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‘Report on the administration of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muscat Political Agency for 1885-86.’ [‎100r] (113/120)

The record is made up of 1 volume (57 folios). It was created in 1886. 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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i 'co
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 1885-86.
The Arab sub-divisions of the " ehao " are as follows :
100 mezoor= 1 dokra.
IO j OOO ,, = 100 „ =1 chao.
The following are the nominal sub-divisions of an Indian miskal (a pure weight convert
ible into a chao "):—
6 j dokra= 1 anna.
25 = 4 „ = 1 dan.
100 „ = 16 „ =4 }) —I rati.
2400 „ =384 ,, =96,, =24 „ = 1 miskal or tank.
The nominal sub-divisions of an Arab Surati miskal (a pure weight convertible into
" chao") are as follows
66 habbah=l miskal.
The nominal sub-divisions of an Arab mashad miskal (a pure weight convertible into
<' tuman ") are as follows ;—
20 danik = l mashad miskal.
The sub-divisions of the " tuman" (a measure of value having a ratio to size and weight)
are as follows :—
100 Mahomedi=l tuman.
Note. —The " tuman " is to the mashad miskal what the " chao " is to the Indian or other
Arab miskals,— i.e., it is a measure of the value of the average quality of a parcel of pearls.
The use of the mashad miskal and " tuman " will hereafter be explained.
It will be seen presently that the nominal ratios of the various weights to each other are
purely nominal, but I think it best now to show the mode of calculating the " chao " of a pearl
(or parcel of pearls) from its (or their) weights,
5. The Indian method (simplified) of finding the number of " chao " in a pearl is to mul
tiply the square of the weight in ratis (the unit) of the pearl by (if the total " chao " of a
parcel of pearls (all of the same size) be required, the square of the number of ratis weight of
the parcel multiplied by must be divided by the number of pearls in the parcel, and if the
"chao" of one pearl of such parcel be required, the "chao " of the whole parcel must also be
divided by the number of pearls in the parcel).
Example I.—Supposing we have a single pearl weighing one Indian miskal =24 ratis
(nominally), the sum is as follows :—
(¥)' X M = ^ X M = 330 chao.
Example II.—If we have a single pearl weighing -S ratis=| miskal (nominally), the sum
is as follows :—
(f) 2 X|~|=i"X|-|=5 chao, 15 dokras, 10 badams.
Example III.—If we have a pearl weighing (nominally) i miskal = (nominally) 6 ratis,
the sum is as follows ;—
(f ) 2 X M =: X g-f = 20 chao, 62 dokras, 8 badams.
Example IV.—If we have a parcel of 330 pearls (all of the same size) weighing one miskal
(=24 ratis), the sum is as follows :—
/ 2 4 \2 w 55 . 3 3_0 — 5 7 6 v JL5. v —i— — 1 "nVmr*"
Vi ) X ge — — i X96X330 — 1 cnao.
From the above it will be seen that of two pearls of precisely the same quality, e.g., say
of quality worth R25 per " chao," that weighing one miskal= (nominally) 24 ratis would be
worth R8,250, while that weighing only 3 ratis=norainally i miskal would be worth only
El 28-14-6, and a parcel of 330 pearls (all of one size) weighing one miskal would be worth
only R25 for the whole parcel, and one of the pearls of such parcel be worth only 1 anna
2 pies.
6. The Arab method (simplified) of finding the number of a chaos" in a pearl is to multi
ply the square of the weight in habhahs (the unit) of the pearl by , the result being in
« dokras," viz., hundredths of a chao," and then to add to the result so obtained, as a correc
tion, the hundredth part of the said result, so as to bring it up to the proportion of 330 " chao
in a pearl weighing one miskal.
p 1

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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 1885-86, published by Authority by the Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta [Kolkata]. A copy of a letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Barrett Miles, Officiating 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. and Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul-General for Fars, to Henry Mortimer Durand, Secretary to the Government of India (Foreign Department), dated 17 June 1886, is included in the report (folio 46), the original of which submitted the report to Government, under the following headings:

Part 1 ( General Summary, folios 47-54), containing summaries of local political affairs, and incidents or events of particular note for: the ‘Pirate coast of Oman’; Bahrain (spelt as Bahrein throughout); Nejd, El-Hasa [Al-Hasa] and El-Katr [Qatar]; Fars, including Bushire, Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh], Bassidore (mistakenly spelt Rassidore in the heading), and Bunder Abbass [Bandar-e ʻAbbās]; Persian Arabistan; and Persian Baluchistan. The report also records a marked increase in the slave trade to the Gulf from Africa, due to the departure of HMS London from Zanzibar; summaries of changes in official personnel; British naval movements in the Gulf; and a summary of meteorological events observed at the Bushire observatory, including a severe gale which caused extensive damage to ports and towns throughout the Gulf. Appendix A contains tabulated and graphical meteorological data for the year, supplied by the Bushire observatory. Appendix B is a report entitled ‘A résumé of what has been done in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. as regards to the introduction of the Arabian date-palm in India’ 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. .

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 1885-86 ), submitted by Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Mockler, 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 28 June 1886 (folios 55-58), containing a summary of affairs at Muscat, and an additional short report on the seizure of slave traders in Muscat waters during the course of the year. Appendix A is a set of notes written on a tour through Oman and El-Dhahireh [Adh-Dhahirah] in December 1885 by Miles.

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 1885 ), written by Miles, dated 17 June 1886 (folios 59-92), comprising a short summary of the year’s trade, with notes on: exports (cereals, opium and tobacco); imports (Manchester goods, copper, sugar, naphtha and asbestos); shipping; exchange; the pearl trade. Appendix A comprises tabulated data on import, exports and revenue, in the Gulf ports of Bushire, Bandar-e Lengeh, Bandar-e ʻAbbās, Bahrain and the Arab (Oman) coast. An index to the trade tables can be found at folio 60.

Part 4 (

[at Muscat]), by Mockler (folios 92-102), comprising a short summary of the year’s trade at Muscat, and also containing tabulated data on imports and exports at Muscat (listed by commodity), and the nationality and average tonnage of vessels visiting Muscat. Appendix A that follows the report is a note on the weights and measures used in the pearl trade of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , written by Mockler.

Extent and format
1 volume (57 folios)
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 45, and ends on the last folio, on number 102.

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 Residency and Muscat Political Agency for 1885-86.’ [‎100r] (113/120), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/V/23/49, No 220, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023581614.0x000073> [accessed 24 April 2024]

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