‘Report on the administration of the Persian Gulf Political Agency and Muscat Political Agency for the year 1883-84.’ [49r] (37/166)
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. .
Transcription
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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.
FOE 1883-84.
35
The next few years of Sa^eed's life were tolerably uneventful, and were spent in the relax
ing climate of Zanzibar, where his sensual habits must have tended to unfit him for the active
government of his Arab dominions. During his long residence in East Africa Sa^eed^s main
employment was to look after his estates and trading ventures, and to continue to add to his
already large and unwieldy navy. Reverting now to affairs in "'Oman, we see that Seyf, who
had become Wali of Sohar on the retirement of his father Hamud, and who had gradually
made himself independent, was at length opposed by a coalition of the Yal Saad and other
Batineh tribes, and, together with his uncle Kais, overthrown and put into confinement. From
this Seyf not long after escaped and recovered Sohar, but Hamud, angry with him for having
dismissed the pious Khalalee, and jealous of his friendship and alliance with Thoweynee, caused
him to be assassinated, and then resumed charge of Sohar. This was in 1849. Thoweynee did
not fail to represent these preceedings of Hamud to Government, and eventually he was
informed that, as Hamud had violated the engagement that had been made through the media
tion of the Resident, they would not again intervene in the matter. About the same time
Thoweynee received orders from Sauced to endeavour to obtain possession of Hamud's person 5
and with this object in view he proceeded up the coast in the Feiz Allum frigate and lured
Hamud under a show of friendship to Shinas, where he treacherously seized and carried him
to Muscat. Here be was confined for a few days in Jelali fort, and then put to death by poison
on the 23rd April 1850. Thoweynee did not gain the immediate advantage he expected by
this, for Sohar was at once occupied by Kais, who, on being blockaded, called in the aid of the
Kowasim and compelled Thoweynee to raise the siege. Kais, moreover, succeeded in capturing
Shinas, Khor, Fakan, and Ghalla, and not content with this he arrested Kahtan-bin-Seyf, who
had been concerned in the seizure of Hamud, and cruelly murdered him by decapitation with
a blunt sword. When the news of these events reached India, the action of Thoweynee was
viewed with strong disapprobation by Government, his conduct towards Hamud being
characterised as a gross violation of the treaty. Sa^eed, after much urging, at length realised
the necessity of his presence in 'Oman, where he arrived on the 16th May 1851. ■
On receiving Thoweynee's report he did not hesitate to approve all his proceedings, as
indeed he could not well help doing, for Thoweynee had clearly acted under instruction, though
there is some doubt whether Sa'eed had actually given orders for Hamud to be put to death.
Sa'eed at once began to prosecute war against Kais-bin-Azzar. He moved first against
Khabooreh, which soon submitted, and then with little difficulty recaptured Shinas. Ultimately^
deserted by the Kowasim, Kais made terms and retired to Rostak with a pension of $200
monthly, Sohar being surrendered to Sa'eed, who thus for the second time became its unques
tioned possessor. Eager to be at rest again in his African home, Sa'eed, having tranquillised
his country, sailed away from Muscat in the month of November 1852.
By this campaign and his generally judicious arrangements with the leading Shaikhs and
Chiefs of 'Oman, Sa'eed greatly increased his reputation, and his authority became more firmly
established than it had been for many years previously.
But the reign of peace was short, for scarcely had Sa'eed left 'Oman when the Wahabee
Chief, Abdulla-bin-Feysal, with an unusually large force entered the country and re-occupied
the old position at Bereymee. The terms he at first demanded were so extravagant that
Thoweynee was unable to agree to them, and, proceeding to Sohar, assumed a hostile attitude.
By the intervention of the British Resident, however, Abdulla-bin-Feysal lowered his tone, and
an arrangement was eventually come to by which the annual tribute to Nejd was increased to
twelve thousand dollars. Abdulla-bin-Feysal soon after returned to Nejd, leaving as general
at Bereymee Ahmed-el Sadeyree to represent the Ameer's interests.
Elated by his success against Kais, Sa'eed, on quitting his native country in 1852, had
indulged the fond hope that he might be suffered to spend the remainder of his days in peace
in the beautiful island he had chosen for his residence. His health and strength, it is said, had
given way greatly in the last few years, and it was natural enough that at his age and with
his enfeebled constitution he should seek repose. The recent incursion of the Wahabees, how
ever, the vexatious treatment of the Wali Seyf-bin-Nebhan, and the continued aggression by
the Persians at Bunder Abbass, forced him to turn his face towards Muscat. On the 15th
April 1854, Sa'eed, who was very apprehensive at this time of French designs on his territory in
East Africa, and who had been for three days and nights in consultation with the leading Arabs
at Zanzibar on the subject, paid a visit to the British Consulate, and, placing the hand of his son
Khalid in that of Colonel Hamerton, expressed the desire that Khalid should be guided by the
Consul's advice in all his doubts and difficulties during his own absence, adding that, unless
5 a
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 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 View the complete information for this record
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‘Report on the administration of the Persian Gulf Political Agency and Muscat Political Agency for the year 1883-84.’ [49r] (37/166), 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_100023580328.0x000027> [accessed 1 September 2024]
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- Reference
- IOR/V/23/45, No 198
- Title
- ‘Report on the administration of the Persian Gulf Political Agency and Muscat Political Agency for the year 1883-84.’
- Pages
- front, 31v:113r, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence