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'Proposed Transfers of Aden and Somali Coast to Imperial Government; and of Persian Legation to India' [‎6r] (3/14)

The record is made up of 1 file (7 folios). It was created in Jun 1890. 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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obtain and furnish confidentially a detailed statement
on this point, together with the estimated value of ex
isting or projected works, fortifications, and plant, in
addition to any other information which you may deem
essential to the elucidation of this question. I enclose
copy of a preliminary correspondence ou the subject of
the transfer of Aden which has passed between the
Foreign and 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. .”
To this despatch the following’ reply was,
after discussion in Council, sent by the Govern
ment of India in their despatch No. 163,
dated the 16th August 1875 :—
2. “ With reference to the question of the transfer of
the control and charges of Aden from the Indian to the
Imperial Government, we fully concur in the views
Your Lordship has expressed relative to the great
increase in the importance of that settlement which has
been effected of late years through the opening of the
Suez Canal, the development of telegraphic and postal
communication between the West and the East, and
other circumstances which have arisen from the rapid
progress of events. Both from a political and a com
mercial point of view, the maintenance of our position
at Aden is of far more importance to the British Empire
than it was a few years ago. But we are not therefore
convinced that British interests wmuld be better served
by transferring the control of its internal administration
and external relations from the Indian to the Home
Government.
3. “In the first place, although it doubtless holds in
some respects a position analogous to that of Malta or
Gibraltar, its geographical position must be considered.
If the fortress w r ere menaced by a hostile power, India
would have to furnish succour; and if communication
through the Suez Canal happened to be cut off, Aden
would almost naturally fall under the control and
direction of the Indian Government, however much
the place might previously have been removed from
such control.
4. “Under any circumstances the native portion of
the garrison of Aden must be furnished from India and
be under Indian rules; and it would be very difficult
to pay any portion of the troops (even those of the
British army) otherwise than on the Indian scale.
The Royal Artillery would probably continue, as at
present, to be detached from a Brigade in the Bombay
Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. , while the convenience of making Aden a
stepping stone on the road home for British regiments
is so obvious, that it is not likely the present practice
of dropping a relieved regiment on its way to England
for a year will be relinquished. These circumstances
would serve to maintain a considerable amount of con
nexion between Aden and India; and, do what we
might, the troops and establishments at Aden would
be on much the same footing under the Imperial as
under the Indian Government, except that they would
be under a controlling power more distant and less
suited to deal with such conditions than the present
one.
5. “ In the next place we think the question of
internal administration has been somewhat overlooked
in the proposal. Aden is practically an Indian town ;
with the exception of the Arabs and Somalees who
visit the place on business of a temporary nature, the
population is wholly Indian, or is engaged in Indian
trade; the capital invested in the place is Indian; the

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Content

This secret and confidential memorandum, printed by the Foreign Office Press in June 1890, concerns the issue of the proposed transfer of Aden, the Somali Coast and everything connected with the Red Sea from the Government of India, and leaving British representation in Persia entirely in the hands of the Government of India. These issues are examined vis-à-vis Italian, French, German and Persian interests. The memorandum is divided into the following sections: 'Aden' (folios 5-6v), 'Somali Coast' (folios 6v-8v), 'Read Sea' (folio 8v), 'Summary' (folios 9-10) and 'Transfer of the Persian Legation to India' (folio 11).

Extent and format
1 file (7 folios)
Physical characteristics

Foliation: The foliation for this description commences at folio 5, and terminates at folio 11, 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 folios 5-156; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.

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'Proposed Transfers of Aden and Somali Coast to Imperial Government; and of Persian Legation to India' [‎6r] (3/14), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B51a, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100025538716.0x000004> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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