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‘Report on the administration of the Persian Gulf Political Agency and Muscat Political Agency for the year 1883-84.’ [‎53r] (45/166)

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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EESIDENCY AND MUSCAT POLITICAL AGENCY An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. FOE 1883-84.
43
these fins are put in, and allowed to macerate in the tank of water which feeds the plantation,
and the palms are regularly fed by water so impregnated. In other places where this is not
available, the dung of the cow, sheep, and goats, &c., and surface sweepings are used.
The best spot for extensive date plantations would be, as at Busrah, Mohammerah, and
Minab, along the river banks abounding in alluvial soil. Excess of water generally is said to
spoil the date fruit, and if the plantations become flooded and continue so any length of time
by any very unusual rise of river waters, not only is the fruit damaged, but the palms have
been known to die. So also damp air, when the fruit is forming, is said to be prejudicial, as a
great deal of it drops off in a green state; this green date is called " Khamal," and is given to
sheep and cattle ; but the poor people consume it with fish. Moderately dry winds are said to
be very beneficial.
To secure a vigorous growth to the palm, as also to obtain materials for economic purposes,
the following points require to be attended to. A s the date palm grows each year the lower whorls
of the leafy stalks, as their vitality diminishes and they become dry, are chopped off; the long
stalks called " Goorz " are made into jowlies for covering sheds, roofs of houses, and various
economic purposes. Their lower thick ends, called " tapool," are used for fuel, but those which
are broad and light are used as floats for fish-nets.
The flower spadix and its spathe must also be removed. The green spadix, when well
beaten with billets of wood, yields a quantity of fibre useful for rope-making. In a dry state
it is used as fuel, but if allowed to macerate and soften in water on being pounded between
billets of wood yields fibres for ropes. From the fresh spathe, called " lara, is obtained the
"Tara" water, by distillation. It is of a strong but agreeable smell, and is prepared at Busrah
and Bahrain; sold in carboys at one and a half to two rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. each. It is made into a sherbet,
and is greatly prized by the Arabs and Persians.
The young offshoots sprouting at the base of the palm, if they are not intended for trans
plantation, must be removed in the spring of each year, as they prevent it from thriving. In
the same way the buds, which sometimes form and grow from the crown of the palm, resembling
the offshoots at the base, must also be pulled away, as they weaken the palm. These buds are
sometimes said to have grown and yielded fruit when allowed to grow on the palm.
(Signed) A, R. HAKIM, L.M.,
Jsst. to Pol. Residenty Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
B ushirb,
26th June 1884.
6 A

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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.’ [‎53r] (45/166), 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_100023580328.0x00002f> [accessed 24 April 2024]

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