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'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1870' [‎191r] (388/798)

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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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that expedition could only pass by tracking with the aid of some
hundreds of men, while the rocky nature of the banks and bottom
rendered this a matter of great danger. I cautioned Mr. Mayers to
impress upon Shakir Bey the great importance of conciliating the
Arabs resident on the banks of the stream, and he assured me that all
concerned in the undertaking were fully alive to this necessity. I
much fear the vessel in which they are proceeding will prove wanting
in steam power, but shall be very happy if I am hereafter able to
report success.
No. 92.
Trade through Ladak. {See p. 745 of 1869.)
We forward Dr. Cayley’s report on Ladak trade for the season of
1869. With reference to his remarks on the state of the roads in the
districts of Kullu and Lahoul, we may state that early measures will
be adopted for their improvement.
[Dr. Cayley reports that he found the Maharajah of Cashmere
always most willing to listen to complaints, and to redress all
grievances of the traders which were brought before him. The
merchants are highly gratified by the concession of the Maharajah in
regard to the abolition of transit duties on goods passing between the
Punjaub and the countries beyond Cashmere {see p. 329), and a very
great impulse to commerce may be looked for as a result of the
measure. There are still many obstacles to be overcome before the
trade can reach the limit of which it is capable. One principal difficulty
is the bad state of the roads; even in the British districts of Kullu and
Lahoul the roads greatly need improvement. The state of the roads
in the Cashmere territories is engaging the serious attention of the
Maharajah. There is a general desire on the part of most of the
merchants to go to Yarkund by the Changchenmo route, in preference
to the Karakorum, if they feel confident that no objection will be
made by the Cashmere authorities. There is a general report of a
far easier route through Rudok, further to the eastward, but it runs
through Lhassa territory, and is completely closed by the exclusive
policy of that country.]
No. 5 {Revenue).
Manufacture of Sod! at the Lonar Lake.
With reference to your Despatch of 22d July last, we forward cor
respondence from which you will learn that the Lonar Lake is at pre
sent leased to a contractor, the lease having still years to run. On
its termination, arrangements will be made for working the lake by
Government agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , provided that it be found not disadvantageous
to do so. The products at present are reported to be less than
600 tons, and less in value than Rs. 35,000 annually; the existing
11897. 5 T 2

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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' [‎191r] (388/798), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/CA10, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100135113392.0x0000bd> [accessed 26 August 2026]

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