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File 869/1904 Pt 1 'Arms Traffic: - Red Sea, Africa & Aden' [‎260r] (524/580)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (286 folios). It was created in 2 Jul 1902-22 Dec 1906. 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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1
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No. 83 of 1904.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA.
FOREIGN DEPARTMENT.
SECRET.
External.
To
The Right Hoh’ble St. JOHN BROHRICK,
Sis Majesty's Secretary of State for India.
Simla, the 21st April 1904.
Sir,
In onr despatch No. 112 (Secret-External), dated the 30th July 1903,
we addressed your predecessor on the subject of the arms traffic in the Persian
Gulf with special reference to the unrestricted importation at Maskat and the
menace involved to our North-Western Prontier. Since then we have had
forced upon our notice the danger which is springing up in the Aden Hinterland
owing to the ease with which arms and ammunition are obtained throughout
that dependency, and our attention has been particularly called to Jibuti,
whence there flows a continuous stream of arms to the Arabian seaboard and to
the Somali Coast, and where conditions exist the continuance of which must
in a large measure frustrate the object of our endeavours at Maskat and in the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
2. The question of the traffic at Jibuti is an old one. In 1888 an Anglo-
Erench agreement was concluded whereby it was agreed that the two Govern
ments should take all necessary measures to prevent the importation of gun
powder and arms in the territories subject to their authority on the Somali
Coast The subject has since formed the topic of much negotiation. Proposals
have been made and discussed for the cancellation of the Anglo-Prench engage-
™ P nt and for the substitution of a wider tripartite arrangement between the
Governments of His Majesty and of Prance and Italy. The Brussels Conven
tion has been framed and ratified with its special provisions for the repression of
the trade in arms, which, however, unfortunately do not apply to the Arabian
Peninsular or to the coasts of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . But the clear language of the
Agreement of 1888 appears to have been lost sight of, and the traffic m arms
has gradually expanded and become established, until it is now deliberately
asserted that several hundred thousand rifles and innumerable cases of arms are
annually poured into the port of Jibuti, whence they are disseminated through
out the whole of the Middle East. # , , ,
o The ev ii has from time to time been brought to notice. In our despatch
No. 169 (Secret-External), dated the 7th October 1891, we addressed His
Maiestv’s Government on tbe menace to our interests m Somaliland, whic
then under the administration of the Government of India. Again, m
1898 we drew attention to the danger in the Aden Hinterland. It has not
irnwn less with years in either of those regions. We are not now responsible
for the former, hut the latter still remains in onr charge, and recent events
connected with the proceedings of the Boundary Commission have impressed
the matter forcibly on our minds. Nor is the danger one which threatens
Tj iK.v, interests only. The Italians and the Turks appear to be hardly less
affected, and have more than once urged the adoption of, or expressed their

About this item

Content

This volume is the first of three successive volumes of correspondence (IOR/L/PS/10/32-34), relating to the British prohibition and suppression of arms traffic between ports in Aden, the Red Sea and the coast of East Africa. The several correspondents include officials at the Foreign Office, 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 Admiralty in London, as well as officials in the Government of India Foreign and Political Department and in the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. Political Department. Other notable correspondents are the Commander-in-Chief for the East Indies Station and the Senior Naval Officer for the Aden Division, 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. and the First Assistant Resident at Aden, and the British Commissioner for the Somaliland Protectorate. Included in the correspondence between officials are: a petition from the people of Zeyla [Zeila] to the Deputy Commissioner of British Somaliland in 1905, representations made by British Indian merchants to 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 in 1903, a witness statement made by an Arab boat captain to the Harbour Police at Aden in 1905, and an arms traffic intelligence report received from a Reuter’s agent in about 1903. There are a few nineteenth century enclosures to the correspondence between officials, including two letters written in 1891, from Ras Makunan [Makonnen] the Governor of Harrar [Harar, Ethiopia], to 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. and Consul for the Somali Coast.

The volume contains a small amount of correspondence in French, in the form of an exchange of notes between the French Minister and the British and Italian Ambassadors in Paris and London, 1905-1906, as well as a copy in French of the Arms Traffic Agreement between France, Italy and Great Britain that was signed in London on 13 December 1906. The diplomatic correspondence also includes an English translation of a document entitled ‘Instructions for the Suppression of the Traffic in Arms in Somaliland’, compiled in about 1904 by the Italian Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs and the Italian Minister of Marine.

The file includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 volume (286 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume. The subject 869 (Arms Traffic: - Red Sea, Africa and Aden) consists of three volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/32-34. The volumes are divided into three parts, with each part comprising one 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 288; 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. Two additional foliation sequences are also present in parallel between ff 67-85, and ff 97-169; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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File 869/1904 Pt 1 'Arms Traffic: - Red Sea, Africa & Aden' [‎260r] (524/580), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/32, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100048399912.0x00007d> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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