IOR/V/23/42, No 190

Administration report for the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muscat Political Agency for the year 1881-82, by Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Charles Ross, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf. The report was published by Authority, by the Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing in India, Calcutta [Kolkata] in 1882. A copy of a letter from Ross to the Secretary to the Government of India (Foreign Department), dated 6 July 1882, is included in the report (folio 252), the original of which submitted the report to Government, under the following headings:

Part 1 (General Report), written by Ross (folios 253-57), containing summaries of local political affairs, and incidents or events of particular note for: Oman; the Pirate Coast; Bahrain; Nejd, El-Hasa [Al-Hasa] and El-Katr [Qatar]; and Southern Persia and Biluchistan [Baluchistan]; plus reports on British naval movements in the Gulf for the year; slave traffic; and the Bushire observatory. Appendix A contains tabulated and graphical meteorological data for the year, supplied by the Bushire observatory.

Part 2 (Administration Report of the Muscat Political Agency for the year 1881-82), submitted by Major Charles Grant, Her Britannic Majesty’s Political Agent and Consul at Muscat, dated 10 May 1882 (folios 258-61), containing a summary of affairs at Muscat, as well as changes to British official personnel, and a brief report on the slave trade. Appendix A contains tabulated meteorological data for the year, recorded at the Civil Hospital in Muscat.

Part 3 (Report on Trade for the Persian Gulf for 1881), submitted by Ross (folios 262-319), comprising a short summary of the year’s trade, and followed by an appendix containing tabulated data on trade, including data on imports and exports into and out of the Gulf ports of Bushire, Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh], Bunder Abbass [Bandar-e ʻAbbās], Bahrain and the Arab (Oman) coast. The appendix also includes data on British and foreign shipping at Bushire, and a statement showing silk, cotton and woollen manufactures in Persia. An index to the trade tables can be found at folios 262-63.

Part 4 (Trade at Muscat), submitted by Grant, dated 10 May 1882 (folios 320-28), comprising a short summary of the year’s trade at Muscat, and an appendix containing tabulated data on imports and exports at Muscat (listed by commodity), and the nationality and average tonnage of vessels visiting Muscat.