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‘Masqat Arms Traffic. 1908–1909.’ [48v] (101/128)
The record is made up of 1 volume (60 folios). It was created in 1909. 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.
60
appfcaob individuals, and ask them if they
would like to land. This ran be a'uv.nge-
ed for a consideration, varying from Es. 5
to Rs. 40 according to the substance of
the ir.dividua 1. The bargain made, the
man shoulders his kit, walks down the
ladder into a bo.t and is taken off to
Matrah. On the 2ith March, 21 Af
ghans who came from Bandar Abbas
by steamer managed to land at Masqat
by paying Rs. 200 in bribes to quarantine
and other officials. The ship’s officers
apparently take no notice of this, and the
only official who could make things un
pleasant is the quarantine assistant. He
has either been bribed directly or, if arrang
ed through the touts, he gets his commis
sion from them. Mukhdum Shah’s activities
do not end on board the steamer. He has
built a guest hou'e at Matrah, and he
takes the Pathans, who have secretly land
ed, off to this. Here he has samples of
rifles that are for sale in Masqat, and
he persuades hi] Pathan guests to deal with
whichever merchant pays him the most
commission.
It will be seer* that he is verv favour
ably situated. He is the only native
with any official position on the spot, and
he is the first in the field. In addition
to building this house at Matrah, he is
believed to have saved up 5,000 reals in
cash out of the business.
The quarantine chaprassis and the touts * .
„ 1 * tuuts s , ning of p j s(ols on board steamers
manage to sell a certain number of pis
tols to Afghan passengers on board the
India-bound ships. The Afghans con
ceal the.e in their trousers and land thus
at Karachi, where only the kit and not
the person is searched.
In addition to the above there are other •
methods of smuggling arms into Bom
bay and Karachi. The gun merchant,
Damodar Mul, does a large trade in dates
and dried fish (for manure) between Masqat
and Bombay and Karachi.
Ali Khan bin Musa Khan* and Saiyid
lusuf give pistols and ammunition to
the nahhudas of Damodar Mul’s boats
smuggling arms into India-
* Afterwards ererced to in this report as
A!i Musa
About this item
- Content
Bound volume containing two secret reports, both authored by Colonel Wilfrid Malleson (referred to as Division of the Chief of the Staff in the first report, and Assistant Quarter Master General for Intelligence in the second), and both issued by the Division of the Chief of the Staff in 1909.
The first report is entitled Statistics regarding the Masqat [Muscat] Arms Traffic (Revised.) (ff 4-16), and contains several appendices and fold-out tables giving details of: caravan routes along which arms trafficking is carried out on the Makran coast; total values of arms and ammunition imported into Muscat and other Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ports; importers and (European) exports of arms.
The second report is entitled Special Reports on the Masqat Arms Traffic, Season 1908-09 (ff 17-60), and comprises a number of reports on the arms trade through Muscat, submitted by ‘secret agents’, and a map illustrating the arms traffic from Muscat to Persia, Baluchistan and Afghanistan (f 59). The report also includes two appendices, lettered G and H. Appendix G is a letter (in French) dated 28 October 1907, from M Pick to Messieurs Malcom and Company of Muscate [Muscat]. Appendix H comprises lists (in French) of arms for sale, with prices given in French francs.
The voluime includes a map illustrating the Muscat arms traffic, dated 1909, indicating routes taken by the Muscat arms trade from the Persian (Makran) coast and inland, into Persia, Baluchistan and Afghanistan (f 59).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (60 folios)
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 62; 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: this part also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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‘Masqat Arms Traffic. 1908–1909.’ [48v] (101/128), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/289/A, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100049315702.0x000066> [accessed 25 April 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/20/289/A
- Title
- ‘Masqat Arms Traffic. 1908–1909.’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:35v, 38v:61v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence