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‘Report on the Administration of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muscat Political Agency for the Year 1880-81’ [79v] (31/244)
The record is made up of 1 volume (121 folios). It was created in 1881. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
20
ADMINISTRATION REPOUT OF THE
PERSIAN GULF
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
POLITICAL
a Government really weak, as are these Persian ones, to demand more
tlian a fair amount of revenue; but the deep distrust of each other so
reasonably entertained in a land, where honour and faith are a dead
letter, militates against any such cohesive action.
******
With regard to the nomad tribes, then, we see the policy of the
rulers plainly, i .e., a change as often as possible, either when the
ruler is ripe enough to be sucked and thrown away, or when another
man will offer a higher price to farm the tribe.
With regard to the settled village and town population, the extrac
tion of a large amount of revenue is an easier task than in the ca^e of
the nomads. The country is divided into districts or bulooks, whose
head is usually at Shiraz within reach of the Priuce Governor, the
nobles are usually ordered in once a year, and may not leave without
distinct permission; he is responsible for the revenue of the district, and
has his own agents on the spot to collect it. These again look to the
Khed-Khudas, as the persons immediately responsible for their own
village payments, and the district has to raise enough money somehow,
both to pay the Government assessment and to fill the maws of all these
middle men. This is one reason why taxation is felt as such a tre
mendous grievance, but there are many more. The worthy Khed-
Khudas and Kalanters exempt their own particular friends from a share
in the necessary payments. The Seyyids generally scrape through also,
and thus the burden falls unequally. There are also many small indi
rect taxes levied, such as those levied by pa-sing troops, by sowars of
the Governor, and travelling big men generally.
In one word the village community, or the paying part of it, are
obliged to find double and sometimes treble the amount fixed upon them
by Government. Travellers have remarked constantly on the poverty
of Persia, meaning, I take it, the poverty of the inhabitants, and not
that of the soil, for that, wherever water touches, is extremely fertile;
and this appearance of great poverty, a true expression of the state of
the people in most places is enhanced by the fact that no man dares to
appear-abroad decently dressed. Such a sign of being well-to-do would
immediately subject him to extortionate pressure. The greatest argu
ment that could be put forward in support of my view of the intrinsic
fertility, and natural capabilities of Fars, would be to point to the number
of inhabitants still remaining, the system of perfectly scientific mis-
government, and the time during which this has been gradually
attaining its present pitch of perfection without actually depopulating the
country, and then to draw attention to the still large revenue extracted
from the province, which is always allowed to be over a
crore
Equivalent to ten million, or one hundred lakhs. Used especially in connection with money (rupees).
per annum,
and which must be considerably more, the octroi being comparatively
insignificant. All this is wrung from the wretched peasantry and Eeliyats
of Fars. The remedy for this state of horrible barbarism is not easy
to see. Optimists insist upon it that, even under present circumstances
were the tribes settled, government could be carried on more safety,
and the burden of taxation would consequently be lessened. This neither
follows, nor do I agree. In the first place, the wealth of tiie Eel tribes
lies in their flocks and herds, and in this country a change of pasture
About this item
- Content
Administration Report on 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. and Muscat Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. for 1880-81, published by Authority at the Foreign Department Press, India (Calcutta), forming part of the Selections from the Records of the Government of India, Foreign Department (No. 181) and based on reports sent to Government by Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Charles Ross, 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 the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . The report is preceded by a copy of a letter sent by Ross to Sir Alfred Comyn Lyall, Secretary to the Government of India, dated 14 July 1881, which enclosed the submission of the original reports to the Government of India (folio 69).
The report is divided up into a number of parts, as follows:
1. General Report , prepared by Ross (folios 70-82), which is divided a number of small reports, organised by region and subject, as follows: 1. ’Omán [Oman] or Muskat State; 2. Pirate Coast; 3. Islands of Bahrain; 4. Nejd, El-Hasá [Al-Hasa] and El-Katr [Qatar]; 5. Southern Persia, with subheadings for Arabistan, Fars, Bushire, Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh] and Persian Beloochistan [Baluchistan]; and 6. Bassidore; naval; slave traffic; the observatory at Bushire; and the purchase of mules in Persia. Under the observatory report (folio 74) there is a handwritten pencil note (author unknown) which questions the underlined term ‘Samoom’ in the text, described as ‘a scorching northerly wind’. Three appendices follow the report: Appendix A comprises tabulated meteorological data from the Bushire observatory; Appendix B contains extracts from a report written by Captain Edward Durand, former Assistant Resident, on the men and internal politics of Fars; Appendix C is a genealogical table showing part of the Kájár [Qājār] royal family of Persia, indicating their present official appointments.
2. Administration Report of the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , Muscat, for the year 1879-80 , prepared by Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Barrett Miles, Her Britannic Majesty’s 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. and Consul in Muscat (folios 83-98), chiefly reporting on internal political affairs, with additional short reports on changes in British offical personnel and the slave trade. Two appendices follow the report: A. A note on the tribes of Oman, written by Miles, with tabulated data on the population, district and political affiliation of tribes, and separate sections dedicated to each main tribe, detailing their geographic location, character, and internal organisation. Appendix A also includes two genealogical tables, entitled ‘Seif bin Mohammed bin Saeed bin Mohammed bin Abdulla Âb Boo Saidi’ (folio 92) and ‘Khalfân bin Mohammad bin Abdulla el Wakeel Âb Boo Saidi’ (folio 93). Folio 94 is a note, inserted into the volume at a later, unspecified date, stating that a map, plan or sketch has been temporarily removed from the volume. Appendix B is a note, prepared by Ross, on the Ibadhiyah sect of Oman, with the translation of chapter 29 of “Keshf-ul-Ghummeh-El-Jama’l ’Akhbár-el-Ummeh” of the Shaikh Sirhán-bin-Sa’íd-el-’Alwai of Oman.
3. Report of trade in 1880 , prepared by Ross (folios 98-175), comprising a summary of trade and the harvest in southern Persia, and imports and exports. Two appendices follow the report: Appendix A is a note on sea-fishing in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , written by Lieutenant I. MacIvor, Assistant 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 the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , giving details of the main fishing areas; times of year for sea-fishing; boats used in fishing; fishing methods; curing and preparation of fish; importance of turtles; and varieties of fish found in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and at Muscat, with a tabulated list of fish, alongside their (transliterated) Arabic and Persian names; numbers of boats and men involved in fishing; and quantities of fish caught in the Gulf and at Muscat. Appendix B comprises tabulated trade statistics, indicating the quantity and values of imports and exports in the region, lists of goods traded, nationality and tonnage of trading vessels.
4. Trade at Muscat , prepared by Miles, dated 27 May 1881 (folios 176-85), incorporating a general overview of trade, followed by a number of appendices comprising tabulated statistics for the average tonnage of vessels entering and leaving Muscat, imports and exports, value and description of goods.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (121 folios)
- Arrangement
The report is arranged into a number of parts and sections, with tabulated statistical data directly following written sections as appendices. There is a contents page at the front of the report (folios 67-68), which refers to the report’s internal pagination sequence.
- Physical characteristics
Condition: There is a small tear in folio 90. A number of pages (between folios 91 and 92) have been cut out of the volume.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/V/23/40, No 181
- Title
- ‘Report on the Administration of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muscat Political Agency for the Year 1880-81’
- Pages
- front, 65r:185v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence