Native Letters Outward

Content

This volume includes miscellaneous draft correspondence in English with accompanying Arabic and Persian (with the presence of siyāq accountancy script) translations from 9 August 1856 (7 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1272) to 28 January 1859 (23 Jumādá II 1275).

The letters are between the British Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. at Bushire, during Captain James Felix Jones's residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. , and various correspondents, most prominent among them are:

• British native agents Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government. : Hajee Yacoob [Ḥājjī Ya‘qūb], British Agent at Sharjah; Hajee Jassem [Ḥājjī Jāsim], British Agent at Bahrain; Khojah Hiskal, British Agent at Muscat; Mullah Ahmed [Mullā Aḥmad], British Agent at Lingah; [ Mīrzā A title of honour originally applied to princes, later to military leaders, and later still to secretaries, chieftains, and other ‘gentlemen’. Muḥammad ‘Alī?], British Agent at Shiraz; Khodādad, Bassidore Native Agent Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government. ; Hajee Mahomed Bushire [Ḥājjī Muḥammad Bushir, Agent at Karrack [Bandar-e Chārak]; Ḥājjī Muḥammad Khalīl, government agent at Shiraz;
• Persian officials: Mirza Ahmad Khan [ Mīrzā A title of honour originally applied to princes, later to military leaders, and later still to secretaries, chieftains, and other ‘gentlemen’. Aḥmad Khān], Derya Begge [Daryā-Begi] and Governor of Bushire; the Prince of Fars; Mirza Muhammad Khan [ Mīrzā A title of honour originally applied to princes, later to military leaders, and later still to secretaries, chieftains, and other ‘gentlemen’. Muḥammad Khān], Persian Slave Commissioner; Sayyid Muḥammad Tāhir, mojtahid [mujtahid] of Bushire;
• Rulers: Muḥammad bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah, ruler of Bahrain; Jābir bin ‘Abdullāh Āl Ṣabāḥ, ruler of Kuwait; Zāyid bin Khalīfah Āl Nahyān, ruler of Abu Dhabi; Sulṭān bin Saqr, ruler of Ras al-Khaymah and Sharjah; Khalīfah bin Sa‘īd, chief of Lingah; Sa‘īd bin Buṭṭī, chief of Dubai; Muḥammad bin ‘Abdullāh, chief of Dammam; Sayyid al-Thuwaynī, Imam of Muscat; Ḥusayn bin ‘Abdullāh, chief of Chārak; Jābir [al-Ka‘abī] bin Maurdo [Mardū], chief of Muhammarah; Ḥassan bin Jābir, chief of Kagan [?]; ‘Abdullāh bin Rāshid, chief of Umm al-Qaywayn; Ṣaqr bin ‘Abdullāh, chief of Kishm; Amir Fayṣal, chief of Najd; chief of Khasab; chief of Bu Samit tribe; chief of Ajman [Ḥumayd bin Rāshid]; chief of Tangistan; chief of Kumzar; chief of Mogoo; chief of Bukhā; chief of Ḥamayrah; Sayyid Turkī, governor of Sohar; chief of Ka‘ab; governor of Ṣaḥam;

General subjects covered throughout the volume include relations between the British Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. at Bushire and the Persian government; communications with their native agents Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government. , local rulers and merchants on both littorals of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; relations with other powers including the Wahhabis and the rulers of Najd, the Sultanate of Oman and the Persians; the status and claims of British Indian protected subjects; trade, exports, imports and customs; preservation of the maritime peace; pearling issues; and slavery cases. This volume also covers the period of Anglo-Persian War and the Battle of Bushire.

Specific events and details include: the affairs of Ibrāhīm Maymanī; passes and duty on horses and donkeys at Bushire (ff. 125r, 123v, 71r); presents for the ruler of Kuwait (f. 120r); death of Sa‘īd bin Sulṭān Āl Bū Sa‘īd, Sultan of Muscat (f. 116r); congratulations from Shaikh of Kuwait on fall of Bushire (f. 121r); commemorations for the Day of Ashura at Bushire (f. 96); murder committed by ‘Īsá bin Jarrāḥ of the Āl Bin ‘Alī tribe (ff. 94r, 93v); shipwrecks (ff. 92v, 66v); pension for widow of Mullā Ḥusayn, deceased Native Agent Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government. at Sharjah (f. 91v); evacuation of troops of Karrack island, December 1857 (ff. 71r, 63v, 59r); recognising national festivals by hoisting a flag (f. 67v); the state of the Bushire customs house (ff. 67v, 67r); excavation of certain mounds near Bushire (f. 64v); announcement of the marriage of Victoria, the Princess Royal of the United Kingdom, to Prince Frederick of Prussia, later Frederick III, Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia (f. 53v); invitation to the Daryā-Begi for an evening of entertainment at the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. (f. 49v); facilitating watch repair for Zāyid bin Khalīfah Āl Nahyān, shaikh of Abu Dhabi (f. 12r); notice of English New Year (f. 10r); and request for British protection by Muḥammad bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah, shaikh of Bahrain (f. 7v).

Miscellaneous notes in Arabic and Persian appear on the verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. of the front cover and folios 1r-6v and 135v-136v. A stamp reading '[Received] In [Political Department]' dated 4 December 1907 appears on the inside of the front cover with 'from Mr Wollaston on retirement' written below in pencil. Also on the inside of the front cover there is a Persian inscription that appears to be verses of the poet Shihāb Turshīzī.

Extent and format

1 volume (140 folios)

Arrangement

The volume is arranged from right to left with the earliest correspondence appearing on folio 135r and the latest on folio 6v. Both the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. and verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. of the folio are divided into a grid with the English appearing running vertically down the folio in the right hand column and the Arabic or Persian appearing in the left hand column. The text of some letters are crossed out (for example, folio 115r) indicating they were cancelled. Letters for the year 1856 run from 9 August on folio 135r to 27 December on folio 121vv; for the year 1857 from 2 January on folio 121v to 31 December on folio 67r; for the year 1858 from 1 January on folio 67r to 30 December on folio 10r; and for 1859 from 3 January on folio 9r to 28 January on folio 6v.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The foliation number is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio. It begins on the first folio after the front cover, on number 1, and ends on the inside of the back cover, on number 137. Foliation errors: f. 6 is followed by ff. 6A-B.

Written in

English, Arabic and Persian in Latin and Arabic script

Type

Letter book

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity.

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

IOR/R/15/1/180

History of this record

Date(s)

9 Aug 1856-28 Jan 1859 (CE, Gregorian)

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Native Letters Outward, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/180, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/node/428> [accessed 19 April 2024]

Link to this record

https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x000099

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