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‘Report on the administration of the Persian Gulf Political Agency and Muscat Political Agency for the year 1883-84.’ [‎49v] (38/166)

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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36
administbation ebpokt of the peesian gulp political
Colonel Hamerton remained to support them neither Khalid nor the other leading Arabs would
C " ,e l"! tkelTapproval and aoceptauee of Sa'eed's words the Arabs present all kissed Colonel
Hamerton 's hand ind promised loyal compliance. Sa'ced then embarked m the A fngate
on The 18th, and, bidding a reluctant adieu to the children and relat.ves he was never to see
affain sailed for Muscat, where he arrived about a month later.
' 0 Two months after Sa'eed's departure Captain Fremantle, H M. S. who bad been sent
on a mission to obtain the cession by purchase of the Koona Moona Islands, on wh.ch were
valuable guano deposits, arrived at Zanzibar. The French had on several occas.ons endeavoured
to get possession of the guano, but their negociations had always failed. Cap an lemantle s
efforts, however, were more successful. Having proceeded on to Muscat, he had no sooner
intimated the desire of the Government to acquire the islands than Sa eed, at once refusing the
offer of purchase, agreed to their transfer, and made them over hy a deed of gift, dated 14th
July 1851.
One of the first acts of Sa'eed on his arrival at Muscat had been to appoint his fifth son,
Toorkee, as Wali of Sohar, a post which he continued to hold for some years.
The breach between Sa'eed and the Persian Government, most probably with design on the
part of the latter, gradually widened and culminated at length in the expulsion of Sa eed s
Wali and troops from Bunder Abbass. This district had been conquered in 1798 from the
Beni Maeen by Sultan, and had since been uninterruptedly held in farm from Teheran for an
annual rental of 6,000 tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. . Highly incensed at the proceedings of Persia, Sa'eed equipped
an expedition and despatched it under Thoweynee to Bunder Abbass, which was soon re-occupied.
Fresh troops, however, were marched down from Shiraz, and, reinforced by these, the Persian
commander again expelled the Arabs, and Sa'eed, after an ineffectual blockade, was compelled
to abandon the hope of recovering his supremacy over the Persian coast by force of arms.
Negociations were then opened, and a convention was eventually concluded in April 1856, by
which the lease was renewed to Sa'eed by the Shah for 20 years at an increased rental of 16,000
tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. under several stringent conditions, which were very derogatory to Sa'eed's pride.
Unfavourable as the terms were, however, Sa'eed gladly accepted them rather than relinquish
the farm, and he at once retook charge of Bunder Abbass and appointed a Wali and customs
farmer to resume control over the territory.
At this time the relations between England and Persia were greatly strained in conse
quence of the occupation of Herat by the latter, and war was known to be imminent. Sa'eed,
however, did not wait to witness the denouement. One reason for this was, perhaps, his dis
appointment at not receiving more countenance and support from the British Government in
his quarrel about Bunder Abbass, but a more cogent reason was his precarious state of health,
which made him impatient to get back to his home at Zanzibar. He stayed in Muscat there
fore only until the change of the monsoon enabled him to turn his face southwards, and then,
having appointed his son Thoweynee his Deputy in Arabia, he set sail on the 15th September
in the Victoria frigate, accompanied by his son Barghash in the Artemise.
Nature seems to have warned the aged prince of his approaching end. Before embarking
he took a final and affectionate farewell of his old mother Ghannee, and said he felt confi
dent he would see her no more. He was particular in having a number of planks taken on
boar-d the Victoria, and gave orders that in the event of any one dying on the voyage a coffin
was to be made and the body placed therein. On no account was it to be thrown into the sea.
After touching at Soor to transact business, Sa'eed continued his voyage, but on the 18th Sep
tember was taken ill with swelling of the legs and thighs; he continued to grow gradually
worse until the 13th October, when dysentery set in, and on Sunday the 19th, at 8| a.m ., his
life passed quietly away.
The Victoria was passing Coctivi Island at the time, and six days after arrived off Chumba
Island in Zanzibar harbour, where she anchored with the Artemise. In obedience to Sa'eed's
wishes, the Captain, Hilal-bin-Abdulla, had on his master's decease enclosed the body in a coffin,
and immediately on news of the sad event being communicated to Seyyid Majid at Zanzibar,
preparations were made for the burial.
The corpse was landed the same night, and in presence of the sons and Arab notables was
interred in the little cemetery near the palace, where a plain horizontal slab of white marble
without inscription now marks the grave of 'Oman's famous prince.
At the age of 66 years and 7 months, and after a reign of nearly 50 years, Sa'eed thus
closed a career which can only be described as remarkable. Left an orphan when a mere youth,

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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.’ [‎49v] (38/166), 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_100023580328.0x000028> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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