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File 869/1904 Pt 1 'Arms Traffic: - Red Sea, Africa & Aden' [‎283r] (570/580)

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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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GOVERNMENT OE INDIA.
FOREION EEEA.RTMENT.
SECRET.
External.
To
The Right Hon’ble VISCOUNT CROSS, G.C.B.,
Her Majesty's Secretary of State for India,
Simla, the 7th October 1891.
My Lord,
We have recently had under consideration certain reports from the
Political Officers on the Somali Coast regarding the importation of large quanti
ties of arms into Shoa and Abyssinia from the French port of Jibuti; and we
^ n . . have now the honour to forward, for the
From the Secretary to the Government of # n tt li/f •
Bombay, Political Department, No. 617^, dated the iniOrm&tlOIl Ol xi6r JM&JCSty S IjOVGril-
nth August i89i, with enclosures. ment, 8 l copy of the letter marginally
cited, and to invite especial attention to the letter No. 1199 of the 30th
July 1891, 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. and Consul, Somali Coast, which forms an
enclosure to it.
2. The information at our disposal goes to show that a trade in arms
between Jibuti and Harrar has existed since 1889. It would appear that of late
this trade has largely increased, and we consider that, by placing the Abissi
nians in possession of large quantities of arms, it may constitute a serious
menace to the security of our Somali Coast Protectorate, and may tend
to defeat the declared policy of the Powers in the matter of the sup
pression of the slave-trade. It must be remembered that at present any
immediate advantage, political or commercial, which may be derivable from
the trade in arms, is reaped exclusively by the French at Jibuti, while t le
inconvenient consequences, should such ensue, will m all probability be tele
mainly by us.
3. In Her Majesty’s letter to King Menelek, dated the ?0th February
1890, it was stated that the arrangement arrived at between the British and
French Governments in February 1888, for the restriction of the importation
of arms, was no longer in force as regarded arms destined for the dommions
of the King of Abyssinia. Again, in his letter No. 228, dated the lot
November 1890, to Her Majesty’s Agent and Consul-Geneial, Cano, the
Marquis of Salisbury explained that Abyssinia had adhered to the Geneial
Act of the Brussels Slave-Trade Cunferenee, and was therefore, undei it,
entitled to leeeive arms for the use of its authonties though not for sale.
We recognise, therefore, that it may not be possible for Hei Majesty G -
ernment to take immediately any effective steps m the mattel ^
it desirable to invite attention to the inconvenience and even dan^ei which may

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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' [‎283r] (570/580), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/32, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100048399912.0x0000ab> [accessed 23 April 2024]

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