‘Report on the administration of the Persian Gulf Political Agency and Muscat Political Agency for the year 1883-84.’ [52v] (44/166)
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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4 2 ADMINISTEATION EEPORT OF THE
PERSIAN GULF
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
POLITICAL
• "— " 7 ~ far lovinff flies and insects does not seem to be suffi-
The
agency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
of winds and var10 ^ ^ such cases the fruit yielded is stated to become
cient to effect f' 6 ; e " wit ' hou t stone, and totally insipid, and is termed " Shis."
abortive or blighted, witl nsi ' dered essent i a l for a fruitful impregnation.
Consequent y uman agen ^ ^ atte i n ed its full size and maturity, which is known to
The male spatlie, as soon £ a - nt rus tling sound, elicited when the
the cultivator by certain signs an m 1< ^ lons ^ ^ seminal odour, detected by making a
central part of the spathe is gen ly as to expose the flower, which is cut
slight indentation in the marginal part of the spathe, so as exp
at its root and taken down. , . j n ^ ,■
The enclosing spathe is slit open and the flower-sprigs are gently detached from the spadix,
and ^refuHy pre^rved in a basket, which is suspended in a spot protected from drafts of wind;
the sprigs are allowed to dry for 20 to 24 hours before being used.
LLn as the female flowers have split ope.
the cultivator considers it time ^ ^ ^ one or tw0 in each bunch of the female blossom,
flower-twigs of the ma e pa , 1 lea£ I£ the cu Iti V ator finds that some of the larger
lightly binding it up wi i a ^ ^ trouble of rec i imbing) he slits them opcu and deposits
Xtwer"pri™s iltte Uossom, as before. Only very small ones he leaves untouched, to be
attend^ to if "necessary, subsequently, when they have attained maturity. But, as a mle.he
does n t allow all the Hower -spathes, which vary from 12 to 24, to remain on the palm and form
fruTt because bv doing so the fruit becomes small and degouerate, and during the next year the
yMd of the fruit is lessened. According to the vigour of the palm, which he knows by es-
periencc, he leaves 8 to 12 bunches to form frnit. The excess is removed and consumed by
his people and friends. The sprigs of the male flower are preserved in a dry form one or .wo
months and used as ocoasion demands. They are, however, before being used slightly moistened
with water to prevent the pollen from being scattered and blown away by the wind.
It is stated that sometimes, when the male flower is not in sufficient quantity at Kharg,
the cultivators import it from Busrah. Pollen of one year cannot, it is stated, be preserved for
use during the next year, as it becomes spoiled. W hen the female blossom has thus been
treated with pollen, the supply of water is cut off for a time, varying from one and a half to
two months, as excess of water is said to be detrimental to a proper fertilisation.
The general method adopted for cultivating the date palm in these paits, where it is grown
for economic and commercial purposes, is that it is planted in extensive groves for facilities of
tending them and collecting the fruit. Spots are selected where abundance of water is avail
able in shape of river, spring, cc kanat/ J or well water ; in other places, where water from
wells is scanty, such spots are selected as can be irrigated by rain-torrents during the rainy
season.
A plot of ground is selected according to the number of palms which it is intended to
plant in a grove, which may consist of 80 to 150 or 200 palms, planted in regular rows, with
a distance of 12 to 15 feet between them. The grove is surrounded by a high "bund^ for
purposes of admitting and retaining water in the grove, and generally regulating its irrigation,
being provided with inlets and outlets to admit and get rid of excess of water, especially that
from rain-torrents. ^
For the first two or three months, after the offshoots have been planted^they are watered,
each separately, by water carried to them in pots ; great care is taken that no mud gets into the
heart or crown of the young plant, as it proves destructive to it. After the plants have struck
root they are watered once a week, a fortnight, or a longer interval is allowed to elapse, but
it is essential that they must be well watered once a month. When they have grown up
and have attained some age, they are watered once a month during the hot months only. At
Busrah, where water is abundant from the river, deep and wide trenches are dug between the
rows of the palms, and filled with water. But where water is scanty it is allowed to run down
in small channels to the foot of each palm, the ground being previously well dug up, loosened,
and turned over to allow of its thorough saturation.
Vegetables, lucerne, &c., are grown, as at Bahrain, in these groves, such a cultivation being
considered highly beneficial in improving the soil. With this object also the soil is ploughed
and turned over once a year to render it soft, porous, and permeable to air moisture.
In places which border the sea, fins of Awal or Lookhm, a species of Ray-fish, are used
for purposes of manuring the palm; two or three bits are buried at the foot of each palm, and
it is regularly watered once or twice a week until the whole is absorbed and disappears j or
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.’ [52v] (44/166), 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_100023580328.0x00002e> [accessed 12 October 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