IOR/P/765

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 1872. 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 the Persian Gulf, including: the proceedings of the Consul for the Netherlands at Bushire [Bushehr]; complaints by the Consul of the Ottoman Empire at Bushire concerning the actions of the Persian [Iranian] Foreign Office Agent there; the Governor-General of the Baghdad Vilayet’s engagement of an English professional diver on the pearl fisheries of the Persian Gulf Arabian coast; obstructions to British survey operations at Bahrein [Bahrain] and the alleged involvement of the ‘Chief’ of Bahrein; fines imposed on the ‘Chiefs’ of Bahrein and Aboothabee [Abu Dhabi]; draft regulations, circulated by the Government of India, connected to the Naturalisation Acts 1870 and the re-admission to British nationality of people renouncing their American naturalisation
• Affairs in Oman, including the dispatch of a ship-of-war to Muscat due to fear of an attack; and compensation for losses and injury incurred to British [South Asian] subjects at Sohar [Suhar]
• Affairs in Persia, including: modifications to the Commercial Treaty with Persia; matters relating to the telegraph line in Persia; proceedings of Russian military forces on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea and Shur-i Subz [Shahrisabz]; earthquakes in in the Khabooshan [Khabushan] and Bojnoord [Bojnurd] regions; drought, famine and economic depression in Persia between 1871 and 1872; matters relating to the supply of wheat to Bushire and the prohibition on its export from Persian ports during the ‘late famine’; and the appointment of Taylor Thomson to the Court of Tehran
• Affairs in Aden, including: reports on Turkish [Ottoman] military movements in Sana [Sana’a]; relations between the Sultan [Sulṭān] of Lahej and the ‘Chief’ of the Oukali [Awlāqī]; matters relating to the trafficking of enslaved people on the east coast of Africa and Madagascar
• Affairs in Zanzibar and Africa, including: the Zanzibar subsidy; the Livingstone Search Expedition; the alleged captivity of Europeans in the Galla [Oromo] Country; the lease of the customs revenue of Zanzibar to the firm of Jairam Sewjee [Jaya Rāma Sīva-jī]; and destitute Mahomedans [Muslims] in the Cape [southern Africa].

The Proceedings also cover:

• Affairs in China and Central Asia, notably Yunan [Yunnan], Szechuan [Sichuan] and Khiva
• Affairs in Sind [Sindh], Punjab, Ladakh, Cashmere [Kashmir], and Thibet [Tibet], notably relating to trade and frontier matters
• Affairs in Gujarat, Rajpootana [Rajashtan], and the Deccan, notably relating to administrative matters, territorial disputes, succession matters, state boundaries, and relations between Indian rulers and British officials
• Affairs in Burmah [Burma/Myanmar] and the northeastern territories of India, notably matters relating to the Naga Hills and Munnipoor [Manipur, also written as Munipore], boundaries and political affairs
• Appointments of foreign Consuls and Acting Consuls in India and Burmah
• Issues concerning dispossessed former rulers of Indian states and their families, such as pensions, inheritance, debts and land
• Affairs relating to Indian Princely States, including succession, debts, and internal disputes.

The printed volume lacks details on the place, printing house, and date of imprint.