‘Report on the administration of the Persian Gulf Political Agency and Muscat Political Agency for the year 1883-84.’ [51v] (42/166)
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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
40 ADMINISTRATION REPOKT OF THE PERSIAN OULF POLiriOAL
i,. , fVip flow bv Dourinff little warm watsr on
they 1™ in the m JLh.' ' But the dates thus treated and forced to give up
their ^dce lose thefr taste and commereial value, and are not so much esteemed as those
Avhich are simply dried.
The best method for curing dates is the following• • T j ft fu v ,
The ^ as soon as *
and spread in^an em c jg aI ^ to preven t dust from mixing up with the dates; or, better
date jowhes spread within the " mustah" from three to five
days, and then collected and packed in haskets. , , , ,
The following are the principal varieties of dates winch are cured in the above method
At Basrah and JM«»W/.-Guntar; Khadrawi; Hallow,; Baraim; Dairee; Shakar;
Sa 'amoran; KabKb; Zahidcc Sayer. Sometimes small quantities of tl .e following
dates which are rare, and usually consumed in the fresh Kharak stage, are mixed with
the above. Barhec; Jow.i; Loolooi; Khassab; Hamrawi; Firsee; Shirsi; Asgar & c.
At Vashti. —Seesee; Khanaizee; Zynadhceni; Kasp ; Kabkdb ; Kandi; Sbakar ; Guutar;
Hallowi; Muktoom; Shaikali; Kharoo; Sheereen.; Jowz.; Shahoom; Kaidi; Rash,
&c., &e.
At BatHel and, 'Oman ^^.-Musalld; Salani; Khanaizi; Hilali; Khassab ; Maisali
(principally made into Kharak); Barani; Sarashi; Maznaj ; Fardh ; Khamn ; ISaghal;
Khalas; Abunaranjah, &c.
At El Hasa, Kateef, and ^m^.-Khalas; Khanaki; Marzaban; Hilali; Khassab; &c.
At Minah, Bunder Ahbass, and Khanaizi; Murda-sang; Hilali; Marzaban;
Azad; Zarrak; Sahkari; Ab-dandan; Mandal; Kalak Soorkh; Malak-Soorkh; Shaikh
Kamali; Dang-Safeed; Chattan; Hallow; Ah-mehtan; Soorkh-dang; Mosalh; Mosalla;
Naghal; Shahri Sa'Ameran, &c. &c. There are other varieties not well known, and are
comprised under the general term " Kharoo. '
At El Hasa the best dates, principally Khalas, are packed in skins of 70 to K0 pounds
for export. So also at Busrah dates are packed in skins; the dates are picked for the
purpose; the skins are then allowed to dry in the sun and covered with gunny. At Bahrain
and Kateef, Khalas and other dates of superior quality are put in small earthen jars and
rendered palatable by adding to them small quantities of sesame seeds and ginger powder;
the jars are then sewn up in the date-leaf matting.
Now, since the European and American firms have commenced to send dates to their own
countries, they have adopted the system of packing the best dates i.e., Hallowi, Khadrawi,
Zahedi, and Sayer—in deal boxes of various shapes and sizes, brought ready made from those
countries. The average size of a box is about 45 pounds-net weight. Hallowi dates are also
carefully packed in small cardboard boxes, 10 to 15 of which are then put in a large deal
box, which is then nailed over. The best dried dates of sound skin, and specially those which
are allowed to dry on the palm, are carefully picked by a large number of labourers, principally
women, boys, and girls, employed for the purpose. A certain weight of dates so picked intended
to go in a box is taken; the dates are then carefully placed, one by one, in rows, so as to form
layers in the box, which is lined with paper and eventually nailed and ready for export. Some
people put hoops round the boxes and cover them with gunny, while others do not. These
layers are pressed down three or four times during the filling of each box. The dates packed
in boxes in layers throughout have now the best repute in the market. Small quantities of
dates have lately been shipped from Busrah in fancy baskets, but on account of the heavy
freight no sanguine hopes are entertained of this method proving a success. Hallowis keep
best, but Zahidis are the brightest in colour, but soon get wormy and spoiled.
The cultivator has other modes of curing fresh dates and making preserves of them in small
quantities for his personal use and for presents to his friends, and even for sale to a small extent.
" Khoorma-Sheerah" is generally made of Murda-sang and Khanaizi dates- The best
dates are culled and further well dried in the sun, exposed on mats or date jowlies, and
protected during nights from dews. They are then washed with diluted date juice, of all
dust, &c., and put in a jar mixed with sesame seeds, ginger, walnut kernel, &c.; a quantity of
good date juice is poured in so as to cover the whole. This is much prized by the natives.
" Khoorma Seh-Roza/ J so named from its being fit to be eaten on the third day of its being
potted. It is a rare and special preparation made at Minab from the Hilali dates. The fresh
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.’ [51v] (42/166), 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_100023580328.0x00002c> [accessed 1 September 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- 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