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'Report on the Administration of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muscat Political Agency for the year 1877-78.' [‎257v] (60/165)

The record is made up of 1 volume (81 folios). It was created in 1878. 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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38 ADMINISTRATION REPORT OF THE PERSIAN
GULF POLITICAL 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.
II per miscal.
In vain Sir R. Hawkins gives us his doubts of this “conceit,” and
Cuvier his common sense explanations, a poetical idea dies hard, and the
drop of dew will continue to commend itself as a theory till science has
laid its final vetoe on the cherished illusion, and even that will not
shake the faith of the sons of jQman.
37. They contend moreover that there are four distinct kinds of
pearls, viz :—
(i.) Pearls from the Gulf
# The mnuher cannot be vouched
for, but the facts of the pearl being
built in layers is well substantiated,
and a pearl with one or two damaged
layers can be cleaned down to the
lower and more perfect stratum.
t Fishing grounds still visited by
the Arab.
t This would seem to be a prejudiced
statement.
of Oman recognisable by their peculiar
gloss and purity and possessing seven*
coats which are very thin and lustrous.
(ii.) Pearls from Socotra and the
Red Sea.f These are not considered to
be of so good a colour, shape, or
brilliance, and have only five coats.
(iii.) Pearls from Ceylonj: not so
pure as the last, and are only allowed
three coats!
(iv.) Pearls from Kurrachee ; these
are the worst, have only one skin, and are formed round a nucleus of
sand. They are very lightly esteemed.
However this may be with regard to the pearl in general, it is very
certain that the pearls of Oman themselves vary in weight, colour,
shape, and lustre, so much so indeed that the merchants recognize six
different names for different sorts of pearls, besides the three distinct
colouis, white, red, and blue. Black pearls are also sometimes found;
they are considered to be of no value, and are called “ dead” pearls, though
found in living shell fish.
38. These well-recognized distinctions are tabulated in the margin.
The first being the Yekah
{i.e.y unique) or Suffeid-i-
shirin, which, like all pearls
large enough to be valued
singly or in small packets,
takes rank according to its
size, purity, and beauty of
form. They are all sold
after a certain size, at so
much per chao, but this will
be more fully gone into
presently.
If such a pearl were
found weighing one miscal
or six grains English, being
good and pure and shapely,
its value in the present state
of the market would be
chao.
White Pear It.
1. Sufleid-i-Shirin or Yekah
2. Nim shirin
3. Gumeshai
4. Kambayiti ...
5. JVIaghz ...
6. Khaka Suffeid or Khusreh ...
Red Pearlt.
1. Surkh-i-Shirin
2. Surkh-i-Nim, shirin
3. Surkh Maghz, 1st sort
4. Surkh Maghz', 2nd variety
Blue Pearlt.
1. Kabud-i-Miyan
2. Kabud-idorum
3. Khusreh
4. Noori ...
5. Khakeh, one variety
6. Khakeh, another do
Present approxi
mate market
value of Bahrein
Chao.
12 to 30 $
3 to 10 5
3 to 7 $
2 to 5 $
3 to 2 $
4 to 10 §
per miscal.
8 to 14$
3$ to 5* $
j to 2 $
i to 1$
* to 11 $
1$
11 to 2 $
I to 11 $
1 to 1 $
n $
The prcscnt rate of exchange with India is 100$ Muscat
2171 Rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. or Rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. 2-2-10.
100 $ Bahrein = 219 or Rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. 2-3-0 per $.
about Rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. 44,220 at 65$ per Arab

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Administration report of 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. for 1877-78, published by Authority at the Foreign Department Press, Calcutta [Kolkata], 1878. The report is based on reports sent by the Officiating 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. (Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Charles Ross) and the 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 (Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Barrett Miles) to the Government of India. The report is preceded by a copy of a letter sent by Ross to Alfred Comyn Lyall, Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department, dated 8 July 1878, which enclosed the submission of the original reports.

The report is organised in a number of sections and subsections, as follows:

Part I: General Report, signed by Ross, and arranged under subheadings as follows: Oman; Arab Coast; Bahrein [Bahrain]; Nejd [Najd]; Province of Fars and the Persian Coast and Islands; Bushire; Coast from Bushire to Lingah [Bandar Lengeh]; Lingah; Bunder Abbass [Bandar Abbas]; Persian-Baloochistan [Baluchistan] Coast; Bassidore [Bāsaʻīdū]; Establishments; Slave-Trade; Appendices (including meteorological tables, notes on the Kara Aghach River by Dr Friedrich Carl Andreas*, the route from Bushire to Lar and Shiraz, and the route from Lar to Shiraz, the Persian Post Office and Foreign Postage, and tables of Persian money and measurements).

Part II: Report on trade of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. for the year 1877, signed by Ross and arranged under subheadings, as follows: Effects of late war on the trade; Steam communication; Grain harvest; Scarcity of coin; Opium; Pearl fisheries; Impediments to development of trade in Persia; and appendices (including notes on the pearling industry by Captain Edward Law Durand, notes on date palm cultivation by James Charles Edwards, and 31 tables of trade statistics covering imports/exports from/to the various ports and settlements of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and between the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and India).

Part III: Administration report of the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , Muscat, for the year 1877-78, prepared by Miles and arranged under the following subheadings: Political; Official changes; Slave Traffic.

Part IV: Trade statistics for Muscat, prepared by Miles, and comprising of six tables covering imports, exports, and number and tonnage of vessels entering and leaving the port.

* Folio 246 - a map has been temporarily removed and replaced with a green sheet of paper noting its removal.

Extent and format
1 volume (81 folios)
Arrangement

The report is arranged into four parts (I-IV).

Physical characteristics

Pagination: The report has a pagination system which uses numbers printed in the top-left corner of versos and top-right corner of rectos.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'Report on the Administration of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muscat Political Agency for the year 1877-78.' [‎257v] (60/165), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/V/23/32, No 152, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100026446897.0x00003d> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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