IOR/L/PS/12/2967

Correspondence, notes, and minutes concerning the appointment of the Sultan of Muscat, Said bin Taimur [Sa‘īd ibn Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd], as Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE). The early correspondence - principally between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, the External Affairs Department of the Government of India, the Viceroy of India, the India Office, and the Political Agent in Muscat – discusses the question of whether to make the appointment. Subsequent correspondence between officials at the India Office and those at Buckingham Palace and the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood deals with arrangements for the Sultan’s investment by the King at his audience on 30 March 1938, arrangements for the insignia, and messages of congratulations following the appointment.

At the front of the file is correspondence relating to the Political Resident’s recommendation that the Sultan be appointed Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (GCIE) for the 1945 New Year Honours List and the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) error in including the Sultan on the list when he shouldn’t have been.

Folios 22-23 are a blank Form of Covenant by which the recipient of an honour is bound to return their insignia to the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood should they lose their title or be appointed a higher rank. The Sultan was exempt from this obligation.