IOR/P/774

This volume contains the Proceedings of the Political Branch of the Foreign Department of the Government of India for the months of January to March 1875. These proceedings comprise copies of correspondence of the Government of India, Foreign Department (renamed Foreign and Political Department in 1914). The subjects covered in the Proceedings include:

• The rumoured arrest of Khalikdad [Khāliqdād], also known as Syud Raza [Sayyid Riz̤ā], Allahdad [Allāhdād], and Kadirdad [Qādirdād], believed to have been involved in the murder of Simon Fraser, Commissioner of Delhi, during the Indian Rebellion of 1857
• The negotiations with the Gaekwar [Malhar Rao Gaekwad, 11th Maharaja of Baroda], with a view to 'altering existing Treaties' to convert his cavalry contingent into a 'purely police force'
• The departure of August Raymond Margary on an 'expedition' to Yunan [Yunnan] and through Bhamo in British Burmah [Burma] to meet with Colonel Horace Albert Browne
• The report from Captain W Guthrie, Commander of HM Despatch Vessel May Frere, to Major Samuel Barrett Miles, Political Agent at Muscat, on his visit to the Batinah Coast, in connection with 'some irregularities committed by Arabs amongst the islands in the south of the Gulf', and showing his vessel in places 'where the British flag has not been seen for many years' (ff 66-67)
• The compensation claimed by Joonaghur [Junagadh] State for losses sustained by its subjects, on the occasion of 'the outrage committed on them at Hillaneeah [Hallaniyyah] by a party of Arabs'
• The settlement of differences between Sirdar Emam Bukhsh Khan Mazari [Sardār Imām Bakhsh Khān Mazārī] and Tumandar Murtaza Khan Bugti [Tumāndār Murtazā Khān Bugtī]
• The decision to deport Khaifa Sing [Kayfa Singh], a descendant of Maharaja Ghureeb Nowaz of Munnipoor [Gharīb Navāz of Manipur] to Hazareebaugh [Hazaribagh]
• The mediation of the Government of India between Syud Burgash [Sayyid Barghash bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd, Sultan of Zanzibar] and the Sultan of Muscat [Sayyid Turkī bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd], following the latter's offer of asylum to his brother Khuleefa [Khalifah bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd]
• The attempted poisoning of Colonel Robert Phayre, Resident at Baroda, with arsenic and diamond dust; the subsequent investigation, including the testimony of witnesses from the Residency and the Maharaja's Court; and the eventual implication of the Maharaja
• The complaints of the Maharaja of Baroda against the Resident, Colonel Phayre, and the decision of the Viceroy and Governor-General to replace him with Sir Lewis Pelly
• The progress report from Pelly, the new Political Resident, on the State of Baroda, to the Secretary to the Government of India in the Political Department, with sections on the 'Grievances of the Agricultural Classes' (ff 184-187), 'Grievances of the Sirdars [Sardārs] and Military Classes' (ff 187-190), 'Grievances of the Immediate Members of the Late Gaekwar's Family' (ff 190-193), 'Grievances of Followers and Servants of the Late Maharaja Khanderao [Khanderao II Gaekwad, 10th Maharaja of Baroda]' (f 193), 'Grievances of the Inamdars [An‘āmdārs] and Watandars [Vaṭandārs] belonging to the Gaekwar State' (ff 193-194), 'Grievances of Bankers and Trading Firms in Baroda' (f 194), 'Grievances of the Bijapur Thakoors [Thakurs]' (f 195), with a general review and concluding remarks (ff 198-199)
• The destruction of ten dhows in the Bay of Assab by HMS Thetis, and the payment of compensation to the owners, with money transported by the steamship Dalhousie
• The diaries of Major Charles Henry Harrison, Political Agent at Khelat [Kalat], 1st November 1874-20th December 1874 (ff 235- 237), on developments in the Khanate of Kalat
• A report on 'Relations with Tributary States and Frontier Affairs' by Brigadier-General John William Schneider, Political Resident at Aden, 21st November 1874 (ff 244- 245)
