duke of Argyll, Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for India, with enclosures. The papers are reporting on the state of affairs in a number of regions including: the Khanate of Khiva, the Khanate of Khelat [Kalat], Afghanistan, Persia [Iran], Yemen, Nejd [Najd], Oman, Zanzibar, and Turkish Arabia.

The correspondence related to the state of affairs in Oman and Zanzibar [Sultanate of Muscat and Oman] covers: the violation of the rights of British subjects at Sohar [Suhar] by Ibrahim bin Ghes [Ibrāhīm bin Qais Āl Bū Sa‘īd, Governor of Sohar]; ‘the application of Seyd Toorkee [Sayyid Turkī bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd] for payment of the Zanzibar subsidy’; ‘the alleged importation of slaves on the Arabian Coast under the French flag’ from Zanzibar; the hostilities by sea between Syed Ibrahim bin Ghes and the Sooltan [Sulṭān] of Muscat; the re-lease of the Customs Revenue of Zanzibar by Syud Burgash bin Saeed bin Sooltan [Sayyid Barghash bin Sa‘īd bin Sulṭān]; and ‘An account of the Tenets of the IBADHI Sect of ‘Oman’, translated from an Arabic manuscript work by the Political Agent at Muscat.

The correspondence related to the state of affairs in the Khanate of Khelat covers: a raid committed from Khelat territory into Persian territory by a Persian subject; the demarcation of the Perso-Khelat boundary; the disputes between the Khan of Khelat and his nobles; the Marri [also spelled in the volume as Murree] and Bogtee [Bugti] tribes’ activities; trade routes and trading activities; proposed measures for preserving the peace of the Sind [Sindh] frontier; and petitions raised by a number of Sirdars from Khelat.

The correspondence contains copies of Cabul [Kabul] diaries reporting on the state of affairs in Afghanistan. The diaries include news on the deputation of an envoy from the Khan of Khiva to the Amir of Afghanistan, Sher Ali Khan [Shīr ‘Alī Khān, also spelled in the volume as Shere]; the spread of cholera; military operations; the appointment and dismissal of local governors; the Budukshan [Badakhshan, also spelled in the volume as Badakshan] affair; the boundary between Afghanistan and Bokhara [Bukhara]; relations between Afghanistan and the Russian Empire; and correspondence between the Governor General of Russian Toorkistan [Turkestan] and the Amir in relation to border affairs.

The correspondence contains news reports of affairs at Aden covering: the spread of cholera at Aden and Hodeida [Al Hudaydah]; the attack on Hodeida by the Arab tribe of Asseerees [‘Asīr]; accounts of the trade routes leading to Aden and the principal tribes in the neighbourhood with which the Government of India have treaty relations; the Political Resident at Aden, Major-General Charles William Tremenheere, visiting Lahej territory; the advance of Turkish troops in Yemen; reports of incidents on board British ships; military action towards the Munsooree [Al-Manṣūrī, also al-Manāṣīr] and the Soobaihee [al-Ṣabīha, also spelled in the volume as Soobahees] tribes of Yemen; an agreement signed between the Soobaihee chiefs of Yemen and the Political Resident at Aden related to roads safety; a detailed ‘report of the Arab tribes and the vicinity of Aden’ prepared by Captain William Francis Prideaux, Assistant to the Political Resident at Aden; and an agreement signed between the tribe of the Foodthlees [al-Faḍlī] of Yemen and the Political Resident at Aden.

Other topics covered in the volume are:

• The military operations of Russia in Central Asia
• ‘The subject of the sovereignty of Kohuk [Kuhak, also spelled in the volume as Kuak]’ with detailed description of the Perso-Baloch frontier
• The employment by the Ottoman Government of an English diver, James Thomas, in seeking for pearls on the Arab Coast of the Persian Gulf
• ‘Complaint made by the Persian Government of instructions having been issued to Her Majesty’s representative at Gwadur [Gwadar] to recognise Charbar [Chah-Bahar, a town on the Makran coast of Persian Baluchistan] as belonging to Muscat’
• ‘A piratical attack on the British India Steam Navigation Company’s steam ship Cashmere at Busreh [Basra, also spelled in the volume as Busrah]’
• The claim of Hajee Moosa Meymennee [Ḥājī Mūsa Mīmanī, also spelled in the volume as Meymenee], a British Indian subject, to compensation for ‘the wheat supplied by him to the people of Bushire [Bushehr] under a compulsory order of the Persian Government’
• ‘The infraction of the interdict on the export of grain and provisions from Persian ports’
• An account by Dr David Livingstone, Her Majesty’s Consul in Inner Africa, of his explorations in Central Africa
• ‘The trade between India and the Persian Gulf, and the proposal for a new Commercial Treaty with Persia’
• The dispute between Turkey and Bahrein [Bahrain] concerning the murder of a Turkish messenger, and other Bahrein Affairs
• The Turkish expedition to Nejd
• News of the arrival and departure of ships at Kateef [Qatif], Ojair [Al-Uqayr], Ras Tanoorah [Ras Tanura] and other ports
• The request of Messrs Gray, Paul and Company for permission to place steam barges at Bushire for the purpose of landing and shipping cargo
• Relations between the Russian authorities and the Turkoman tribes
• ‘Captain St. John’s explorations in Persia, and containing information on certain points of Persian geography’
• The arbitral opinion given by Major General on special mission Frederick John Goldsmid, in the matter of the Seistan [Sistan] arbitration
• News of appointments of British Agents and other officials in various locations in the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan.

Among the main correspondents in the volume are: Charles Umpherston Aitchison, the Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department; D C Macnabb, Officiating Commissioner and Superintendent, Peshawur [Peshawur] Division; C Alison, Her Britannic Majesty’s Minister at Teheran [Tehran]; Ronald Thomson, Her Majesty’s Chargé d’Affaires at Teheran; Colonel C Herbert, Her Majesty’s Political Agent at Baghdad; H LePoer Wynne, Under Secretary to the Government of India; Captain G J Stevens, Commandant, Aden Troop; Colonel Lewis Pelly, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; Dr John Kirk, Acting Political Agent and Her Majesty’s Consul at Zanzibar; Major Edward Charles Ross, Her Majesty’s Political Agent and Consul at Muscat; Captain C Grant, Assistant Resident in the Persian Gulf; and Captain C H Harrison, Political Agent at Khelat.