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'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1870' [‎83r] (172/798)

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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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AH and Saled bin AH, Henavies of the south, (the latter the con
fidential Minister of Syud Toorkee on previous occasions,) assured
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. , early in November, that the whole country was
content with Azan, and that his rule promised to last, if he was pru
dent enough to avoid giving cause for offence. The Beni-boo Hussun,
Hejreen, Al-Harth, and Alhuba tribes had accepted his authority, and
the men of the Henavies were expected to follow the example of their
Chiefs, who had already declared for him. The Resident in the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , with different sources of information, reported on De
cember 1st that the allegiance of the Beni-boo Hussun tribe to Azan
was not to be depended on; that the southern tribes would prefer
Syud Toorkee, but that a fanatical party, under the influence of
which Azan was, had their own way for the present. Trade was
suffering, rigid rules against smoking and drinking were being put
into force, and the less bigoted portion of the community were leaving
the country. Muscat itself was quiet; Saleh bin AH, though
nominally an adherent of Azan, was believed to be playing for the
higher stake of the Government of Muscat for himself.
About this time Colonel Pelly telegraphed that Syud Salim was
endeavouring to rally men round him on the Arab coast, with the
object of recovering his dominions. As he contemplated an attack by
sea on some of the ports of Oman, he was at once warned, much to his
surprise, against any act that might tend to a breach of the maritime
peace. The Bombay Government, through whom this injunction was
communicated, was at the same time (December 11th) told that we
would, if necessary, be prepared to use force against Salim or Toorkee
if either made any warlike attempt in the hope of accomplishing his
purpose from the seaboard, while operations by land would not be
interfered with. Before Colonel Pelly had received his instructions,
he had, by a misconception of the circumstances of the case, given
Salim leave to embark seafaring men at Aboothabee ; but this act was
productive of no bad results.
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. reported in February 1869 that Azan
was in danger from the uneasiness of the Ghaffrees; and he
added that he considered the rule of Syud Toorkee would be
acceptable to the majority of the people of Oman. This was also
the view of the Governor of Bombay, who, in a letter to the Viceroy,
expressed his regret at the long-continued detention of Toorkee in
Bombay. The aspect of affairs had so altered since the orders of
December 11th were issued, that we declared that Toorkee’s em
barkation for Muscat would not be prevented {see p. 171 of 1869).
We desired, however, that no promise of protection or assistance
should be given him. But whatever hope he might have had of being
able to re-establish his power had been neutralized twelve days before
the letter conveying this decision had been written, by the wreck of
His Highness’s solitary vessel, the “ Amaranth.”

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Content

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' [‎83r] (172/798), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/CA10, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100135113391.0x0000ad> [accessed 26 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