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‘Report on the administration of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muskat Political Agency for the year 1879-80’ [‎307r] (44/161)

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. tor 1879-80.
33
going bringing down up-country g-oods for exportation and taking back
imported goods, and that an agent at Bushire could select from these
caravans and ship them off to India. There are several reasons how
ever against this plan. In the first place I have said that generally
the same caravans of mules ply between Bushire and Shiraz, so the
number of these is limited; also the road is a very bud one, with
numerous kotuls and forage scanty j the mules on this road are conse
quently out of condition, and the majority have sore backs. Again, the
muleteers can always find immediate employment, and will not sell their
animals except at exorbitant prices, especially as they cannot replace them
by purchase among the Eeliyats without returning into the interior.
Major Probyn's experience proved this. Out of 700 mules collected
in Bushire at a large cost, he was only able to select a small proportion
owing to sore backs, &e., and out of those selected, he could only secure
seventy-six, the prices asked being exorbitant and the muleteers refus
ing to take less. Even these seventy-six cost on an average Rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
216 each, and were thus considerably dearer than any of the mules
subsequently purchased elsewhere. Muleteers live by their profession,
and when they sell any of their mules, they immediately purchase others,
and naturally they will be more ready to part with their animals in places
where they can immediately replace them, i .e., in the centres of the
mule-breeding districts.
As mules purchased by Government are always required to be trained
and fit for service, it is to the professional muleteers chiefly that we must
look for a supply. Positions for purchasing agents therefore should be
chosen on caravan routes and also, as far as possible, in the centre of mule-
breeding districts. Three large towns fulfil these conditions admirably,
namely, Shiraz, Ispahan, and Shuster. These three places form a triangle
commanding the whole of the mule-breeding districts of Persia. The sea
port for Shiraz and Ispahan is Bushire; that for Shuster, Mohammerah,
at the junction of the Karoon river with the Shatt-el-Arab. Major
Probyn's experience bears out this opinion. At Shiraz Major Probyn
purchased 267 mules in a fortnight's time, and subsequently Mr. Preece
secured 850 more within two months. At Shuster also Major Probyn
met with success, and I believe his opinion is that it is about the best
and cheapest place of all. It is certainly in the centre of the Bakh-
tyari country and not far from the Abu Ghaddareh. Ispahan was not
tried, but had more mules been required, Mr. Preece intended proceed
ing to that place and would assuredly not have been disappointed.
Should therefore any future emergency arise when mules may be
required and Persia be resorted to for a supply, I am strongly of opi
nion that the best, quickest, and in the end most economical course^ to
pursue would be to depute an officer and two assistants. The assist
ants might be drawn from Persia if competent persons were available.
One officer should be stationed in Shiraz, another in Ispahan, and the
other in Shuster. They should be provided each with a suitable number
of sowars or trustworthy Indian sepoys Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank. to go with each batch of mules
despatched to the port of" embarkation, for no Persian is to be trusted.
On the last occasion the Persians sent in charge of the mules fiom
Shiraz to Bushire invariably sold their barley, starved them, and on
e
mM.
mm

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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’ [‎307r] (44/161), 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_100023580190.0x00002e> [accessed 19 April 2024]

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