Skip to item: of 146
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

‘Report on the Administration of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muskat Political Agency for the year 1878-79.’ [‎161v] (129/146)

The record is made up of 1 volume (72 folios). It was created in 1880. 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.

Apply page layout

118 ADMINISTRATION REPORT OF THE PEliSIAN GULF POLITICAL
interior, dwelling with the tribes and collecting information regarding tlie
country and people, the results of his observations being embodied in
his travels in Arabia published in 1838, accompanied by a map. The
map was the first trustworthy delineation of a country hitherto unknown
to Europeans, and imperfect as it is, is still the most valuable we possess
and it has served as the groundwork of all subsequent ones. Lieutenant
Wellsted claims to have laid down his positions accurately from astro
nomical observations, but I may remark that they are not all to be quite
depended on, the important town and valley of Semail, for instance
being placed some twenty miles too far west. Wellsted was accom-
panied during the greater part of his journey by Lieutenant Whitelock
I. N., who also traversed a considerable tract alone, at one time visiting
Rostak and at another crossing from Shinas to Shargah. These routes
are shown in Wellsted^s map, which Whitelock assisted to produce.
Whitelock's account of his journeys was presented, I believe, to the
Bombay Geographical Society, but it has not appeared in their transac
tions and has hitherto unfortunately been allowed to remain in obscurity.
Several other officers of the Indian Navy made trips into the interior
about this time, and one, a Mr. Cole, journeyed from El Ashkareh to
Muskat by way of the Green Mountains, but none of these can be said to
have added to our geographical information. In 1838 a French Botanist,
named Aucher Eloy, a man of the most indefatigable energy and per
severance, visited Muskat and traversed a considerable extent of the
country on foot in search of plants and other natural history specimens,
of which he made a large collection. He visited the Green Mountains
by way of Nakhl, a route untraversed by Wellsted or Whitelock, and
returned by Zikki and the Wady Semail. He died shortly afterwards
in Persia on the way home, but his journals were published by Jaubert
in 1843 with a map, in which Aucher Eloy^s route through •'Oman was
shown. In 1845 Colonel Hamerton, the 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. at Muskat, made
a journey from Shargah to El Bereymi, and thence to Sohar, of which a
short notice appears in the Bombay Government Selections, Volume
XXIV, and he is said to have made other trips, but no record of them is
known to me. Ten years later, in 1855, El Bereymi was again visited
from Shargah by Lieutenant Chester, I. N., who returned the same
way. Subsequently, when Acting 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. at Muskat, Lieutenant
Chester proceeded to the Green Mountains for the benefit of his health,
which had broken down, but, his illness increasing while on the road, he
was compelled to return before reaching them.
In 1862 Mr. W. G. Palgrave visited ^Om^n and has described his
experiences in his well-known travels in Central and Eastern Arabia.
Mr. Palgrave touched at Sohar and was shipwrecked near Burka, from
whence he travelled by land to Muskat. The information given by him,
however, does not appear to be of much value. Many of the localities
mentioned are not recognizable and are unknown to the Arabs so far as
my enquiries extend, while other names have unmistakeably been copied
from Wellsted, who again had copied from Vincenzo in whose book they had
been misprinted. In 1860 Lieutenant Stiffe, I. N., surveyed the harbour
of Muskat and executed a plan of the environs which has been published
as Admiralty Chart No. 2869, and leaves nothing to be desired so far as
it goes. Lieutenant Stiffe also visited the town of Bosher, 20 miles from

About this item

Content

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 Muskat [Muscat] Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. for 1878-79, published by the Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India (Calcutta), forming part of the Selections from the Records of the Government of India, Foreign Department, and based on reports sent to Government 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and the 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. at Muscat.

The report is divided up into a number of sections and subsections, as follows:

Part 1, is a General Report (folios 102-107) written by Edward Charles Ross, Resident in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. that gives a summary of developments in the region during the past year. It is divided up as follows:

1. 'Oman;

2. Arab Coast;

3. Bahrain;

4. Nejd, El Hasa [Al Hasa], El Katr [Qatar];

5. Southern Persia;

6. Bassidore [Bāsa‘īdū];

7. Establishments;

8. Slave Trade.

Part 1 contains the following appendices (folios 107v-115):

Appendix A: contains a number of meteorological tables in Bushire and Shiraz during the previous year.

Appendix B: 'Description of the Bahrain Islands' by Captain Edward Law Durand, First Assistant Resident, Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .

Appendx C: 'Memorandum on the Topography, &c., of Khuzistan or Persian Arabia, by P J C Robertson, Esq., Assistant 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. , Busrah [Basra].

Part 2 , is a Report on Trade of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. for 1878 (folios 116-119) written by Edward Charles Ross, Resident in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . It also contains a Memorandum on the Opium of Persia written by George Lucas, Uncovenanted Assistant to 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. , Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .

Part 2 contains the following appendices (folios 119v-159):

Appendix A: Memorandum on cultivation of a village in one of the Boolooks (districts) of Shiraz.

Appendix B: Three tables related to the number of vessels engaged in trade in Oman, Bahrain and from Lingah to Dayer.

Appendix C: A series of 29 tabular statements relating to numerous aspects of trade in the region.

Part 3 , is an Administration Report of the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. Muskat, for the year 1878-79 (folio 159v-160) written by Samuel Barrett Miles, 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, Muskat. The report provides a summary of developments in Muskat and the surrounding region during the previous year.

Part 3 contains the following appendix:

Appendix A: 'Memorandum on Geography of 'Oman' by Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Barrett Miles, 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, Muskat.

Part 4 , is a Muskat Trade report written by Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Barrett Miles, 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, Muskat (folios 162v-169). The report contains a number of tabular statements related to trade to/from Muskat during the previous year.

Extent and format
1 volume (72 folios)
Arrangement

The report is arranged into a number of sections and subsections, with statistic data in tabular format directly following written sections. There is a contents page at the front of the report (folios 100-101) that lists the report's contents and uses the report's own pagination sequence.

Physical characteristics

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. It begins on the first folio, on number 98, and ends on the last folio, on number 169.

Pagination: The volume contains an original typed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
View the complete information for this record

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

‘Report on the Administration of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muskat Political Agency for the year 1878-79.’ [‎161v] (129/146), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/V/23/36, No 165, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023578314.0x000083> [accessed 28 March 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023578314.0x000083">‘Report on the Administration of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muskat Political Agency for the year 1878-79.’ [&lrm;161v] (129/146)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023578314.0x000083">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000358.0x000219/IOR_V_23_36_ No 165_0132.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000358.0x000219/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image