Vol 193: 1854/55 Persia; General [‎57v] (120/162)

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This file consists of letters sent from and to the 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Bushire. The two officials corresponding on behalf of 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. are Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Resident in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and Herbert Frederick Disbrowe, Assistant Resident in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , who is stated as being in charge of local duties at Bushire.

The file is divided into two sections: '1854/55: Bushire 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. , Persia' (folios 1A-50), and '1854/55 Bushire 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. , General' (folios 51-77). A large proportion of the first section of the file consists of letters written from 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. to William Taylour Thomson, Her Britannic Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires at the Court of Persia, Tehran. This section also contains one letter addressed by William Taylour Thomson to the Resident.

Other figures engaged in correspondence with 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. include: Meerza [Mirza] Reza, Persian Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and Mirza Hassan Ally Khan (also spelled Meerza Hussein Ali Khan), Governor of Bushire (also referred to as the Durya Begee). Most of 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. 's correspondence with the Governor of Bushire is enclosed within the letters addressed to William Taylour Thomson. These letters, and their enclosures, primarily concern two subjects: the Governor of Bushire's proposal to erect a bastion in front of 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. (deemed unnecessary by the Resident); the reported oppression and molestation, by some of the Governor of Bushire's sirbaz [foot soldiers], of British dependents connected with 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. (particular attention is given to an incident in which a sirbaz allegedly mistreated a waterman employed by 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. ).

Other subjects covered in the first section include the liberation of slaves imported from Africa into various ports in the Gulf, and relations between the British and the Persians.

The second (and smaller) section of the file contains the Resident's correspondence with the following British officials: Edward Eden Elliot, Accountant General at the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. ; John George Taylor, Her Majesty's Consul and Honourable Company Agent, Bussorah [Basra]; Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. in Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. and Her Majesty's Consul General, Baghdad; Lieutenant Edward Francis Tierney Fergusson, Indian Naval Draughtsman. Kemball's correspondence with Rawlinson, which makes up the bulk of this section, discusses aspects of the Crimean War, including the Russian army's operations in Armenia and the state of the Turkish [Ottoman] army.

Also included in this section are the following items of printed material: papers issued by the Foreign Office entitled 'Part IV, Eastern Papers: Instructions of the British and French Governments for the Joint Protection of British and French Subjects and Commerce'; a notification from the Bombay Government concerning the appointment of a central committee to arrange the collection and eventual transmission to England of selected specimens of the raw produce and manufactures of India (included in this document is a list of articles deemed desirable for the Paris Exhibition of 1855).

Extent and format

1 volume (79 folios)

Arrangement

The letters in the first section of the file (folios 1A-51) generally proceed in chronological order from 29 March 1854 to 16 November 1854. However, the various enclosures within letters naturally pre-date the letters to which they are attached. Aside from these exceptions, there is one stand-alone letter, dated 20 February 1855, which is out of sequence with the rest of the file.

The second section of the file (folios 51-77) generally proceeds from early to late 1854; however, it is not in strict chronological order: many of the items are followed by those of an earlier date.

Physical characteristics

Pagination: There is an original pagination sequence, which is written in ink, in the top right corners of the rectos and in the top left corners of the versos.

Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which 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. This sequence begins on the front cover, on number 1, and ends on the inside of the back cover, on number 78. The following anomalies are present in the sequence: f 1 is followed by f 1A and f 1B; f 36 is followed by f 36A. The foliation sequence is the sequence which is used by this catalogue to reference items within in the file.

Written in

English in Latin script

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