'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1870' [‎220v] (447/798)

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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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432
defray the further expense incident to their detention there, and the
cost of their passage thence to Calcutta.
With regard to the emigration of time-expired coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory. from
Reunion to New Caledonia, little further need now be said, because
Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs is now in corre.
spondence with the French Government with a view to an arrange
ment being entered into for the protection of these coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory. . Mr
Segrave’s report shows, however, the continued importance of this
subject, since 328 coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory. left Reunion for New Caledonia during
1869. We venture to express a hope that this important question
will be settled with as little delay as possible, and we are strongly of
opinion that no arrangements will he satisfactory which do not afford
to Indian coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory. in New Caledonia all the protection which it is found
necessary to give them in other British and Foreign colonies.
In regard to the action which ought to be taken with reference
to Mr. Segrave’s report, we have every right to assume that the
French Government will be as desirous as our own to ascertain the
truth regarding these serious statements, and to apply whatever
remedies are necessary. It is fair to the French Government to
remember that complaints regarding the treatment of Indian coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory.
have been made quite as strongly in some of our own colonies as in
Reunion. Not long ago, immigration into Grenada was stopped on
account of the insufficient protection afforded to coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory. ; and quite
lately we have been informed that Her Majesty’s Government has
appointed a Commission to inquire into the truth of statements of a
most serious character regarding the treatment of coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory. in British
Guiana. In pressing upon you most strongly the necessity of insisting
on complete inquiry into the state of affairs at Reunion, we are there
fore not asking anything more than has been already found necessary
in the case of some of our own possessions.
It is for Her Majesty s Government to determine what arrange
ments should be made with the French Government, but we feel that
we shall not, consistently with our duty, he able to allow the emigra
tion of natives of this country to Reunion to continue, unless im
mediate measures are taken to satisfy us, either that the statements of
the British Consul are incorrect, and that the condition of the coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory.
is really satisfactory, or that complete arrangements have been made
for remedying the evils which are described as existing. The reports
of the British Consul are the only means by which we can now form
any opinion of our own, and we are bound to accept his statements of
fact, and to act upon them, unless they can be shown to be incorrect.
Nor is it for us to determine how the necessary inquiry may best
he made, but we may perhaps be permitted to suggest that, if the
French Government should think tit to appoint a Commission of
Inquiry, somewhat similar to that just appointed by our own Govern
ment to investigate the condition of Indian coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory. in British Guiana,

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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' [‎220v] (447/798), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/CA10, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100135113393.0x000030> [accessed 21 August 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

'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1870' [‎220v] (447/798)

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