IOR/L/PS/5/272, ff 182-192

This item comprises copies of a despatch and enclosures from the Government of India, Foreign Department, to the Duke of Argyll, HM Secretary of State for India, Number 12 of 1873, dated 17 January 1873. The enclosures date from 11 October to 21 December 1872, and consist of printed copies of correspondence concerning affairs in Muscat. The correspondence is between the following: the Government of Bombay; the Government of India, Foreign Department; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Political Agent, Muscat; Syud Burgash [Sayyid Barghash bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd], Sultan of Zanzibar; and Syud Toorkee [Sayyid Turkī bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd], Sultan of Muscat and Oman.

The papers cover a number of matters, including:

• The poor state of Muscat finances and the need for the subsidy from Zanzibar to be paid in order to suppress any unrest in the country
• Relations between Syud Toorkee and his nephew, Syud Salim [Sayyid Sālim bin Thuwaynī Āl Bū Sa‘īd] and other political and tribal leaders in the region
• Syud Toorkee's poor health.

The item includes a manuscript India Office minute, dated 27 February 1873 (folio 182), and an abstract of contents, listing details of the enclosures (folio 184).