IOR/P/1498 Jun 1880 nos 18-29

pp 131-51. Dispatches from the Secretary of State for India, forwarding opinions of the Governments of Bengal and Bombay on the recommendations of Assistant Surgeon Abdur Razzack that a Pilgrim Health Officer and Agent be established at Bombay, and that a Pilgrim Agency be established at Jeddah.

Comprising:

• Memorandum [dated May 1879] from Edward B Malet (1837-1908), Secretary of the Embassy at Constantinople, to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, remarking on the subject of British influence among Muslim populations, the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) and the Congress of Berlin, British administration in Egypt, and the British influence in the Gulf.
• Comments from the Municipal Commissioner and Commissioner of Police, Bombay, and the Government of Bombay, on the proposals of Abdul Razzack, and the general condition of pilgrim travel from Bombay.
• Communication from the Government of Bengal regarding potential sources of funding for the positions proposed by Abdur Razzack, and forwarding comments on the proposals received from Ameer Ali, President of the National Mahomedan Association, and Moulvie Abdul Luteef, Khan Bahadoor, Secretary to the Mahomedan Literary Association.
• Memorandum from the Board of Revenue, Lower Provinces, providing details of the following endowments, identified as possible sources of funding: Sasseram Endowment; Syedore Trust; Massumpore Endowment; Durga Kudeem Shureef; Hosaini Dullan.
• Communication from Lord Tenterden, Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, remarking on the sanitary arrangements at Jedda.
• Report from James Zohrab, Consul at Jedda, on the establishment of a Town Improvement Commission, and supplying details of a proposed tax to be levied on all merchandise landed at Jedda and goods shipped from Jedda, to create a fund for defraying the cost of improving the port and wharf.

Plus opinion of the Government of India, that little benefit would be gained from sending a confidential agent to observe the pilgrimage to Mecca, and that the establishment of a British Doctor in Mecca would be ineffective within the additional establishment of medical institutions and supplies.