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‘Administration report on the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Maskat Political Agency for 1900-1901’ [‎52v] (112/144)

The record is made up of 1 volume (68 folios). It was created in 1901. 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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98
ADMINISTRATION REPORT ON THE PERSIAN GULF The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. POLITICAL
P art vi.— TRADE REPORT OF BANDAR ABBAS FOR THE
YEAR 1900.
The year under report has seen a very notable falling off in the trade of
this port, both as regards its exports and its imports.
A considerable falling off in trade was anticipated this year, but it was
not expected that the figures of the returns would show such a marked
decrease in comparison with those of former years as is actually the case, the
totals of exports and imports being respectively only 50 per cent, and 62 per
cent, of those for the previous year.
The special causes which have operated to produce this diminution
were :—
{a) The change of administration and of system in the Customs Depart
ment.
(6) The growing popularity of the route to Quetta vici Nushki,
{c) The insecurity of the main caravan routes from Bandar Abbas to
Yezd and Kerman.
(d) The embargo upon cereals.
{e) The heavy rates that obtained during part of the year for transport
to Yezd and Kerman.
To take these heads seriatim :—
{a) Customs.— administration of the Customs was taken over by
Belgian officials after u Nauroz/' i.e., towards the end of March. This innova
tion was viewed with great disfavour by the native merchants of the Gulf ports
and such of tbe inland towns as import through these ports. Attempts were
made to have the new administration subverted, on the failure of which recourse
was had to a system of boycotting, with the result that for four months trade
was at a standstill and for six months but few consignments were cleared. By
this time the merchants, seeing that the Government was determined to support
the new administration, resigned themselves to the inevitable, and trade resumed
its ordinary course. The Customs Department now began to rapidly make up its
lost ground ; but it was not to be expected that all of this could be recovered
in the three or four months that remained to the end of the year. It is calcu
lated that this period of stagnation was responsible for a falling off of at least
25 per cent, in the total trade. This may possibly be in a great measure
recovered in the ensuing year, as the merchants have now become used and
appear to be reconciled to the new system.
(&) and (<?) The Nushki Ti ade-route and the JBandar Abbas-Yezd and
Kerman Road. —These two points are so intimately connected that they may be
taken together. There is no doubt that the growing popularity of tbe trade
route vtd N ushki to Quetta is telling every year more adversely upon the trade
of this port. The unrest and uncertainty prevailing for some months after the
handing over of the Customs to Belgian administration will this year have
undoubtedly operated to divert a considerable stream of traffic from the Bandar
Abbas to the Quetta outlet; and, although Bandar Abbas may hope to regain
next year some of the trade thus lost, it is a question whether it will be
possible to regain it entirely. As an example, it may be mentioned that the
Birjand and Seistan caravans to this port, the former averaging yearly 4,000
and the latter 3,000 camels, have this year deserted Bandar Abbas entirely ^ or
the first time, and it will probably be found that a very considerable portion of
the trade they represent has gone to Quetta by the new trade-route. The
absence of these caravans alone has had a marked effect upon the totals of the
exports^ from this port, especially that of Birjand, which used to bring large
quantities of saffron, the most valuable of the Bandar Abbas exports,
absence of the camels forming these important caravans has also lessened the
amount of transport available for the interior during the year, and thus operated
unfavourably upon the rates for carriage.

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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 Maskat [Muscat] Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. for 1900-01, published by the Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India, Calcutta [Kolkata], forming part of the Selections from the Records of the Government of India, Foreign Department, and based on reports sent to Government by 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. and other Agents in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .

