IOR/P/438/7

This volume contains the Proceedings of the Political branch of the Foreign Department of the Government of India for the months of September to December 1869. 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 Aden Settlement, including: accommodation for leaders of tribes visiting Aden (1-4, 361-363, September Proceedings; 320, October Proceedings); ships suspected of trafficking enslaved people (17-20, October Proceedings); sites occupied by Peninsula and Oriental (P&O) and Messageries Impériales in Aden (156-158, September Proceedings); relations with ‘chiefs’ in the vicinity of Aden (294-296, October Proceedings); the movements of ships and attacks on kafilahs [caravans] (50-53, November Proceedings); the purchase and proposed fortification of Little Aden, and the question of ceremonies to demonstrate British control over the territory (138-148, November Proceedings); and conflict on the Hadramant [Hadhramaut] Coast and the question of British intervention (31-36, December Proceedings)
• Affairs in the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, including: British prohibition of ‘hostile’ movements at sea near Muscat (46-50, September Proceedings); the grievances of British subjects in Muscat against local authorities (51-55, September Proceedings); the capture of Bunder Abbas [Bandar-e ‘Abbas] by the Sultan of Muscat (326-327, September Proceedings) and its recapture by the Persian [Iranian] Governor Hajee Ahmed [Ḥājī Aḥmad] (61-62, October Proceedings); the occupation of Charbar [Charbahar] by Syud Nassir bin Thoweynee [Nāṣir bin Thuwaynī Āl Bū Sa‘īd] (111-113, October Proceedings); and the request of the Political Agent in Muscat for naval reinforcements in the context of a threat to Oman from the Wahabees [Wahhābī movement] (309-311, October Proceedings)
• Affairs in the Persian Gulf, including: the capture of Bahrein [Bahrain] by Mahomed bin Khalifa [Muḥammad bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah] and proposed military operations under Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis Pelly, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, in response (159-164, September Proceedings); a report by Lieutenant-Colonel Pelly on the state of affairs in the region in August 1869 (317-318, September Proceedings) and his request for a warship to be sent to the Gulf (34-37, October Proceedings); Affairs of Guttar [Qatar, also written here as Guttur], including the clarification of the relation of the Ruler to the British Government (228-232, October Proceedings), a request for British protection from Nadhem-bin-Nehaiman [Nāẓim ibn Nuhaymān], a ‘chief’from Guttar (357, October Proceedings); compensation to British subjects in Guttar for losses during conflict in the Gulf in 1868 (37-41, December Proceedings); and an apology from the Shaikh of Shargah [Sharjah] for his attack on Ras-ool-Khyma [Ra’s al-Khaymah] and promise to act in accordance with the wishes of the Resident in future (207-209, November Proceedings)
• Affairs in Persia [Iran], including the construction of telegraphs from Bushire [Bushehr] to Tehran (224-227, October Proceedings), cholera outbreaks in southern and central Persia and proposed quarantine in Bushire (355-357, October Proceedings; 87-88, November Proceedings); a dispute between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and HM Chargé d’Affaires in Tehran concerning the appointment of Mirza Hassan Ali Khan [Mīrzā Ḥasan ‘Alī Khān] to the Political Agency in Shiraz (177-179, November Proceedings); and a clash between sailors from HMS Dalhousie and Persian soldiers in Bushire (224-226, November Proceedings)
• Affairs on the Mekran [Makran] Coast, in particular the construction of telegraphs and relations with local leaders (185-189, September Proceedings; 53-57, October Proceedings); an official claiming to be an agent of the Government of Persia present at a Mekran Coast and Submarine Telegraph construction camp near Jask (56-60, September Proceedings); discussion of the role of the Political Agent in Gwadur [Gwadar]/the Mekran Coast (309-317, September Proceedings); and rumours of a Persian expedition in the region (297-299, October Proceedings)
• The trade in enslaved people in the Indian Ocean, including: the capture of dhows suspected of trafficking enslaved people between East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula by British ships, diplomatic and legal tensions with the Mijerteyn [Majertīn Sultanate] and the Sultanate of Zanzibar, and the broader question of the seizure and destruction of dhows by British ships (27-30, 31-32, 33-36 September Proceedings; 215-217, November Proceedings; 197-198, December Proceedings); an agreement with the Sultan of Muscat for the suppression of the trade in enslaved people (275-277, September Proceedings); the abolition of slavery in Portuguese colonies (186-188, November Proceedings); and the case of a Georgian woman sold into slavery at Muscat (116-123, December Proceedings)
• A mission from the Sultan of Zanzibar to Bombay [Mumbai], and a rumoured invasion of Oman from Zanzibar (331-336, September Proceedings)
• Affairs in Baghdad, including civil unrest in response to conscription (323-324, October Proceedings)
• The arrival in Tunis of a man named Mahomed Secunder [Muḥammad Sikandar] claiming to be the son of the late Sultan of Delhi, who allegedly killed five of his servants in the Persian Gulf (192-201, November Proceedings).

The Proceedings also cover:

• 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
• Relations with Burmah [Burma or Myanmar], including diaries of the Political Agent in Mandalay; an expedition to Bhamo to investigate trade routes to China; and a rumoured rising in Upper Burmah to recover territory annexed by Britain after the First Anglo-Burmese War
• Appointments, pay, and allowances of individual British officers
• Appointments of foreign consuls in India and Burmah
• The affairs of Princely States in India, in particular revenue and administration, with detailed reports on some states such as Cooch Behar, Alli Rajpore [Alirajpur], and the Rajpootana [Rajputana] States
• Issues concerning dispossessed former rulers and ruling families in India, in particular pensions
• Railway construction in India and its impact on the lands of Princely States
• Legal cases in Princely States, e.g. Junjeera [Janjira State] or concerning foreign nationals, e.g. Princes of Nepal
• The supply of arms and ammunition to Princely States and Burma
• Political prisoners, e.g. from Munnipore [Manipur]
• Frontier affairs, including military operations against the Akazai, Hussunzai [Hassanzai] and other tribes on the Northwest Frontier leading to the destruction of the village of Shahtut in the Agrore [Agror] Valley, burning of crops, and seizure of cattle by British forces; and against the Loosai tribes [Lusai or Mizo people] on the Northeast Frontier
• Relations with Khelat [Khanate of Kalat]
• Relations with Nepal (also spelled Nipal in the correspondence)
• Trade with Thibet [Tibet]
• Civil war in Bootan [Bhutan] and the refusal of the Government of India to intervene
• Reports from Aden of events in East Africa
• The annexation of the Nicobar Islands.