IOR/L/PS/12/2955

The file contains letters, telegrams, minutes, and draft correspondence relating to the revision of the Anglo-Muscat Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation of 1891. The papers cover the finalisation and signing of the new treaty on 5 February 1939. The majority of the file covers the final adjustments to the wording and grammar of the text of the treaty which the India Office carried out in consultation with the Foreign Office, Colonial Office, Dominions Office, Board of Trade, Government of India, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, and Sultan Said bin Taimur of Muscat [Sa‘īd ibn Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd].

The file also contains correspondence relating to the following matters:

• the question of extra-territorial jurisdiction over subjects of British Dominions in Muscat, specifically those of the Union of South Africa
• notes on translation
• arrangements for the printing and distribution of the final text of the treaty
• preparations for the signing and ratification of the treaty, including the Political Resident's need for a personal seal
• the composition of a communiqué for the press
• the customary publication of letters relating to the signing of the treaty
• the question of the application of the terms of the treaty to an independent India and Pakistan, including a note on British-Indian subjects residing in Muscat by Major Andrew Charles Stewart of the Political Agency, Muscat (folios 24-25).

Other more minor matters covered by the file include:

• a Home Office request for a provision for control of dangerous drugs to be added to the treaty
• the need for the Sultan's formal consent to the appointment of Captain Tom Hickinbotham as Political Agent in Muscat
• notice given to the Sultan of the territories to which the treaty is applicable
• the Political Resident's (William Rupert Hay) wish to import fish manure from Muscat to Ceylon.