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‘Report on the administration of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muskat Political Agency for the year 1879-80’ [‎299r] (28/161)

The record is made up of 1 volume (80 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. .

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eesidency and muskat political agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. for 1879-80. 17
Bearing and castration. —The young mule is allowed to grow up
under its mother and to graze with the herd until three years of age,
when it is taken away for sale or to be trained to work.
At the age of two years all the males are castrated, the method
adopted being to make an incision in the scrotum and tie a string tightly
round the spermadic cord, when the mule is set free, and in a day or two
the testicle falls off.
Training. —When three years old the mule is broken in to work.
For the first two journeys no weight is put on his back, and he simply
follows in the caravan. On the third journey a load of 80 lbs. is put on
him and this is gradually increased until he can carry 320 lbs., which is
the 'limit of an ordinary load. Some muleteers make the young mules
cany small loads after a few days' training. They bind up their eyes
with a cloth, and then place on their back a sack containing 20 lbs. or so
of sand and walk them about for a short time. They repeat this process
for three or four days, gradually increasing the quantity of sand, and on
the fifth day the young mules are ready to carry a regular load, A
small load of about 160 lbs. is then put on them, and this is increased
until they can carry the full load of 320 lbs. The mule is fully trained
in a year's time, and at four years old is tit for service.
Feeding. —As long as the young mule is at large no grain is given,
but when at three years of age he is made to follow the caravan, 4 lbs. of
barley per diem is given him, and this is increased to 6 lbs. when he is
lightly loaded, and afterwards to 8 lbs., which is the full allowance for a
trained mule. Straw (barley or wheat) is given as much as the mule
can eat. A full grown mule eats about 20 lbs. of straw per diem, litis
complement, viz., 8 lbs. of barley and 20 lbs. of straw, is given to every
full grown mule whether on the march or at the halt. It is said that it
less be given 'to them, even when unladen and at a halt they will suftei
when next taken out for work.
At the halt mules are fed twice a day, morning and evening, straw
being supplied between times. On the march mules are fed in the hot
weather at about 4 o'clock p.m ., and shortly after they finish their march
at about 4 or 5 o'clock a.m . In the cold weather they are fed at abou
6 o'clock p.m . and about 2 o'clock a.m . before they march. Ihe evening
feed in every case consists of 6 lbs. of barley mixed with straw, an e
morning feed of 2 lbs. barley mixed with straw. Straw is given during
the day.
During the two or three months when the grass is gieen, no giain
is given to the mules. About Shuster and in Koordistan the mu es aie
then turned loose to graze and do no work; further east an on e
Bushire-Isfahan road the mules continue to work, but on y 0 ^
marches, and at the end of the march are turned out to graze. or
instance, the caravans generally march from Bushire to S ni z m rom
eight to twelve days, but in the grazing season they take about tinr y
days to perform the same distance.
Watering. —Mules are watered three times a day in the hot weather
and twice in the cold. The times of watering on the maici are m
cold weather, about half an hour after the evening and morning teecis,

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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 Muskat [Muscat] Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. for 1879-80, published by Authority at the Foreign Department Press, India (Calcutta), and forming part of the Selections from the Records of the Government of India, Foreign Department (No. 171) 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 preceded by a copy of a letter sent 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. , to A. C. Lyall, Secretary to the Government of India, dated 30 June 1880, which enclosed the submission of the original reports to the Government of India (folios 290-91).

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

1. General Report for 1879-80 , prepared by Ross (folios 291-308), which is divided a number of small reports, organised by region, as follows: 1. ’Omán or Muskat State; 2. Pirate Coast; 3. El-Bahrain; 4. Nejd, El-Hasá [Al-Hasa] and El-Katr [Qatar]; 5. Southern Persia; and 6. Bassidore [Bāsa‘īdū]. The reports detail the state of local affairs in each region, including relations between tribes and rulers, disease, incidents of piracy, migrations. The report for Southern Persia contains a separate report for Fars. The report for Bassidore includes reports on: political appointments; royal naval activity, postal affairs; observatory activity; and administration of the trade in mules in Persia. Four appendices follow the report: A. List of Guttur (or El-Katr) [Qatar] ports and names of chiefs and main tribes; B. Terms of a mutual agreement entered into by the Trucial Chiefs of the Oman Coast through the medium of Hajee Abul Kassim, Moonshee, specially deputed on this service, and Hajee Abdur Rahman, Government Agent, Arab coast, dated 24 June 1879; C. tabulated meteorological data from the 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. Observatory; D. Notes upon the breeding, treatment, etc., of the Persian mule, and upon Persia as a source of supply for mules, 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. .

2. A Memoir on Nejd , prepared by Ross (folios 308-21), comprising an outline history of the Wahábees [ Wahhābī A follower of the Islamic reform movement known as Wahhabism; also used to refer to the people and territories ruled by the Al-Saud family. ] of Nejd and the Ál-Su’ood [Āl Sa‘ūd] Amirs, from 1691 to the present day, and a number of appendices: A. Genealogical of the Āl Sa‘ūd; B. List of principal districts and towns of Nejd; C. Tribes of Nejd; D. List of authorities and sources of information availed of in preparing Memoir of Nejd .

3. Report on trade for 1879, prepared by Ross, dated 26 May 1880 (folios 321-56), comprising a summary of the year’s harvest and trade; the Commercial Treaty; customs duty; assistance to vessels in distress; prohibition export of specie exceptions; notice of prohibition of export of produce; mercantile tribunals; protection of British subjects; introduction of industrial machinery and agricultural implements. Three appendices follow: A. Report on the salt caves and mines and the trade in salt in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , written by the Assistant Surgeon, Abder Raheem, Bassidore, 20 March 1880; B. Tabulated list of productions [summer and winter agricultural planting) of Fars; C. Tabulated trade statistics, indicating the quantity and values of imports and exports in the region, lists of goods traded, and nationality and tonnage of trading vessels.

4. 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 1879-80 , prepared by Major Charles Grant, His 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, Muscat (folios 357-65), comprising: an overview of the political situation in Muscat, changes in British personnel at the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. ; the slave trade; marine events; and trade. An appendix of tabulated trade statistics follows the report, detailing nationality and tonnage of vessels visiting Muscat, and lists of imports and exports.

Extent and format
1 volume (80 folios)
Arrangement

The report is arranged into a number of parts and sections, with tabulated statistical data directly following written sections. There is a contents page at the front of the report (folios 288-89), which refers to the report’s internal 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 285 and ends on the last folio, on number 364.

Pagination: The volume contains an original typed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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‘Report on the administration of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muskat Political Agency for the year 1879-80’ [‎299r] (28/161), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/V/23/37, No 171, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023580190.0x00001e> [accessed 27 July 2024]

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