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'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1870' [&lrm;257r] (520/798)

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'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1870' [‎257r] (520/798)

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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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first “Peneiinj
3niment of I*
]s and otter^
een c amej 0 ,; i;
' with tte m
llarl yMi^
) a PP ro pnatetol|
to Fun^i
L(ls u P°n tkeln
ing Sicca Es, |!
°P all the claii
i his hands fromil
ts Sicca R8,5#
a total investmei
of the securihi
)f three daugfei
1 1836 were ti
on this investi
;um’s lapsed if
tis, together will
’med the nuclei
d with the if
made in 1834,it*
.6 lacs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees , after defc
credited to this ft
it, and the dh
and the sums act!
st March 1868.
musie wrongful®
ring no interest!
; for special pf
the orders of ^
as received; 111
lapsed stip^
nily prcp er f) l, 't
3 ) fro® a s’'""
505
a portion of Munnee Begum’s treasure, invested with the consent of
the Nazim of the day, consists exclusively of lapsed stipends, over
which the Nawab An honorific title; an official acting as a provincial deputy ruler in South Asia; or a significant Muslim landowner in nineteenth century India. Nazim had no control whatever, have always borne
interest, and bear interest to this day. Part of the interest is devoted
to the purpose for which the corresponding portion of the investment
was originally made, viz., the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. Establishments, although it is
insufficient to meet the expenditure, and has had to he supplemented
with grants from the other portions of the Fund; and the remainder
goes for Nizamut purposes, over and above the payments made from
the Government Treasury. If the interest of the Begum’s Fund has
not been re-invested, as directed in 1823, it is because that Fund
never really came into existence, and the Nawab An honorific title; an official acting as a provincial deputy ruler in South Asia; or a significant Muslim landowner in nineteenth century India. Nazim himself failed
to carry out the arrangement by which he was to credit Rs. 56,000 a
year to the Fund. He himself wrongfully appropriated the lapses,
and so far from his having any claim, Government had actually to
forgive him a debt of Rs. 2,70,137 on account of misappropriated
lapses, for which act the Government of India incurred the censure of
the Court of Directors The London-based directors of the East India Company who dealt with the daily conduct of the Company's affairs. .
In regard to the uninvested portion, not only was it never in
tended that it should bear interest, but it would be contrary to all the
Government rules regarding deposits if interest were granted upon it.
Deposits in the Government Treasuries do not bear interest, except
under specific arrangements made with the depositors. Since the first
day of its formation, the deposit has borne no interest. It was not
Lord Dalhousie who made it a book-debt; the uninvested portion of
the Deposit Fund has never been anything else than a book-debt ever
since its formation in 1836. What Lord Dalhousie wanted to do was
to abolish the Fund altogether, and to re-credit the uninvested balance
to Government; hut to this the Court of Directors The London-based directors of the East India Company who dealt with the daily conduct of the Company's affairs. objected. If the
Fund had been invested, it would at one time have been bankrupt.
The demands upon it are heavy and fluctuating. A reference to the
report on the Fund will show that it has not always been able to
meet its liabilities. Between 1842 and 1851, for instance, there
was a cumulative deficit, varying from a quarter of a lac One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees to nearly
two lacs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees . Much confusion indeed has arisen from styling the
balance of the 16 lacs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees a Fund. The uninvested portion of the so-
called Fund is a mere account of certain liabilities which the Govern
ment of India may, at some indefinite time in the future, be called
upon to meet. There is no obligation, express or implied, to give
interest on this account; and on two occasions on which the present
Nawab An honorific title; an official acting as a provincial deputy ruler in South Asia; or a significant Muslim landowner in nineteenth century India. Nazim has brought forward his grievances, although apparently
assisted by persons fully acquainted with all the facts of the case, he
has not been able to adduce anything which implies a promise on the
part of Government that interest would be allowed. This appears to
us to have been the view of Her Majesty’s Government in 1864. At
that time interest had never been paid on the uninvested part of the
Fund. The Nawab An honorific title; an official acting as a provincial deputy ruler in South Asia; or a significant Muslim landowner in nineteenth century India. Nazim complains that the Fund was converted
12038. 7 L
i

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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' [‎257r] (520/798), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/CA10, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100135113393.0x000079> [accessed 9 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