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‘Report on the administration of the Persian Gulf Political Agency and Muscat Political Agency for the year 1883-84.’ [‎48v] (36/166)

The record is made up of 1 volume (87 folios). It was created in 1884. 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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34 ADMINISTEATION EEPOET OF THE PEESIAN GULF POmiCAL
t o a a +1 Tfi-pnr'li Commodore on the East Indian station, Captain
On the ^ NoTe,nter d 1 ®f Za ^ zibar in the Crocod with a draft treaty o£ friendship atd
Romajn DeS ^; ^ commu „icated the proposals of the French Government m
commerce, oa eed nad pie y approval that lie consented to
this matter to the English Foreign the same day the first
negociate. The treaty was signet passage in the Crocodile by the Com-
v L.1. Cnrmul who had been accommodated with a passage t « j
mod entered on^
treaty £o " 0 ™^ wa t ere UI1 der the command of Captain Gnillain, of the brig
txxirx ='■ -—
and was able to frustrate it.
It was at this time that Hilal, Sa'eed's eldest son, proceeded to England to beseech the
intercession of Her Majesty's Government with his 14 ^
tarn aside from political events a little and glanee at the relauons m which Sa eed stood towa.ds
W son Sa'eed's family now consisted of twelve, of whom the first was Hrlal who was born
11815. He is described as tall, fair, and handsome, noted for his courage and revered by the
Arabs, who deemed him the most shrewd and energetic of all the sons He was so mnch a
favonrite that he would, it is said, have proved a very formidable rival to Ins father had he
chosen to head a rebellion. The knowledge of this by Sa'ccd had not nnprobably something to
do with the continuance of that deep-rooted dislike and avers.on which had been manifested
towards Hilal from childhood. Hilal had only reached his twenty-third year when his fat er
determined to disinherit him, and three years later, as the estrangement increased, Hilal who
had been Wali at Barka, was recalled to Zanzibar, and was never again allowed to hold an
official position. In July 1844 Sa'eed, with the express object oi finding out whether he would
be upheld in disinheriting Hilal, had written to Lord Aberdeen, saying it wes his wish that
Thoweynee should succeed him in 'Oman and Khalid in East Africa. The reply, however, was a
diplomatic one, expressing hopes that Sa'eed would restore Hilal to favour^ The snpercession of
Hilal bv his father appointing Khalid to act as Regent at Zanzibar, and Thoweynee at Muscat,
during his absence from either place, was a cause of many quarrels, as Hilal was always insist-
in( , 0 n the governorship of one or other of those capitals as being his by birth-right, and
indignant, at length, at what he considered his father's unjust treatment of him, he proceeded
to England in September 1845, to represent his condition to Her Majesty's Government.
Having kept his father in ignorance of his intentions, Hilal was not accorded an official
reception in London, but he seems to have gained much sympathy, and strong letters were
written in his favour. Sa'eed, however, was exasperated by this visit and consequent exposure
of his conduct, and, though for a time more indulgent outwardly, became really more bitter in
his dislike, and in November 1849 Hilal was exiled from Zanzibar for ever. Hilal retired first
to Lamoo. ^nd thence moved on to Aden, where he arrived in destitute condition; but the end
was approaching, and, surrounded happily by all his family, his sad story closed on the
28th September 1851.
The causes of Sa'eed's hatred of his eldest son are obscure and will probably ever remain so.
Scandal rumoured that Hilal had violated his father's harem, but the story is suspicious, and it
is more probable that the estrangement was due to harem intrigues and to jealousy, as Hilal's
mother, an Abyssinian, died when he was an infant, while Khalid's mother was an especial
favourite, and would naturally endeavour to prejudice her lord in favour of her own son. Khalid
was born in 1819 of a Malabar concubine, who had great influence over Sa'eed and did not scruple
to use it; he was of a mean and penurious disposition, and was as much despised by the Arabs
as he was petted and indulged by his father. His energies were entirely absorbed in trade, by
which he had amassed a large fortune, and on account of this he was generally known and spoken
of as the Banian Merchant of Indian extraction. . Sa'eed was very desirous that Khalid should succeed him, but fate decreed
otherwise, and Khalid after a long illness died on the 7th November 3854. Two years younger
than Khalid and born of a Georgian mother, Thoweynee was brave and generous, and much
respected by the Arabs. He was greatly superior to Khalid, but could never have held his own
against Hilal in 'Oman, and it was for this reason chiefly that the latter was recalled to
Zanzibar in 1841. Sa'eed had much faith and confidence in Thoweynee, and had publicly
announced that he wished him to succeed as ruler at Muscat.

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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 Muscat Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. for the year 1883-84, 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. , published by Authority by the Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta [Kolkata]. A copy of a letter from Ross to Charles Grant, Secretary to the Government of India (Foreign Department), dated 17 July 1884, is included in the report (folio 33), the original of which submitted the report to Government, under the following headings:

Part 1 ( General Report ), written by Ross (folios 34-39), containing summaries of local political affairs, and incidents or events of particular note for: Oman and the Pirate Coast; Bahrain; Nejd, El-Hasa [Al-Hasa] and El-Katr [Qatar]; Fars, including Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh] and Bunder Abbass [Bandar-e ʻAbbās], and the coast between Bushire and Bandar-e Lengeh; Persian Arabistan; Persian Beloochistan [Baluchistan] and Gwadur; and Bassidore. The report also contains summaries of changes in official personnel (referred to as political establishment); British naval movements in the Gulf; and a summary of meteorological events observed at the Bushire observatory. Appendix A contains tabulated and graphical meteorological data for the year, supplied by the Bushire observatory.

Part 2 ( Administration Report of the Muscat Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. for the year 1883-84 ), submitted 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 at Muscat, dated 9 June 1884 (folios 40-50), containing a summary of affairs at Muscat, including raids and fighting around Muscat in October 1884, between rebel forces and those allied to the Sultan of Muscat. The report also records changes to British official personnel at Muscat, and notes recent shipwrecks on the Muscat coast. Appendix A is a biographical sketch, written by Miles, of Sayyid Sa'eed-bin-Sultan, the Imam of Muscat.

Part 3 ( Report on Trade for the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. for 1883 , folios 50-105), comprising a short summary of the year’s trade, and followed by two appendices, labelled A and B, but arranged in reverse order: B) Supplementary notes on the care and culture of date trees and fruit, written by A. R. Hakim, 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; A) tabulated data on trade, including data on imports and exports into and out of the Gulf ports of Bushire, Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh], Bunder Abbass [Bandar-e ʻAbbās], Bahrain and the Arab (Oman) coast. An index to the trade tables can be found at folios 53-54.

Part 4 (

[at Muscat]), submitted by Miles, dated 9 June 1884 (folios 105-12), comprising a short summary of the year’s trade at Muscat, and an appendix containing tabulated data on imports and exports at Muscat (listed by commodity), and the nationality and average tonnage of vessels visiting Muscat.

Extent and format
1 volume (87 folios)
Arrangement

The report is arranged into four numbered parts, with lettered appendices containing further reports and statistical data after each. Two appendices following part two of the report are labelled in reverse order (B then A, instead of A then B).

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 32, and ends on the last folio, on number 112.

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 Agency and Muscat Political Agency for the year 1883-84.’ [‎48v] (36/166), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/V/23/45, No 198, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023580328.0x000026> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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