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‘Administration report of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muscat Political Agency for 1888-89.’ [‎50r] (8/60)

The record is made up of 1 volume (29 folios). It was created in 1889. 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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BESIDENCY AND MUSCAT POLITICAL AGENCY An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. EOR 1888-89.
7
15. Much animosity had existed for a considerable time between the Chief
' Ajman. *-A jman, Shaikh Rashid-bin-Hameyd, Al-bu-
Ali, and the Shargah Chief ; but in the early part of
1889 the Chief of Deb aye effected a reconciliation between ' Ajman and Him-
reeyah on the one side, and Shargah on the other. This mediation was due to
apprehension of an attack being made on the Hinawee Chiefs by Shaikh Jasim
of El-Bidaa, and the desire of the Chief of Debaye to be in a position to draw
succour from ' Ajman and Himreeyah in case of danger.
16. Shargah, in the centre of the group of " Trucial States A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ," is the head-
shar ah quarters of the 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. Agent on the Pirate
Coast. The Chief is still Shaikh Sakar-bih-Khalid,
El-Jowasimi.
17. Hostilities were on the point of breaking out between Shargah and
5 Ajman, and the Chief of Shargah engaged mercenaries on the Persian Coast
and called on his friendly Bedouins to furnish a contingent to aid him. The
war was, however, averted, and peace effected by the mediation of the Chief
of Debaye.
18. Much excitement and discussion was caused on the Pirate Coast by the
threatened invasion of ' Oman from Nejd and El-Katr. The Chief and inhabit
ants generally of Shargah are Wahhabees in religion, and Shaikh Jasim of El-
Katr addressed communications to the Chief as if to a friendly neighbour on
whose assistance he could count.
19. The Chief of Shargah in July informed the Eesidency Agent that he
had received letters from Shaikh Jasim bin Mohammed Thani, announcing
the approaching invasion of 'Oman by " Ibn Rasheed " and "the Imam"
Abdullah-bin-Eeysal, and expressing hopes of receiving assistance from the
Shargah and the other Ghafiree Shaikhs. J asim again addressed the Chief
of Shargah in November, requesting permission to land stores at Shargah
for the use of the Nejdean Eorces. The Chief was advised to excuse himself.
20. In the early part of the year much soreness existed between the Chiefs
of Shargah and Debaye, but the latter eventually took alarm at the attitude of
the Katr Shaikh and thought best to make it up with Shargah, and prevailed
on the ex-Chief of Shargah, Salim-bin Sultan, to engage to refrain from in
trigues against his nephew, the Chief of Shargah, in return for the restoration of
the allowance he had formerly received from his nephew. Salim-bin-Sultan
had, be it explained, proceeded to Debaye for the purpose of requesting the
Chief of Debaye's aid in recovering possession of Shargah.
21. Debaye, which is now the most populous port on the Pirate Coast,
is ruled by Shaikh -Kashid-bin-Maktoom, of the
Debaye ' Al-Bu-Ealasa, a Hinawd clan. Although tribally
connected with the Beniyas, in the early part of the year under review the
Chief of Debaye appeared extremely hostile to Abu Dhabbi, and it was
thought he w'as meditating a league with Shaikh Jasim against Shaikh .Za eed.
It is probable that Shaikh Rashid was merely temporizing as regards Jasim's
overtures, as latterly he has thrown his lot in with the Beniyas. In July
Jasim sent the Debaye Chief a present of a mare, and wrote to assure him
that neither he, (Jasim) nor the Turkish Government would molest Debaye,
and that the divers of that place might visit El-Katr in safety.
22. Subsequently Shaikh Jasim wrote expressing his wish to visit Debaye.
The Chief, having consulted me on the subject, was informed that I considered
he would act unwisely to receive Jasim or to become involved in the affairs
and schemes of that Shaikh, and he was recommended to make suitable
excuses.

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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 265, Foreign Department serial no 25) for the year 1888-89, 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 21 June 1889, is included in the report (folio 48), the original of which submitted the report to Government, under the following headings:

Part 1 ( General Summary ), submitted by Ross and dated 21 June 1889 (folios 49-57), containing numbered summaries of local political affairs, and incidents or events of particular note for: 1) Oman and Muscat state; 2) Oman pirate coast, including Ras-el-Khaimah [Ra’s al-Khaymah], Umm-el-Kawain [Umm al-Qaywayn], ’Ajman, Shargah, Debaye [Dubai], and Abu-Dhabbi [Abu Dhabi]; 3) El-Bahrain; 4) El-Katr [Qatar]; 5) Nejd and El-Hasa [Al-Hasa]; 6) Fars and the Persian Coast; 7) Persian Arabistan; and 8) Persian Baluchistan. Summaries of official appointments, naval movements, slave trade activity and climatic observations taken at the observatory at Bushire conclude the report. Appendix A is entitled ‘Notes on the “Ibn Rasheed” family of Jebel Shammer, and present position of Mohammed “Ibn Rasheed”’, with a genealogical table of the Rasheed dynasty. Appendix B is a translation of the Shah of Persia’s proclamation of 1888. Appendix C is a copy of the regulations for the navigation of the river Karun. Appendix D contains tabulated meteorological data for the year, supplied by the Bushire observatory.

Part 2 ( Annual Report of the Muscat Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. and Consulate for the Year 1888-89 ), submitted by Lieutenant Wallace Stratton, 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, containing a summary of affairs at Muscat (folios 58-59), under the headings: political affairs, official changes, and slave trade.

Part 3 ( Report on the Trade of South Persia and Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. for the Year 1888 ), submitted by Ross (folios 60-69). The report comprises a short summary of the year’s trade, with notes on: produce, including grain, opium, tobacco, gum and wool; steamers and freights; imports, including cotton goods, copper, loaf sugar, and petroleum; banking agencies; the opening of the river Karun to navigation; and the pearl fisheries. Appendix A comprises tabulated data on import, exports and revenue, in the Gulf ports and towns of Bushire, Shiraz, Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh], Bunder Abbass [Bandar-e ʻAbbās], Bahrain and the Arab coast. An index to the trade tables can be found at folio 61v.

Part 4 ( Muscat trade report for the year 1888-89 ), submitted by Stratton and dated 17 May 1889 (folios 70-75), 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 (29 folios)
Arrangement

The report is arranged into four numbered parts, with lettered appendices containing further reports and statistical data following each part. The General Summary is further organised into numbered sections, and further divided into paragraphs which are also numbered, from 1 to 102.

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 48, and ends on the last folio, on number 75.

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 1888-89.’ [‎50r] (8/60), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/V/23/56, No 259, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023626733.0x000009> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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