Skip to item: of 54
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

'Selection from Correspondence Relative to the Traffic in Arms in the Persian Gulf, 1897-98. Part I' [‎24v] (48/54)

The record is made up of 1 file (27 folios). It was created in 28 Apr 1898. 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. .

Transcription

This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.

Apply page layout

surplus capital in our business we are threatened with immediate bankruptcy,
and it is poor satisfaction to us to be told that we shall be entitled to be
compensated by Her Majesty’s Government. We feel therefore that we are
upon every ground entitled to ask for immediate attention to our case.
We are, &c..
Sir Thomas H. Sanderson, K.C.B. Fracis Times & Co.
Enclosure in above.
27, Leadenhall Street, London, E.C.,
7 th March 1898.
We the undersigned, Fracis, Times, & Co., British subjects, have for
upwards of 18 years carried on business as general merchants in the city of
London, and have from time to time established branch houses and agencies
at various places, including:—
JBushire. —In the year 1887 we established an agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. at Bushire, and in
the year 1891 a member of our firm took up his residence there, and we
then acquired business premises of our own.
The business from that time has been under the direct management of a
member of our firm. The premises consist of a building used as a store,
with business offices and domestic rooms in the quarter of the town usually
occupied by Europeans. From the time we commenced business at Bushire
we have been in the habit of making shipments of rifles, pistols, and
ammunition, as well as of various other articles, from London to Bushire,
and selling the same by retail at our business premises there. All arms and
ammunition thus shipped have been so described in the Custom House
returns and ships’ manifests, and on arrival at Bushire have invariably been
examined by the Persian authorities at the Custom House and Customs
duties have been paid upon them.
This course of business has been well known to the resident British
Government representative at Bushire. Until our goods were recently seized
we had no intimation that there was, or had been, any prohibition of the
import into Bushire of arms or ammunition. No notice to that effect is to
be found at the Custom House at Bushire, or to our knowledge elsewhere,
and v r e had no reason whatever to suppose that any prohibition promulgated
bv a former Shah of Persia was in force.
In the annual official reports published by the Foreign Office and sub
mitted to both Houses of Parliament, details are given of exports and imports
from and into Bushire in the two previous years. From the annual report
so presented to Parliament in the month of September 1896, it appears that
in the year 1895 711 packages of arms and ammunition, of the value of
56,301/. sterling, were imported into Bushire, and that during the year 1891
479 packages of arms and ammunition, of the value of 37,678/., were
imported into Bushire, and from the same return it appears that during the
year 1895 57 cases of arms and ammunition and 4,000 rifles, of the value
together of 25,444/. sterling, were exported from Bushire, and that during
the year 1894 77 cases of arms and ammunition and 4,000 rifles, of the
value together of 30,406/. sterling, were exported from Bushire.
Notwithstanding the above state of things, in the month of December last
a Persian official at Bushire and the British Consul there, acting on behalf
of the British Government, entered our go-down and seized about 3,800 rifles
and a quantity of ammunition, our property, which had in the w r ay described
been imported into Bushire, and mostly for transhipment to the Oman coast,
passed through the Custom House there after paying duty in the usual way.
In like manner, arms and ammunition, our property, then in the Custom
House at Bushire, were seized at the same time. Our property thus seized
at Bushire was of the value of 30,000/. sterling.
Island of Baharin .—In the year 1895 we established an agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. at Baharin
under charge of Mr. Mahomed Bahim Saffer. The island of Baharin is
situate on the south side of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. off the Ooman coast, but does

About this item

Content

This file contains a selection of correspondence and enclosures compiled by 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. Political and Secret Department relating to arms traffic in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. from 1897-98.

Correspondents include: 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. , the Foreign Office, the Marquess of Salisbury, the Secretary of State for India, the Chargé d'Affaires in Tehran, the Admiralty, the Viceroy of India, the Government of India, 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 the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , the Sultan of Muscat, and various British merchant companies.

The following topics are discussed:

  • measures for the control of trade in arms and ammunition with Muscat;
  • the power of the Crown to prohibit the export of arms and to stop the importation by British subjects or in British vessels;
  • the Customs Consolidation Act and other treaties with Muscat;
  • treaty engagements of Bahrein;
  • the search and seizure of shipments at Muscat and Bushire including the SS Tripoli , and SS Baluchistan ;
  • the registration of arms;
  • grievances of British merchants over loss of trade.

It contains three short treaty extracts in French.

Extent and format
1 file (27 folios)
Arrangement

This file consists of a single document with re-printed correspondence arranged in chronological order.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 1, and terminates at f 27, it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, 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 file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
View the complete information for this record

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

'Selection from Correspondence Relative to the Traffic in Arms in the Persian Gulf, 1897-98. Part I' [‎24v] (48/54), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/C87/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036186244.0x000031> [accessed 29 March 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100036186244.0x000031">'Selection from Correspondence Relative to the Traffic in Arms in the Persian Gulf, 1897-98. Part I' [&lrm;24v] (48/54)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100036186244.0x000031">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000833.0x0000db/IOR_L_PS_18_C87_1_0048.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000833.0x0000db/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image