• The Cabul [Kabul] diaries submitted by Colonel Francis Richard Pollock, Commander of the Peshawur [Peshawar] Division, and a series of Candahar [Qandahar] News-letters
• A survey map of the Derejat / Dera Ghazi Khan, carried out by Colonel H C Johnstone, Deputy Superintendent of Survey, North-West Frontier, January 1874 (f 290)
• A memorandum by Colonel William Lockyer Merewether, Commander in Sindh, on the possible withdrawal of the Political Agent, Colonel Francis Loch, from the Court of the Khan of Khelat [Khan of Kalat, Mīr Khudādād Khān Aḥmadzā'ī] (ff 255-258), with further comments by Merewether (ff 259-261) and two additional memoranda from Loch (ff 261-264) and Captain Robert Groves Sandeman, on Special Duty at Jacobabad in Sindh (ff 264-267)
• The death of Maharana Shambhu Singh and succession of Maharana Sujjun Sing [Sajjan Singh] to Meywar State [Kingdom of Mewar or Udaipur State], despite the appeals of Maharaja Sohun Sing of Bagore to Colonel John Allen Wright, Political Agent at Meywar
• The proposal of Admiral Arthur Cummings, Commander-in-Chief in the East Indies for HMS Vulture to search for and capture dhows engaged in the 'slave-trade that is supposed to be carried on at the ports of Zaila [Zeila] and Tajoura [Tadjoura]' outside the Red Sea
• A proposal to persuade the Sultan of Kisheen [Sultan of Qishn], who exercised authority over Socotra, 'not to sell or transfer the island, or to allow any power to settle there without the consent of the British Government', to forestall any claims by the Khedivate of Egypt
• The plan of the Jemadar of Shuhur [Jam‘dār of Shihr] to purchase the steamer Phlox, through his agent at Bombay, to be transported for registration to Goa, so that it could sail to Arabia under Portuguese colours, and be deployed against the Nakib of Maculla [Naqib of Mukalla]
• The report by John Ware Edgar, Deputy Commissioner of Darjeeling, on a visit to Sikkim and the Thibetan [Tibetan] Frontier from October to December 1873, with the measures recommended for the 'encouragement of trade between India and Thibet via Sikkim'
• The reception of four 'runaway slaves' aboard HMS Philomel off the Batinah Coast, their restoration to their 'owners' following a request from the Sultan, Sayyid Turkī bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd, and compliance of the Political Agent in Muscat, Samuel Barrett Miles, and the necessity of furnishing Royal Navy vessels with copies of the 'Ruling of the Law Officers of the Crown, dated 18th April 1874', regarding the reception of 'fugitive slaves on board of British ships', in addition to vessels of the Bombay Marine operating in the Persian Gulf
• The reports received of 'extensive movement in progress in south-eastern districts of Oman amongst priestly faction [Al-Mutawa'ah]', and the Political Resident at Bushehr, Edward Charles Ross's consideration of the presence of vessels of war at Muscat as being 'desirable'
• The return of Captain George Campbell Napier from Khelat to Meshed [Mashhad], and his journey to Deregez [Dargaz], Koochan [Quchan], Boojnoord [Bojnurd], the district inhabited by Goklan Turkomans [Guklan Turkmen in Gorgan], Astarabad, and Teheran [Tehran], under the protection of letters of recommendation from the Persian Minister of Foreign Affairs [Mīrzā Ḥusayn Khān Mushīr al-Dawlah Qazvīnī] to the Governor-General of Astarabad
• The death of Maharao Raja Sheodan Singh without a natural heir and the succession of Maharaja Mangal Singh to the Princely State of Ulwur [Alwar], including a genealogical tree tracing the ruling dynasty back to 'Rajah Udekaran of Dhundar (Jaipur)' (f 354)
• The political and commercial relations between the Chinese Empire and Burmah [Burma], together with memoranda of interviews with the Hui leaders Ma-Ju-Lung [Ma Rulong] (ff 424-425) and Ma Yung-Shun (ff 425-426), 'Regulations respecting tribute from Burmah to the Emperor of China (from the Code of the Board of Ceremonies, [etc]) (f 426), an a 'Memorial by Ts'en Yu-Ying [Cen Yuying], Governor of Yunnan, respecting tribute from Burmah' (f 247)
