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'Administration Reports 1905-1910' [‎100r] (204/616)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (304 folios). It was created in 1907-1911. It was written in English. The original is part of the 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. .

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AND THE MASKAT POLITICAL AGENCY An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. fO& THE YEAS, 190M^0§.
9
Even with his sowar In the East India Company army and later Indian Army, an ordinary native cavalryman or mounted cavalryman. escort, the Resident travelling by this route
experienced much annoyance; every man's hand seemed to be against his
neighbour ; no one dared stay abroad after dark ; peasants who formerly kept
transport animals for hire have sold them; ground has gone out of cultivation
as there is no security for the gathering of the crop and the country generally
is at the mercy of the most lawless element of the peasant population.
The ordinary route md Kazeroon though not as a rule unsafe for
Europeans was nevertheless insecure for posts and caravans throughout the year.
So much so that from tjtme to time caravan traffic was brought to an absolute
standstill.
At one time six different posts were held up between Bushire and Shiraz
and there was no letter communication between the two towns for five weeks.
In fact during the past two years no less than 15 posts have been robbed
between Bushire and Ispahan and as yet nothing has been recovered nor any
compensation paid to parties who have suffered loss.
Having regard to these conditions of chronic chaos which from time to
time seem to have driven individual traders to desperation and even caused
Messrs. D. Sassoon, in February 1908, to instruct their Agents to cease taking
indents, it is an apparently paradoxical fact that during the year under review
there has been no falling off in revenue at the Customs house at Bushire ! This
may be due in some degree to the exercise of greater severity in the interpre
tation of the Customs Ee^lement to which I have previously alluded and also
to a heavy export of opium, but the real position cannot fail to become
apparent from the figures of the coming year, during which there will surely
be a tremendous falling off in the receipts. As it is, the back wash of orders
sent home long ago is lying uncleared in the Customs, and no new indents
are going forward.
This question is a periodical source of dissension at Bushire, the two routes The choice of
being controlled by rival Khans who are continually trying to wrest the lucra- Bushfr^and 611
tive privilege from each other's enjoyment. During the past year the question B orasjoon.
has been the subject of continual wire-pulling among the interested parties,
and much annoyance has resulted therefrom to traders engaged in the forward
ing business. There can be no question as to which route is most advantage
ous to commerce generally, but strong vested interests are brought to bear
which never allow the question to rest on its merits for any length of time.
In the case of the land route via Ahmedi, the forwarding agent concerned
is able personally to supervise the despatch and receipt of his consignments and
the caravan starts from or arrives at the merchant's door under his immediate
supervision without any " break of gauge " en route.
In the case of the Shief or harbour route, after delivery to the muleteer
the goods have to be transported by boat a distance of 10 miles across the
harbour by an entirely independent agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , and are then dumped upon the
strand at Shief, where they often remain for weeks lying exposed to the ele^
ments while the muleteers carry them in driblets up the road. Sometimes a
muleteer will contract, unknown to his individual clients, for the conveyance
of two or three consignments at a time and having got the loads to Shief by
boat he starts up the road with a modicum of each consignment and repeats
this process until he accumulates all the loads at Kazemon, where be carries
out the same procedure again between there and Shiraz. Not only is the Shief
route open to this latter objection, but it is obvious that during transport across
the harbour and detention at Shief there is nothing whatever to prevent bales
being tapped and pilfered with impunity, it being impossible to fix the respon*
sibility for shortages upon any particular agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. .
The result is that the Shief route is much more popular with the dishonest
muleteer or unscrupulous forwarding agent while the Ahmedi route is clearly
to the advantage of trade generally. Apart from this the two routes lie, as
before mentioned, in the district of the rival Khans of Angali and Chahkuta,
and every change of Governor means a renewal of bribery and corruption on
the part of one or both.

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Content

The volume contains Administration Report on the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Political 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. for 1905-1906 (Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India, 1907); Administration Report on the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Political 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 Maskat Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. for 1906-1907 (Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, India, 1908); Administration Report of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Political 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 the Maskat Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. for 1907-1908 (Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, India, 1909); Administration Report of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Political 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 the Maskat Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. for April-December1908 (Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, India, 1909); Administration Report of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Political 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. for the Year Ending 31st December 1909 (Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, India, 1911); and Administration Report of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Political 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. for the Year 1910 (Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, India, 1911).

The Reports contain reviews by 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. and chapters on each of the consulates, agencies, and other administrative regions that made up the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. 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. . The Reports contain information on political developments, territorial divisions, local administration, principal tribes, British personnel and appointments, trade and commerce, naval and marine matters, communications, judicial matters, archaeology, pearl fisheries, the slave trade, arms and ammunition traffic, medical matters and public health, oil, notable visitors and events, meteorological data, and related topics.

Extent and format
1 volume (304 folios)
Arrangement

There is a list of contents at the front of each Report.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at 1 on the front cover and terminates at 306 on the back cover. These numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and can be found in the top right hand corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. page of each folio. The following folios need to be folded out to be read: ff. 40, 261.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'Administration Reports 1905-1910' [‎100r] (204/616), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/710, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023487520.0x000005> [accessed 20 April 2024]

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