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‘Administration report of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muscat Political Agency for 1887-88.’ [‎17v] (32/72)

The record is made up of 1 volume (34 folios). It was created in 1888. 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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30
ADMIXISTBATIOS BEPOKT OF THE PERSIAN" GULF POLITICAL
Sevvid Sultan and the Muscat or taken to
Lt^t^tt^r^asTornnTlBOe that the Marine In^nce Offices in India
intprffred to check this traffic. i t > i* v.
interrereu ^ ^ v ^fwopn Frfnch and English cruizers in
Many -.anded >. Captain ^
Arab waters. In governuei „ ,* Mn^at and after a long combat succeeded
encountered a French privateer of superior force off Muscat, and
in beating her off and chasing her away. f , • t
lQ 1*03^^ ST-d swr n a" k tLV^
^utun^beloogmgtoTe'same'service. Lememe then proceeded to the Mannt.us, but
f T the Gulf early in ISOi, and committed great havoc until >ovember of that year,
ZZt was hLelf captured by the English fngate Concorde, which had been sent out in
search of him. _ „
Sevyid Sultan was well aware that the suspension of hostilities on the part of El Hank
was onl temporary, and though the large force collected m the Bat.neh d.spersed on the
retiremen of the enemy from before Sohar, he began at once to make fresh preparat.ons
acain^t the renewal of the storm. With the object of re-opemng negoc.at.ons w,tb the Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
"i Baghdad for an alliance, and of concerting operations with the Turkish Commander, Seyy.d
Sultan despatched one of his ships to Busra ^
before he could leam the result of this move he found himself already engaged with the
Wahhabees by sea and land.
The Amir Saood bin Abdul Aziz had adopted his father's scheme for the complete con-
nuest and annexation of 'Omai., and had on his accession issued orders to £1 Hank to push on
a^ain to the Batineh. At the same time, November 1803, the war fleets of the Uttuk and
Kowasim were sent abroad to sweep the Gulf against the Muscat trade, and began by making
a descent on the Island of Kishm, which they overran and pillaged.
It does not appear that Seyyid Sultan's mission to Baghdad resulted in any joint action
with the Turks.
The Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. was profuse in his promises of assistance and co-operation, but though equally
desirous to see the Wahhabees crushed, he preferred to wait and see the 'Omani Prince exhaust
himself in opposing them. Seyyid Sultan's appeals to the Government of India were similarly
unsuccessful/ He^was left to bear the brunt of the war alone.
Under a weak ruler 'Oman would almost certainly have succumbed to the invader, but
Sultan never relaxed his efforts nor spared his resources in the defence of his country, and his
indomitable courage and activity infused a spirit of resistance into his countrymen that enabled
them for years to keep their foes in check.
Until his untimely death in the following year, Seyyid Sultan seems to have been
engaged in an almost continual struggle with Saood's troops, and though he was able to pre
vent their advance up to the capital, he could never dislodge them from their main post at El
Bereymi nor expel them from the country.
It was in September 1804- that he left 'Oman for the last time on a naval expedition in
the Gulf. Having collected a fleet of thirteen other ships and war dows, he embarked on
board the Gunjava and cruized in search of the piratical fleet that had done so much to injure
his commerce.
He then sailed for Busra, where he wished to ascertain the extent of the military pre
parations being made by the Turkish Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. in accordance with his promise for operating
against the Wahhabees.
Disappointed and indignant, however, at his reception there, he did not remain long, but
turned his face homeward and set sail down the Gulf. On his way he transferred himself to
an Arab boat, or bateel, in order to land at Bassidore, and while in this almost defenceless
position was attacked by three piratical dows belonging to Ras El Khyma, before anv of his
fleet could discern his danger or come to his assistance. His assailants were Kowasim, at this
time in league with the Wahhabees, and, as usual, at war with Muscat, but that they attacked
with the set purpose of taking the life of the 'Omani Chief is somewhat doubtful. Seyyid
Sultan fell at the first onslaught, with several of his attendants, and the pirates, on finding
what they had done, fled at once to escape the vengeance of the Muscat fleet. The various
dates mentioned for this event are the 14th, 17th, ISth, and 2(.Hh November 1804, but the
exact date is not of importance. He is said to have been buried at Lin^ah. •

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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. (no 245, Foreign Department serial no 20) for the year 1887-88, published by Authority and printed by the Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta [Kolkata]. A copy of a letter from 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. and Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul-General for Fars, to Henry Mortimer Durand, Secretary to the Government of India (Foreign Department), dated 14 June 1888, is included in the report (folio 4), the original of which submitted the report to Government, under the following headings:

Part 1 (General Summary), submitted by Ross (folios 5-11), containing numbered summaries of local political affairs, and incidents or events of particular note for: 1) Muscat state; 2) Oman pirate coast; 3) El-Bahrain (referred to as Bahrain in the text); 4) El-Katr [Qatar]; 5) Nejd, El-Hasa [Al-Hasa]; 6) Fars and the Persian Coast, including Shiraz, Bushire and its districts, Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh] and Bunder Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās]; 7) Persian Arabistan; and 8) Persian Baluchistan. The report also includes summaries for: 9) Climatic observations, recorded by the observatory at Bushire, and 10) British actions against the slave trade. Appendix A contains tabulated 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 1887-88 ), submitted by A. S. Jayakar, Surgeon Major in Charge of the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. (folios 12-18), containing a summary of affairs at Muscat, under the headings: political affairs, official changes, and slave trade. Appendix A to Part 2 is a sketch of the career of Seyyid Sultan bin Ahmed, the Imam Muscat, written by Colonel Samuel Barrett Miles.

Part 3 ( Report on the trade of South Persia for the year 1887-88 ), submitted by Ross and dated 15 April 1888 (folios 18-30). The report comprises a short summary of the year’s trade, with notes on: exports (opium, tobacco, cereals); imports (Manchester [cotton] goods, sugar, metals and rice); shipping; exchange; custom; and notes supplied by Lieutenant Vaughan on the economic state at Yezd [Yazd], where Ross advocates the establishment of a British agent. 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 20.

Part 4 ( Muscat trade report for the year 1887-88 ), submitted by Jayakar (folios 30-36), comprising a brief 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.

Extent and format
1 volume (34 folios)
Arrangement

The report is arranged into four numbered parts, with lettered appendices containing further reports and statistical data coming after each part. The General Summary is further organised into numbered sections, and further divided into paragraphs which are also numbered, from 1 to 99.

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 3, and ends on the last folio, on number 36.

Pagination: The volume contains an original typed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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‘Administration report of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muscat Political Agency for 1887-88.’ [‎17v] (32/72), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/V/23/53, No 245, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023626725.0x000022> [accessed 25 April 2024]

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