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'Papers Respecting the Slave Trade on the East Coast of Africa and the System Pursued for its Suppression' [‎34r] (7/72)

The record is made up of 1 volume (34 folios). It was created in 29 Oct 1869. 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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should be exercised by the Indian Government. I am well aware of the large body of
British Indian subjects continually trading with or settled in the Zanzibar country. But I
do not see that this suggests anything more than a reason why a contribution from the
Indian Treasury should be made towards the cost of the Consular Establishment.
9. I am not forgetful of the intimate relations between the Chiefs of Zanzibar and
Muscat, or of the references made from time to time to the British Government upon
points connected with mutual obligations contracted by them under our arbitraments,
references of which the papers now forwarded to us furnish a suitable illustration. It is
essential that, in dealing with these questions, the officers of the British Government
should display no want of harmony among themselves, but it is to be apprehended that,
if the Zanzibar and Muscat Agencies were under different controlling authorities, it might
be difficult to maintain that entire unity of sentiment and consistency of action which
should be apparent in all our dealings with the Chiefs of Oman. I wish, therefore, to be
favoured with your Excellency's opinion as to whether the disadvantages likely to arise
from separation are such as to outweigh any benefits that may arise from placing the
Zanzibar Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. entirely under the control of the Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs.
10. Your Excellency will observe that, in the opinion of Her Majesty's Government,
the question is beset with difficulties, and these difficulties are likely to be increased, if the
greatest care be not taken in the choice of Agents employed in that part of the country.
It appears that there has recently been some irregularity in the appointment of officers to
whom the management of our affairs at Zanzibar has been committed; the gentleman now
entrusted, with the charge of the Consulate and Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , not being an officer of the Indian
Government, but a member of Her Majesty's Consular Service, and, as far as I can gather
from the correspondence before me, not selected by the Governor of Bombay. I need not
add that, since the duties formerly entrusted to the Indian navy have been performed by
the officers of Her Majesty's cruizers in that part of the world, and the effort to obtain
duly qualified interpreters from among their own body has failed, it has become more than
ever necessary that our Agent at Zanzibar should be selected with reference to his special
qualifications for the performance of these particular duties.
I have, &c.
(Signed) STAFFORD H. NORTHCOTE.
No. 5.
Mr, Egerton to Mr. Merivale.
Sir, Foreign Office, March 12, 1868.
I AM directed by Lord Stanley to return to you the accompanying papers which
were transmitted to his Lordship by Sir S. Northcote's desire in your letter of the 20th
ultimo.
I am, &c.
(Signed) E. C. EGERTON.
No. 6.
Mr. Merivale to Mr. Egerton.—(Received March 28.)
Sir, 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. , March 26, 1868.
IN continuation of my letter of the 20th February last, I transmit herewith, by
direction of Sir Stafford Northcote, to be laid before Lord Stanley, copy of a letter
received from the Government of India, with its inclosures, being a further correspondence
with the Bombay Government regarding the subsidy due by the Sultan of Zanzibar to the
Ruler of Muscat.
Lord Stanley will observe that the Government of India have sanctioned the payment
by the Sultan of Zanzibar of the yearly subsidy of 40,000 crowns to the Muscat Chief,
through the medium of the Bombay Government; and I am to add that Sir Stafford
Northcote purposes to communicate to the Government of India his approval of this
arrangement.
I am, &c.
(Signed) HERMAN MERIVALE.

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Content

This file contains printed copies of correspondence between British officials regarding Britain's attempts to prohibit slave traffic on the East Coast of Africa, relations between Britain and the Sultanate of Zanzibar, and Zanzibar's relations with Muscat. The correspondence dates from September 1866-July 1869.

The file contains translated copies of correspondence between the Sultan of Zanzibar, Majid bin Saeed and the Viceroy of India, John Laird Mair Lawrence as well as translated correspondence between an Envoy of the Sultan of Zanzibar and the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Lord Stanley [Edward Henry Stanley].

On folio 42r, the file contains a translation of a letter from Queen Victoria to the Sultan of Zanzibar, Majid bin Saeed. The letter confirms the friendly relations between the two and informs the Sultan that a sword has been specially commissioned for him as a gift.

The file also contains translated correspondence between the Sultan of Johanna [Anjouan Island, now part of the Comoros Islands] and Henry Adrian Churchill, Britain's Agent in Zanzibar.

Extent and format
1 volume (34 folios)
Arrangement

The file is arranged in rough chronological order, with the earliest correspondence at the beginning of the file and the latest at the end of the file.

Physical characteristics

Condition: the file is contained within a bound volume that contains a number of other files.

Foliation: The foliation for this description commences at f 31, and terminates at f 66, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 5-134; these numbers are written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'Papers Respecting the Slave Trade on the East Coast of Africa and the System Pursued for its Suppression' [‎34r] (7/72), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B83, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023608767.0x000008> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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