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'File No. II/9 Foreign Dept Memoranda of Information re. affairs in Persian Gulf, Maskat & Arabian Shore of the Persian Gulf. Nov '07 - Dec '08.' [‎37r] (75/132)

The record is made up of 1 volume (63 folios). It was created in 1 Oct 1905-19 Jan 1914. 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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■r
3t
7
in the forthcoming season. On the 14th
November 1907, His Majesty’s Secretary of
State for India telegraphed asking whether
any action was proposed with a view to exert
ing pressure on the local Sheikhs, a measure
which had been suggested in Mr. Lloyd’s
memorandum, and further requested the views
of the Government of India on the subject.
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. ,
whose opinion was invited, stated that
sufficient credit was not allowed to the
important connection which Messrs. Gray Paul
& Co. had always had with this trade. They
were the first European firm to take it up,
long before Mr. Wonckhaus came to the Gulf,
and had not in any way reduced their
operations.
It was true that Mr. Wonckhaus, who
migrated from East Africa to Lingah in 1898
or 1899, was enabled by the absence of close
competition there to build up the small but
prosperous business in shell export, which
enabled him four years later to extend his
operations to Bahrein and enter into competi
tion with Messrs. Gray Paul on their own
ground. The latter firm, however, had not
slackened their energies and expressed the
utmost confidence in their ability to hold their
own in Bahrein.
In regard to Lingah, there was a much
less satisfactory story to tell. Here Mr.
Wonckhaus had it all his own way from
the beginning. Messrs. Gray Paul’s reason
for refraining at the start from competing with
him at that port was that they calculated that
they could not run a satisfactory agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. there
with a native representative, and that the trade
to be done there, whether in shells or other
commodities, was not sufficient to warrant
the expense of deputing a European. The
urgency of better representation had been
hitherto pressed upon them repeatedly without
avail, but they intended immediately to send
one of their superior staff there as an
experimental measure who would also have
the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. within his heat.
As regards the obstructive or constructive
means to be employed for developing the trade,
Major Cox was of opinion that, beyond doubt,
if the demand could be created, the export of
shells was capable of great expansion; but
past experience of the demand, which had
fluctuated considerably, seemed to indicate
that it was not likely to develop much greater
proportions unless the Australian trade failed.
The object was therefore not so much to
increase British operations by opening new
channels, as to wrest some of the present
volume of trade from German hands.
As an obstructive measure, Mr. Lloyd had
suggested that influence be exerted upon the
Sheikhs of the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. calculated to

About this item

Content

The volume mainly comprises printed reports for each month from October 1905 to December 1908 entitled 'Memoranda of information received during the month ... regarding external affairs relating to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Muscat and Arabian shore of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. '. The memoranda are dated and despatched from the Foreign Department of the Government of India.

Topics covered in the memoranda include:

The file ends with an acknowledgement by 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. , Kuwait (William George Grey) of receipt of the Memoranda of Affairs from 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. , Kuwait (William Henry Irvine Shakespear).

Extent and format
1 volume (63 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in rough chronological order from the front to the rear of the volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 65; 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 present in parallel between ff 1-64; these numbers are also written in pencil but, where circled, are crossed through.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'File No. II/9 Foreign Dept Memoranda of Information re. affairs in Persian Gulf, Maskat & Arabian Shore of the Persian Gulf. Nov '07 - Dec '08.' [‎37r] (75/132), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/5/8, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100040097117.0x00004c> [accessed 30 March 2024]

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