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‘Book 131’ Secret letters inward [‎5r] (9/242)

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The record is made up of 1 file (119 folios). It was created in 16 Sep 1840 - 27 Dec 1841. 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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Content

The file contains letters received by Captain Samuel Hennell, British 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. in 1841, mainly from J P Willoughby, Secretary to the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. . At this period, the British 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. was based temporarily on the island of Karrack. The letters to the Resident contain information, guidance and instructions from the Governor in Council of Bombay. They also frequently include copies of pertinent correspondence between other British officials, mainly the Governor in Council of Bombay, the Governor General of India, the Secret Committee Pre-1784, the Committee responsible for protecting East India Company shipping. Post-1784, its main role was to transmit communications between the Board of Control and the Company's Indian governments on matters requiring secrecy. of the Court of Directors The London-based directors of the East India Company who dealt with the daily conduct of the Company's affairs. of the East India Company, London and Lord Palmerston, the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, London. The letters and their enclosures discuss events in East Africa and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. in 1841 and their implications for British foreign policy, relations and interests in these regions. The main topics discussed in the correspondence are as follows:

• Captain Atkins Hamerton’s mission to Zanzibar on behalf of the British Government, to investigate French ambitions in the East African territories of the Imam of Muscat, attempts by the French Government to establish a French Consular Agent at Zanzibar, French occupation of territory on the island of Nasbeh or Nos Beh [Nosy Bé], near Madagascar and the history of tribal warfare between its inhabitants. There are English translations of four documents seen by Hamerton in Zanzibar, including an agreement dated 29 April 1838 between Queen Smeko [Tsiomeko] of the Sucklavee [Sakalava] Tribe on the Island of Nos Beh and the Imam of Muscat. There is also an English translation of a letter sent by Lord Palmerston to the Imam of Muscat in September 1840 (folios 2-8, 14-17, 24-26, 75-90);

• Plans for the evacuation of British troops from their military station on the island of Karrack [Khārk, Jazīreh-ye], following the return of the island to the ownership and control of Persian authorities, in accordance with a recent commercial treaty between Persia and Great Britain. The desirability of retaining a British settlement on Karrack and the British Government’s view that the British Resident should remain on the island and continue to conduct 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. business in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. from Karrack (folios 21, 63, 67-69, 74, 92-99, 107-110);

• Discussion of British policy and measures for suppression of the maritime slave trade between ports in India, East Africa, the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and the Red Sea. The intention of the British Government to increase its demands on the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. Chiefs of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. to actively prohibit the slave trade in their ports and equally the Imam of Muscat, with regard to his ports in Zanzibar and other East African territories. The intention of the British Government to ask the Persian Government to prohibit the slave trade in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ports subject to its authority and control (folios 19, 33-36, 56-57,102-106, 111-117).

Extent and format
1 file (119 folios)
Arrangement

The letters are arranged chronologically. Many letters incorporate copied extracts from earlier letters or enclose them separately.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the letters are numbered 2-26, 26A, 27-65 and 66-117, from front to back. The numbering is written in pencil on the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. , in the top right corner and encircled. The front of the file cover is numbered 1 and the back of the file cover is numbered 119 on the inside. There is a blank internal cover enclosing letters numbered 66 to 117. The front of the internal blank cover is numbered 66A and the back of the internal blank cover is numbered 118 on the inside.

Pagination: the contents of the file were originally numbered in ink as follows: 9, 11, 7, 8, 12, 14, 17, 19 and then in strict ascending numerical order from 21 to 377, but with many gaps in the sequence. This earlier numbering of the file is predominantly pagination, but includes remnants of some former foliation systems as well. Blank pages or folios and those containing brief details only, such as name and address, are usually unnumbered.

Written in
English in Latin script
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‘Book 131’ Secret letters inward [‎5r] (9/242), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/96, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023861693.0x000009> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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