IOR/P/437/71

This volume contains the Proceedings of the Political branch of the Foreign Department of the Government of India for the months of May to August 1867. These Proceedings comprise copies of correspondence of the Government of India Foreign Department (renamed Foreign and Political Department in 1914).

The subjects covered include:

• Affairs in and around the Aden Settlement, including: British supervision of the journey of five formerly enslaved children from Aden to India (41-42, June Proceedings); the appointment of a Consular Agent for the United States of America at Aden (143, June Proceedings; 141-142, July Proceedings); the surrender of the ‘Chief’ of the Foudhelee [al-Faḍlī] tribe to the British Political Resident at Aden, and the signing of a peace treaty between the tribe and the British Government (27-29, July Proceedings); a treaty between the Government of India and the Sultan of Lahej regarding construction of an aqueduct at Aden (1-3, May Proceedings); and an outbreak of cholera at Aden (96-97, July Proceedings; 174-177, August Proceedings)
• Affairs in the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, including: the Sultan of Muscat’s lack of authority over his subjects, and the resulting advantage this has given to Syud Torkee [Turkī bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd, also written here as Syud Toorkee] in gaining allies (69-72, June Proceedings); the withdrawal and replacement of the Apothecary at the Muscat Consulate (156-157, June Proceedings); the capture of the town of Sohar [Suhar] by Syud Toorkee (150-151, June Proceedings); an attack on Muscat by Syud Toorkee (71-73, 147-150, 165, August Proceedings); a request from the Turkish [Ottoman] Government for coal to be supplied to a Turkish corvette at Muscat and Aden (16-17, May Proceedings); the ongoing efforts of Syud Torkee to secure the support of local Arab rulers for an attack on Muscat, and British efforts to prevent such an attack (78-80, 106-111, May Proceedings); the alleged desire of the Sultan of Zanzibar to reunify his territory with Oman (56-57, June Proceedings); and the Sultan of Zanzibar’s objection to paying the Sultan of Muscat a subsidy (137-140, May Proceedings; 172-173, August Proceedings)
• Affairs in the Persian Gulf, including: the replacement of the telegraph station at Mussendom [Musandam] and potential relocation of the coaling station at Bassadore [Basaidu] (212-213, May Proceedings; 56-59, July Proceedings); and the seizure of Ras-el-Khyma [Ra’s al-Khaymah] by Khalid [Khālid bin Sulṭān al-Qāsimī], Ruler of Shargah [Sharjah] (163-164, August Proceedings)
• Affairs in Persia [Iran] including: British insistence on the right of British subjects to own houses and other properties in Persia (125-126, June Proceedings); a report on the route between Cape Jask and Gwadur [Gwadar] (3-5, July Proceedings); British complaints about restrictions on trade in southern Persia, particularly at the port of Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh] (159-160, May Proceedings); negotiations regarding the leasing of the island of Bunder Abbass [Bandar-e ‘Abbas] from the Government of Persia by the Sultan of Muscat (190-195, May Proceedings); the Shah of Persia’s planned journey to Meshed [Mashhad] and possible intention to seize territory in Afghanistan (162, May Proceedings); and the Shah of Persia’s demand for the return of Persian weaponry and ammunition from Herat (89-90, August Proceedings)
• Affairs in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq] including: an outbreak of plague in Turkish Arabia (63, 138-139, June Proceedings; 83-85, August Proceedings); alleged misuse of charitable funds by Shia mujtahids (121-122, June Proceedings); the rebuilding of the Protestant cemetery wall at Bagdad [Baghdad] (126-127, May Proceedings); and the replacement of the British steamer ship Comet on the Euphrates river (112, July Proceedings)
• The trade in enslaved people in the Indian Ocean, including: the destruction by HMS Penguin of a buggalow [baghlah] suspected of carrying enslaved people (1-3, August Proceedings); and allegations of ships crewed by enslaved people trading at Bombay [Mumbai] (145-146, August Proceedings).

The Proceedings also cover:

• The sale and restriction of firearms in British India and Burmah [Burma or Myanmar]
• The granting of lands, titles, and pensions by the Government of India
• Inheritance of lands, titles, and pensions in British India
• Judicial, military, and economic administration in British India
• The affairs of Princely States in India
• French administration in Pondicherry [Puducherry]
• Relations with Burmah, including diaries of the Political Agent in Mandalay; the departure from Burmah of a Burmese Mission to France; a report on railway communication between Rangoon [Yangon] and China; and the settlement of the boundary between Siam [Thailand] and British Burmah
• Affairs in Afghanistan, with diaries of events from the Political Agent in Cabul [Kabul], including reports from Central Asia concerning the Russian advance in the region
• Despatches from the British Ambassador at Constantinople [Istanbul]
• Events in Abyssinia [Ethiopia], Thibet [Tibet], Bhootan [Bhutan], and Zanzibar
• Relations with Nepal (also spelt Nipal in the correspondence), including the alleged enslavement of British subjects by Nepali subjects
• The blockading of the Nicobar Islands in response to alleged piracy
• The appointment of foreign consuls at Bassein [Vasai], Akyab [Sittwe], and Rangoon
• The annexation of three provinces in Cochin China [southern Vietnam] by the French Empire.

The volume contains the following maps:

• Map of plague outbreak in Turkish Arabia (catalogued as IOR/P/437/71, f 440)
• Sketch map of the central Nicobar Islands (f 14)
• Map of the eastern coast of Abyssinia (f 186)
• Sketch map showing trade routes in Indore and Malwa (f 299).

Tabular Statements of matters of routine for each month are included at the end of each month’s Proceedings. These summarise documents that were not considered important enough by the Foreign Department to be sent to London.

Printed in Calcutta [Kolkata] by J L Kingham, Foreign Department Press, 1867.