• The dispatch of a kharita from Shah Jehan Begum [Shah Jahan Begum], Nawab of Bhopal, to Queen Victoria, containing two copies, in Persian and Urdu, of her 'History of Bhopal', with a copy in English of the late Secunder Begum's [Sikandar Begum's] Pilgrimage to Mecca', and including a kharita from Shah Jahan Begum to the Viceroy and Governor-General (f 433)
• The appointment of British and Russian commissioners to participate in the planned Turco-Persian Boundary Conferences at Constantinople [Istanbul]
• The performance of duties required of the Naval Squadron in the Persian Gulf, in light of 'recent occurences [sic] at Bahrein [Bahrain] and other places', and the Political Resident's concerns over the prioritisation of 'mere Naval routine' to 'important political service'
• The disruption of communications between Kateef [Qatif] and El Hassa [Al Hasa] by the Wahabee [Wahhabi] Prince, Abdool Rehman bin Feysual [Amīr ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd]; the deployment of troops, by the Turkish authorities, to Kateef with a squadron of four vessels; their preparations to deploy additional troops by land to Nejd [Najd], and the departure of Redif Pasha [Radif Pasha] for Busrah [Basra] and Fao [Faw], including a letter from the Kaim Makam of Kateef, Khizr Effendi, to Shaikh ‘Īsā bin ‘Alī Āl Khalīfah of Bahrein (f 465), and a letter from Amīr ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal to the Political Resident (f 473)
• The arrival of Shaikh Nasir-bin-Mobarek-al-Khaleefah [Nāṣir bin Mubārak Āl Khalīfah] from El-Hassa on the Guttur [Qatar] Coast, and the Ruler of Bahrein, Shaikh ‘Īsā bin ‘Alī Āl Khalīfah's fears that the Ruler of El-Bidda [Al Bidda] and the people of Guttur might assist Shaikh Nasir in attacking Bahrein, including a letter from Shaikh Nasir to the Political Resident (f 470), and letters from Shaikh ‘Īsā to the Political Resident (ff 474, 477)
• The appointment and proceedings of the Commission to investigate the charges against Maharaja Malhar Rao Gaekwar of Baroda of instigating an attempt to poison the Political Resident, including the letter appointing the members of the Commission (f 538)
• A report from Munshi Amir 'Ali Khan Bahadur [Munshī Amīr ‘Alī Khān Bahādur] to Lieutenant-Colonel Mowbray Thomson, Agent of the Governor-General with the ex-King [Vājid ‘Alī Shāh, Navvāb of Avadh] on the present condition of Oudh [Avadh] (ff 639-642), with additional correspondence between Munshi Amir 'Ali and Captain Henry Peacock (ff 643-645)
• The drafts submitted for 'The Arakan Hill District Laws Regulation, 1874' (ff 648-652), and 'The Arakan Hills Civil Justice Regulation, 1874' (ff 653-662), including copies amended by the Legislative Department of the Government of India (ff 664-673 and 674-677)
• The murder of Lieutenant W A Holcomb and many of his party in the Naga Hills, and the Chief Commissioner of Assam's determination to punish the Naga People, including the report of Captain W F Badgley in charge of No 6 Topographical Survey (f 709-710)
• The conclusion of peace between the leaders of the priestly faction, Ibrahim bin Ghais [Ibrāhīm bin Qays Āl Bū Saʿīd] and Saleh bin Ali [Ṣālih bin 'Alī al-Hārithī] and the Sultan of Muscat, Syud Toorkee, and the arrival of Syud Abdool Azeez bin Thoweynee [Sayyid 'Abd al-Azīz bin Thuwaynī Āl Bū Saʿīd], Dahoo bin Mohammed [Dahū bin Muḥammad?], and Deen Mohammed of Dashtyaree [Dīn Muḥammad Dashtyārī] from Gwadur [Gwadar]
• The decision of the Sultan of Zanzibar, Sayyid Barghash, to withdraw support from the Arab settlers at Unyanyembe, and ordering the Governor Amīr bin Sulṭān al-Ḥarthī to return to Zanzibar, including a petition from the settlers to Shaikh Hāshīl bin Suwaylim (ff 751-752)
• The fears of the Sultan of Muscat, Syud Toorkee, that his nephew Salim [Sayyid Sālim bin Thuwaynī Āl Bū Sa‘īd], currently residing at Kishm [Qeshm], would try to cross to the 'Pirate Coast' or Soor [Sur], having been invited by the Ghafiree [Ghāfirī] tribes of Jaalan [Jalan], including letters from Sayyid Turki to the Political Agent at Muscat (ff 753, 755).