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File 1290/1905 'Mesopotamia: Oudh Bequest' [57r] (118/260)
The record is made up of 1 volume (126 folios). It was created in 1904-1914. It was written in English and Arabic. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
Bequest at the end of 1904 remarking to the British Vice-Consul at Karbala:
<c A lion and a fly can not he placed on the same level together, and (it) is
still more unjust to give the respective food of the one to the other. The
lion requires a greater and better quantity^ of food than the fly.” In my
opinion the number and respective amounts of the allowances should he vari
able and should depend entirely on circumstances.
From the whole tenor of my letter I thought it would appear that I was
in favour of Government intervention for the purpose of securing the proper
execution of the Bequest, and even that I considered it indispensable. The
dismissal in certain circumstances of Shaikh Husain, which I suggested, would
be an act of intervention.
19. With the utmost deference I would urge that the decision of this case
should be expedited as much as possible. Pending a declaration of policy by
the Government of India the funds of the provisional committee formed at
my suggestion at Karbala have been accumulating for over a year; and the
major portion, deposited in the Imperial Ottoman Bank at Baghdad, already
amounts to £ T. 1,794. Some of the Mujtahids are growing impatient, and I
have received a letter from one of them saying that when he subscribed to the
committee funds he intended the money to be spent at once on some more
worthy object, and did not contemplate its being locked away for an indefinite
period. Some of the ignorant public possibly believe that the money in deposit
has been embezzled, as has indeed been asserted, although the distributors
receive monthly accounts of it. In a word there is the danger that a favour
able opportunity may pass away if it is not now turned to account.
20. Last of all I would respectfully urge the Government of India to
give full weight to my recommendations, in the soundness of which I am even
more confident that I was a year ago, and which are founded on two visits to
Najaf and Karbala and on personal intercourse with a number of the
Mujtahids.
The Oudh Bequest is a stream which is capable of vivifying thousands ;
but, left unwatched and unguided, it will continue to stagnate in a morass of
corruption and dishonesty..
About this item
- Content
The volume contains correspondence relating to the distribution of the Oudh Bequest in Kerbala [Karbala] and Nejef [Najaf]. The correspondence is principally between the Government of India (Foreign and Political Departments), the 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. , and the Foreign Office. There are many enclosures that include correspondence from the following:
- 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. in Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. (who also acts as the British Consul-General in Baghdad);
- Mirza Muhammad Hassan Mohsin, British Vice-Consul at Kerbala;
- several mujtahids (a person accepted as an authority on Islamic law) from Kerbala and Nejaf;
- J W Hose, Chief Secretary to the Government of the United Provinces.
The Oudh Bequest was an annual payment made by the Government of India to the mujtahids of the holy shrine cities of Karbala and Najaf. This payment was the interest on a loan given to the East India Company in 1825 by the King of Awadh, who instructed that it be used to improve religious learning and help the poor of Shia communities in Iraq.
The papers within the volume cover the discussion over how the bequest was to be distributed. This system of distribution underwent several changes over the years, owing to complaints of unfairness by potential recipients and corruption as perceived by the British. Included within the volume are several petitions from mujtahids and representatives of the Indian residents of Kerbala and Nejef for a fairer distribution of the funds.
The volume includes extracts from the summaries of events in Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. that were produced on a monthly basis 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. in Baghdad.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (126 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 128; 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.
A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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File 1290/1905 'Mesopotamia: Oudh Bequest' [57r] (118/260), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/77, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100026539865.0x000077> [accessed 16 May 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/77
- Title
- File 1290/1905 'Mesopotamia: Oudh Bequest'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:31v, 33r:37v, 40r:60v, 62r:66v, 69r:127v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence