'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1870' [179v] (365/798)
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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
350
the northern and north-western boundaries of Affghanistan is suffi.
ciently correct for all practical purposes, and we feel assured that the
inquiries which General Kauffman has been instructed to make wil]
not fail to establish the fact that these boundaries are consistent with
present circumstances, and with the rights which the Ameer inherited
from his father. We rely, therefore, with confidence on the pledges
which the Russian Government have given, that they will use all
legitimate means to save these territories from menace and attack
on the part of the neighbouring States and Chiefs subject to Russian
influence.
Nos. 28 and 30.
Bahrein. {See p. 249.)
We have to acknowledge your Secretary’s letter of 25th March,
relative to the claims of Persia over Bahrein. We observe that the
Persian Charg6 d 5 Affaires at the Court of St. James has protested, in
the name of the Shah, against “ the imprisonment of Mirza Mehdi
Khan’s Envoy,” against the “ seizure ” by Colonel Pelly of the
Imperial
firman
A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’).
and the dress of honour of which Haji Abd Ali was
the bearer, and against the “ bombardment ” of Bahrein, the imprison
ment of the Governor and several Sheikhs, and above all against the
“ nomination ” by Colonel Pelly of Esau-bin-Ali as successor to his
murdered father, Ali-bin-Khalifah.
The full particulars of what took place on the occasion of Haji
Abd Ali endeavouring to run the blockade at Bahrein have already
been communicated to you {see p. 181). It is only necessary to
lepeat them to show that the information conveyed to the Persian
Charge d Affaires was wholly incorrect. Beyond being prevented
from landing on the island, Haji Abd Ali, who stated that he had no
authority from the Persian Government, but was simply the deputy
of Haider Khan, Chief of Dashtee, was subjected to no restraint
whatever; that, far from any
firman
A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’).
and dress of honour having been
seized by Colonel Pelly, the documents of which Haji Abd Ali was
the bearer were not taken from his hands until eight days after he
had expressed his wish to make them over to the Resident, and then
only in compliance with his own request; that they were delivered
to Mahomed-bin-Abdoolla at the very first interview which Colonel
Pelly had with him in the condition in which they were received;
and that Colonel Pelly declined throughout to take charge of the dress
ot honour.
The statement of the Persian Charge d’Affaires that the document
was an Imperial
firman
A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’).
is not borne out by the information in our
possession. It was a
rukum
Royal grants confirming specific trading privileges from the Shah of Persia.
from the Governor General of Ears, and
not a
firman
A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’).
from the Shah. From Mr. Thomson’s letter you will
arn t at one change of name was certainly made in the docu-
About this item
- 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:
- The Government of India
- The Viceroy and Governor-General of India
- The Resident at Aden
- 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
- 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. in Muscat
- 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. in Zanzibar.
- 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 View the complete information for this record
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'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1870' [179v] (365/798), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/CA10, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100135113392.0x0000a6> [accessed 18 August 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- 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
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