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'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1870' [‎351r] (708/798)

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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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territory, whereas this embraces the jurisdiction of Political Officers
in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. in general. That jurisdiction may be classified as
follows:—
Geographically considered, persons entitled to British protection,
within the limits of my charge, fall under five classes:
1. Subjects and proteges in Persia;
2. Subjects and proteges in the territories of the Muscat Go
vernment ;
3. Subjects and proteges in the petty independent Arab Chief
tainships of the littoral;
4. Subjects and proteges in ports situate in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ,
but belonging to Turkey ;
5. Subjects and proteges at the ports of the Wahabee Government.
As respects the Muscat section, an Order in Council A regulation issued by the sovereign of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Privy Council. has already,
I believe, been issued; and when the British subjects and proteges
residing in the Muscat territories shall be definitively discriminated
and registered, there should be no difficulty or confusion in disposing
of any civil or criminal matters in which they may be concerned.
As regards the minor Chieftainships on the Arab littoral, there
is no treaty or other engagement between those petty States and
us, under the provisions of which criminal and civil cases should
be disposed of. Practically, however, great hardship does not result
to our subjects from this deficiency. These subjects, for the larger
number, are Hindoos, with a sprinkling of Khojahs. If a complaint
arise, the plaintiff writes to me, or to one of my subordinates, or goes
in person to our Native Agent Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government. residing on the Arab coast. Communi
cations with the particular Chief follow. If necessary, the matter is
discussed before the assembly, or the opinion of the Cazee is called
for, and eventually either the Native Agent Non-British agents affiliated with the British Government. disposes of the case and
reports, or else the case lies over until I or one of my Assistants can
visit the coast and arrange the matter in common with others. Our
great supports in this section are moral,—
1^. The Chiefs and Arabs know from experience that British
authority has no wish other than to see simple justice done irrespective
of the nationality of the parties concerned.
2^. They know that, if the British Indians are unable to obtain
payment of debts, or secure a sufficient percentage of justice in other
respects, they will quit the locality.
3rd. Undue tyranny and exaction are checked by the respectful
awe in which the Chiefs live of the British power.
It rarely or almost never happens that a criminal charge is alleged
against our inoffensive Indians, who are well content to live quietly and
make money. If an Arab plundered one of these, he would, on convic
tion, have to make restitution, and be punished by his Chief. A few
months ago a case occurred on the coast, wherein a Hindoo, living in a
solitary date hut, was found dead and his property plundered. There
was little doubt of the deceased having been murdered. Inquiry was

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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' [‎351r] (708/798), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/CA10, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100135113394.0x00006d> [accessed 15 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