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'Egyptian Claims to Sovereignty over the Somali Coast.' [‎13v] (26/62)

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The record is made up of 31 folios. It was created in 1876-1879. It was written in English and French. 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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2
regard to the Somali coast for the Khedive’s ac
ceptance, and to intimate that, if His Highness
agreed to it, an application would he made to the
Porte to authorize the conclusion of a Convention
to give effect to it, and to engage that no portion
of the Somali coast thus formerly incorporated in
the Ottoman dominions should at any time be ceded
to a foreign Power.
As to the expediency of the course proposed
there could he little doubt. An early settlement
of the main issue was desirable on many grounds ;
whereas the question of the islands and of Obokh
was really of very subordinate importance. Mussa,
Bab, and Aubad, though ceded to us in 1840 by the
Sheikhs of Zeyla and Tajourrah, had never been
occupied; while Obokh had been abandoned by the
French since 1863.* It was, moreover, quite
certain that discussion of the point was more likely
to lead to a reoccupation of Obokh than to relin
quishment of the French claim, doubtful as were its
merits. In fact, in December 1875 General Stanton
was inf rmedf by Nubar Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. that the Acting
Agent and Consul General of Prance had recently
addressed a Note to the Egyptian Government,
calling their attention to the fact that Ohokh was
a French possession, and that, although no establish
ment of any sort as yet existed there, the French
Government claimed sovereignty over that spot,
and could not allow of any interference with their
rights on the part of the Egyptian authorities; and
a month later Raschid Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. mentioned to Sir
H. Elliot,^ without his having in any way alluded
to the subject, that the French Ambassador had
intimated to him that his Government maintained
their claim to Obokh.
Accordingly, the Foreign Office was informed§
that Lord Salisbury agreed with Lord Derby in
thinking it desirable that General Stanton should
proceed at once with the arrangements for the re
cognition, on the conditions before specified, of the
hereditary rule of the Khedive of Egypt over the
line of Somali coast up to Cape Guardafui, where it
was already de facto established, and that the
question of English rights over the islands of Mussa,
Bah, and Aubad, and of French claims to Obokh,
should be dealt with separately when circumstances
permitted. It was added:—
“ Lord Salisbury presumes that it is not intended
to recognize the incorporation in the Ottoman
dominions, under the rule of the Khedive, of any
part of the Somali coast south of Cape Guardafui,
and that Her Majesty’s Consul General in Egypt
will he furnished with instructions for his guidance
in the event, which from recent correspondence seems
not improbable, of the Khedive objecting to regard
that point as the limit of his dominions.”
Instructions in this sense were issued to General
Stanton, || who was desired to intimate to the
Khedive that, if His Highness agreed to the con
ditions proposed by Her Majesty’s Government, an
* Memorandum, 26th February 1876,
p. 17.
f Despatch, No. 162, dated 11th December
1875.
t Despatch, No. 91, dated 24th January-
1876.
§ 11th Mareh 1876, No. 118.
| Despatch, No. 74, dated 22nd March
1876.

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Content

A historical memorandum relating to Egyptian claims to sovereignty over the Somali coast, written by A W Moore, Assistant Secretary to 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. , in two parts, submitted 26 February 1876 and 11 October 1879.

The first part of the memorandum provides a historical narrative of events leading from the discovery in June 1870 of an Egyptian warship at Berbera on the Somali coast, with consequent suspicions that the Egyptian Government wished to occupy that place, up to the production of a draft Somali Coast Convention in 1876. The memorandum reproduces correspondence between the Resident at Aden, the Secretary of State for India, and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in which the authors consider the impact of Egyptian and Turkish influence at Berbera on British trade interests at Aden; on the independence of local Somali tribes; and on British efforts to suppress the slave trade. The memorandum also includes the terms by which HM Government agree to recognise Egyptian sovereignty.

Appendices to the first part of the memorandum reproduce several 'Treaty Relations with Tribes on the African Coast' and 'Geographical Notes'.

The second part of the memorandum opens with an account of events which preceded the signing in 1877 of the Somali Coast Convention by the British Government and by the Egyptian Khedive, describing the Khedive's attempts to extend the limit of proposed Egyptian sovereignty as far south as the Juba River, and subsequent British threats to enter into agreements with Somali chiefs independently of the Khedive.

The memorandum goes on to describe renewed discussions in connection with the procedure in Constantinople necessary to give validity to the Convention after it was signed by the Khedive, and reproduces a note issued by the Ottoman Porte, which asserts Turkish sovereignty over the territory covered by the Convention, but falls short of providing assurances against ceding any of that territory to other foreign powers.

The memorandum closes with the reproduction of correspondence discussing the text of a proposed firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). , to be issued by the Ottoman Porte, which would give validity to the Convention signed by the Khedive.

Appendices to the second part of the memorandum reproduce the text of the 'Somali Coast Convention' and an 'Agreement in regard to the Island of Socotra'.

Extent and format
31 folios
Arrangement

This file is in two parts - the first part consists of a historical narrative (ff 1-9), followed by two appendices (ff 10-12); the second part consists of a historical narrative (ff 13-29), followed by two appendices at the end (ff 30-31).

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 31; 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. Pagination: the volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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'Egyptian Claims to Sovereignty over the Somali Coast.' [‎13v] (26/62), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B3, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100035841288.0x00001b> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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