The Administration Report is organised as follows:

1. General Summary , submitted by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Arnold Kemball, 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. (folios 4-10), including reports on: the year’s rainfall, harvest and wheat embargo; the governorship of Bushire; the public peace, including cases of violent incidents; public health, including incidences of smallpox and the plague; currency; customs administration, including the establishment of Belgian customs administration in the Gulf; compensation claims; the death of Queen Victoria; Resident’s tours. The General Summary also includes summaries for towns and regions, chiefly comprising accounts of local politics: Oman and Muscat, including agreement on the location of a French coal shed; Oman Coast; Bahrain, including reports from the Katr [Qatar] peninsula; Koweit [Kuwait] and Nejd, with a report on the fighting taking place between Abdul Rahman bin Feysul el Saood [Ibn Sa‘ūd] and the Emir of Nejd, Ibn Rashīd; Persian Arabistan; Fars and the Persian Coast; Persia Baluchistan. Further reports are included on: the slave trade, including numbers of slaves manumitted by British officials in the region; incidents of piracy; naval movements, chiefly British but also one incidence of a French vessel in the Gulf; changes in British official personnel; and movements and changes in foreign representatives. Appendix A contains meteorological data for the year. Appendix B contains data from dispensary reports.

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. , 1900-01 , submitted by Captain Percy Zachariah Cox, His Britannic Majesty’s Consul and 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. at Muscat (folios 10-14), including: reports and incidents of a tribal or local political nature at Muscat; events at Dhofar [Z̧ufār], Sohar and Soor [Sur]; a report of the Sultan’s tours; Cox’s tours as 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. ; customs administration at Muscat; taxes; a pearling dispute; arms trafficking; a visit to Muscat by the bishop of Lahore; plague; the death of Queen Victoria; naval movements at Muscat, chiefly British also French vessels; the slave trade, including numbers of slaves manumitted at Muscat; and changes in official personnel. An appendix of statistics for dispensary activities, surgical operations, and civil hospital expenditure follows the report.

3. Trade Report of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. for the Year 1900 , submitted by Kemball, in his capacity at His Britannic Majesty’s Acting Consul-General for Fars and Khuzistan (folios 15-45), including summaries of: imports; exports; harvest; the pearl fisheries; the region’s new gum (tragacanth) industry; exchange; currency; specie; mule hire rates; freight and shipping, customs administration; and a more detailed breakdown of imports and exports by specific products. An appendix follows with trade data of the principal imports and exports from various Gulf ports, and number, tonnage and nationality of vessels, for the period 1898 to 1900.

4. Trade Report for Maskat [Muscat] , 1900-01 , submitted by Cox (folios 46-47), is a separate trade report with statistical data for Muscat for 1900, with summaries of key commodities.

5. Report on the Trade and Commerce of Mohammerah [Khorramshahr] and the Kārūn river for 1900 , submitted by William McDouall, His Britannic Majesty’s Vice-Consul, Mohammerah (folios 48-52), including summaries on: exchange; imports and exports; shipping activity; freight charges; activity on the Kārūn; caravan routes; agriculture; and health in Khorramshahr. An appendix follows the report, containing tabulated trade data.

6. Trade Report of Bundar Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās] for the Year 1900 , submitted by Vere Hunt, Assistant Resident and His Britannic Majesty’s Vice-Consul (folios 52-59), with summaries on: trade, and reasons for its overall reduction; customs administration; the Nushki trade route and the Bandar-e ʻAbbās to Yezd [Yazd] and Kermān road; embargo on cereals; carriage rates; exchange and specie. An appendix follows the report, containing tabulated trade data for Bandar-e ʻAbbās.

7. Report on the Trade and Commerce of the Bahrein Islands for the Year 1900 , submitted by John Calcott Gaskin, Political Assistant, dated 27 January 1901 (folios 59-67), including a summary of trade, with particular focus on the pearl market; details of imports and exports; coinage, freight and shipping. An appendix follows the report, containing tabulated trade data for Bahrain.

Extent and format
1 volume (68 folios)
Arrangement

The report is arranged into a number of parts and subsections, with statistic data in tabular format directly following written sections. There is a contents page at the front of the report (folio 3) which lists the report’s contents, and refers to the report’s own pagination sequence.

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English in Latin script
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‘Administration report on the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Maskat Political Agency for 1900-1901’ [‎52v] (112/144), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/V/23/79, No 385, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023643550.0x000072> [accessed 27 July 2024]

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