'File 13/276 I & II (B 61 & 67) Locust Campaign Arab Side'

Content

This file consists of several telegrams and a letter relating to the proposal and planning of locust reconnaissance trips in southern Arabia, as part of a wider Middle East Supply Centre (MESC) effort to prevent food shortages caused by locust swarms in the region. The correspondence is between Arnold Crawshaw Galloway, the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in Bushire, Ralph Ingham Hallows, the Political Agenct in Muscat, Miles Lampson, the British Ambassador in Cairo, the MESC in Cairo, and O. B. Lean, the chief anti-locust officer of the Middle East Anti-Locust Unit, based in Aden.

The first part of the correspondence (folios 2-5) is concerned with the appointment of Wilfred Thesiger as leader of the expedition, obtaining permission from the authorities in Muscat and Salalah to venture into the areas to be surveyed, conditions set by those authorities for granting it, and details of how Thesiger wishes to carry out his task.

The second part (folios 6-7) consists of summaries of political developments in Oman at the time, namely talks between the Ghafiri (Ġāfiri) sheikhs, Suliman Bin Hamiyar of Jabal Akhdhar and Ali Bin Abdullah of the Beni Bu Ali, and the Sultan of Muscat, Sa'id bin Taimur, regarding the election of a new Imam following the expected death of the incumbent, Muhammad bin Abdullah al-Khalili. Folio 6 relays the Sultan's desire to postpone a proposed trip into the north of Oman until the following year due to the delicate political situation. Folio 7, a letter from Bushire to the External Affairs Department of the Government of India in New Delhi, emphasises the importance of these developments for the chances of a proposed geological survey by Petroleum Concessions Limited in the Jabal Akhdhar area during the winter of 1945/6.

Extent and format

1 file (8 folios)

Arrangement

The papers in this file are arranged chronologically.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The main, consistent foliation for this file is written in pencil in the top right of each page, enclosed in a circle, and runs from the front cover to the back cover inclusive. There is a former, inconsistent system that is also written in pencil in the top right corner, but not encircled.

Written in

English in Latin script

Type

Archival file

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/15/1/238

Former external reference(s)

A Series: 13/276 I & II Confidential Series: B 61 & 67

History of this record

Date(s)

5 Apr 1945-4 Jun 1945 (CE, Gregorian)

Related material

Related primary sources

Anti-Locust Research Centre archive, Natural History Museum.

Subjects

Locusts

Places

Būshehr

People & organisations

Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger, KnightJames OrtonFrancis WardenHugh Weightman

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'File 13/276 I & II (B 61 & 67) Locust Campaign Arab Side', British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/238, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x0000d3> [accessed 19 April 2024]

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