Coll 17/3 'Iraq. Oudh Bequest'

Content

Correspondence between the Foreign Secretary of the Government of India, the Office of the High Commissioner for Iraq, and Saiyid Kalbe Abbas Naqvi, Honorary Secretary of the Waqf Section of the All-India Shia Conference. The correspondence concerns the administration of the Oudh Bequest Fund, and the appointment of a mujtahid to the Charitable Committee at Karbala, following the death of the previous incumbent, Mauli Kalb-i-Mahdi.

Details of the composition of the Karbala and Najaf Committees are provided, and the correspondence also provides information on candidates for the mujtahid position. The religious and charitable nature of the bequest is also discussed. At the front of the file are excerpts from the Official Report of the Legislative Assembly Debates, providing details of the terms of the Oudh Bequest.

Note:

The Oudh Bequest was a fund established by the King of Awadh to provide for the annual distribution of funds to improve religious learning and to help poor Shia communities in Iraq. The payments were distributed by selected mujtahids of the holy shrine cities of Karbala and Najaf. Following the annexation of Oudh in the 1850s, administration of the bequest was passed to the Government of India, and was supervised by the Head Clerk of 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 Baghdad, and later by the Protector of Indian Pilgrims, attached to the Secretariat of the High Commissioner in Iraq.

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the end of the correspondence (folio 1).

Extent and format

1 file (30 folios)

Arrangement

The papers are arranged in rough chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 30; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

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/L/PS/12/2847

Former external reference(s)

Coll 17/3

History of this record

Date(s)

8 Jun 1931-18 Oct 1935 (CE, Gregorian)

Context of creation

The Oudh Bequest was a fund established by the King of Awadh to provide for the annual distribution of funds to improve religious learning and to help poor Shia communities in Iraq. The payments were distributed by selected mujtahids of the holy shrine cities of Karbala and Najaf. Following the annexation of Oudh in the 1850s, administration of the bequest was passed to the Government of India, and was supervised by the Head Clerk of 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 Baghdad, and later by the Protector of Indian Pilgrims, attached to the Secretariat of the High Commissioner in Iraq.

Subjects

Charitable bequestsWaqf

People & organisations

All-India Shia ConferenceGovernment of India, Foreign SecretaryHigh Commissioner, Iraq

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Cite this record in your research

Coll 17/3 'Iraq. Oudh Bequest', British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2847, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000602.0x000185> [accessed 19 April 2024]

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