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'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1870' [‎81r] (168/798)

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'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1870'
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Ref: IOR/L/PS/20/CA10

The record is made up of 1 volume (395 folios). It was created in Dec 1869-Dec 1870. 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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which Her Majesty’s Government might possibly have overlooked,
connected with the payment of Syud Toorkee’s stipend from this
source; and we desired, before committing ourselves to a definite
admission of the right of Syud Majid to be released from the payment
of the subsidy, to be favoured with the instructions of Her Majesty’s
Government as to the communication to be made to the Ruler of
Muscat relative to the stipend of Syud Toorkee.
We have already {see p. 232 of 1869) so fully discussed the con-
siderations of justice, policy and good faith, which, in our opinion,
render it incumbent on us to insist on the continued payment of the
subsidy by Zanzibar to the Muscat State irrespectively of dynastic
changes, that we can do little more now than refer to them.
It is quite true, as observed by you, that an arbitrator does not
necessarily bind himself to enforce his awards. But the case of the
Zanzibar subsidy is different from an ordinary arbitration. The
negotiations which resulted in Lord Canning’s decision were, under
taken at a time when Syud Thoweynee had actually started on an
expedition against Zanzibar, in which there was every prospect of his
being successful; our interference was supported by vessels of war;
and we have already on two occasions actually enforced the award, and
required the Sultan of Zanzibar to pay up the subsidy with arrears.
In one particular case the arrears due amounted to 80,000 “dollars,
which sum was, after a protracted discussion with the British Agent,
paid by the Sultan of Zanzibar, and forwarded to Muscat in one of
Syud Thoweynee’s men-of-war.
The argument, moreover, however much in accordance with the
ideas of European diplomacy, is one which no Oriental nation can
appreciate. In the eyes of the Ruler of Muscat and of all the Chiefs
and tribes of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. we are bound to see our just decision
carried out; and it will be impossible to persuade the people that an
arbitrament so made and actually enforced by us differs in any way from
a solemn treaty. We apprehend, therefore, that little respect will be
paid to our awards, either in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. or elsewhere, if the
idea gain ground that they may be evaded by either party. It has been
our consistent policy for the last fifty years in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and
the Sea of Oman to induce the predatory tribes to abandon their
internecine wars, and rely for the settlement of their disputes on the
arbitration of the British Government. This policy has saved much
bloodshed, has averted many political difficulties, has suppressed
piracy, and rendered commerce in those regions secure. But we fear
that, for the future, these Chiefs will prefer the adjustment of their
quarrels by the sword, if we give them ground to believe that we are
indifferent to the execution of our awards.
We have already stated that we consider the subsidy to be due
to the Muscat State, and not merely to the Ruler of it for the time
being; that the honour and good faith of the British Government are

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Confidential printed abstracts of letters received 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. from the Government of India, and from senior officials in certain areas outside India, during the year 1870. The letters are dated December 1869-December 1870. The abstracts each have one of the following titles:

  • Abstracts of Secret Letters received from India
  • Abstracts of Letters received from India
  • Abstracts of Military Letters received from India
  • Abstracts of Letters received from Zanzibar and Muscat
  • Abstracts of Letters received from Aden
  • Abstracts of Letters received from Muscat
  • Abstracts of Letters received from Bushire [Bushehr]
  • Abstracts of Letters received from Aden and Zanzibar
  • Abstracts of Letters received from Bushire and Aden
  • Abstracts of Letters received from Zanzibar and Aden.

Each abstract contains summaries of one or more letters from the specified source, each with a title giving the subject of the letter. Letters from India are divided within each abstract by the branch or department of the Government of India they originated from. The correspondence covers issues including:

  • Pay, pensions, recruitment, and other personnel issues in the Indian Civil and Military establishments
  • Public works, including: railways, including a proposed railway from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; roads; canals; irrigation; docks; and river embankments
  • Revenue, expenditure, and taxation
  • Land issues, including: the cultivation of cotton, cinchona, and silk; forestry; and coal mining
  • Education
  • Banking
  • Telegraphy, including international telegraphic links to India
  • Affairs concerning Princely States, including internal administration, debts, allowances, issues of succession, investment in railways, and territorial claims
  • Issues around emigration from India to British and French colonies
  • Legislative and judicial affairs, including the question of jurisdiction over British subjects in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
  • Military affairs, including the organisation and supply of military units and a proposed naval force for the Indian seas and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
  • Frontier affairs: relations with tribes on the Northwest and Northeast Frontiers and frontier raids
  • Affairs in Persia [Iran], including: Persian claims to sovereignty over Bahrein [Bahrain] and objection to British actions in Bahrein; frontier disputes around Khelat [Kalat], Mekran [Makran], and Seistan [Sistan] and proposed arbitration of the Persian-Afghan border; anticipated food shortages and subsequent disturbances involving British subjects exporting grain from Bushire
  • Affairs in the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, including: the consolidation of and challenges to the rule of Syud Azan [Azzān bin Qays Āl Bū Sa‘īd]; debates around British policy towards Syud Azan; confrontation between Muscat and the Wahabees [Waḥabī movement]; the issue of the Zanzibar subsidy; and Syud Azan’s claims to Bunder Abbas [Bandar-e ‘Abbas], Gwadur [Gwadar], Charbar [Chabahar] and other territories on the Mekran Coast
  • Affairs in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , including: the campaign of Colonel Lewis Pelly in Bahrein and the installation of Esau bin Ali [‘Īsá bin ‘Alī Āl Khalīfah] as Ruler; trade and shipping in the Gulf; the desire of the Shah of Persia for a naval presence in the Gulf; Dutch and Turkish [Ottoman] activity in the region; and tensions between Bahrein and the Wahabees, including Wahabee inroads in the Guttur peninsula [Qatar]
  • Affairs in Affghanistan [Afghanistan], including relations with Bokhara [Emirate of Bukhara] and Russia
  • Central Asian affairs, including the Russian advance in the region, trade and communication from India to Central Asia via Cashmere [Kashmir] and Ladak [Ladakh], and affairs in Eastern Turkestan [Xinjiang]
  • Affairs in Zanzibar, including the slave trade, relations with Muscat, the death of Syud Majid [Mājid bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd], and the accession to the throne of Syud Burgash [Barghash bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd]
  • Affairs in and around Aden Settlement, including: relations with neighbouring polities, including Lahej [Laḥij Sultanate], Houshebi [Ḥawshabī Sultanate], Fodtheli [Faḍlī Sultanate], and Kathiree [Kathīrī Sultanate]; the purchase of Little Aden; the defences of Aden; an attack on Hodeida [Al Hudaydah] from Aseer [‘Asir] and the threat to Lahej from the Zaidees [Zaidīs]
  • Affairs in the Red Sea, including attempted French, Austrian, Turkish, and Egyptian inroads in the region
  • Affairs in Burmah [Burma/Myanmar], Bhootan [Bhutan], and Nipal [Nepal].

The primary correspondents are:

Extent and format
1 volume (395 folios)
Arrangement

The abstracts are arranged in roughly chronological order. A detailed index of subjects, places and people mentioned in the correspondence is included on folios 384-393.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 395; 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. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers.

Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1870' [‎81r] (168/798), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/CA10, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100135113391.0x0000a9> [accessed 24 July 2026]

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Reference
IOR/L/PS/20/CA10
Title
'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1870'
Pages
front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 1r:116v, 119r:395v, back-i
Author
East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
Usage terms
Open Government Licence