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'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1873' [‎86r] (178/670)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (332 folios). It was created in Dec 1872- Dec 1873. 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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(Confidential, No. 23.)
Abstract of Letters received from
Bushire,
March 11 th , 1873.
January 25th, Nos. 86 and 87.
British Relations with Bahrein. Survey Operations in the Gulf.
The Acting Resident at Bushire to the Secretary to Government of
Bombay, January 25th .—With reference to the protest of the Turkish
Government against certain acts of sovereignty alleged to have been
perpetrated by British authority on the Island of Bahrein, I have to
report that there is no foundation for this complaint. The Officers
who have been entrusted with the charge of British interests at
Bahrein have invariably carefully respected the position of the Ruler
of that island as an independent Chief, and are well aware that any
other course would be opposed to the orders of Government.
The alarm expressed by the Turkish Government appears to
have been occasioned by the survey of the Bahrein reefs and anchor
age by the schooner “ Constance and the report of the stationing of
20 English soldiers on the island may have arisen from the circum
stance of a party of Lascars A term used by the British officials to describe non-European sailors employed on East India Company ships. having been landed for the purpose of
measuring base lines on shore in connexion with the marine survey.
January 25th .—The Kateef coast being in the possession of the
Turkish Government, I think it would be unadvisable to undertake
surveying operations in those waters without the cognizance of the
Turkish authorities. I would therefore suggest that a reference be
made to 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. at Bagdad, who would no doubt obtain the
assent of the Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. .
No. 88.
Wahabee Affairs in Nejd. {See p. 63.)
January 25th .—I forward intelligence from Nejd up to 21st Jan-
nuary. The previous report of Abdullah’s capture appears to have
been incorrect. He is now said to be defending himself in Riadh,
which Saood is besieging. Saood is reported to be much the stronger
of the two, and the people to be generally in his favour.
14522. Y y

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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 1873. The letters are dated December 1872-December 1873. The abstracts each have one of the following titles:

  • Abstracts of Letters received from India
  • Abstracts of Letters received from Sir B Frere
  • Abstracts of Letters received from Aden
  • Abstracts of Military Letters received from India
  • Abstracts of Secret Letters received from India
  • Abstracts of Letters received from Zanzibar, Bushire [Bushehr] and Aden
  • Abstracts of Letters received from Bushire and Aden
  • Abstracts of Letters received from Bushire.

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:

  • Arrangements for preserving the historical records of the Government of India
  • Judicial affairs, including the detention of Kooka [Namdhari/Kuka Sikh] insurgents as political prisoners and the question of jurisdiction over British subjects in Persia [Iran] and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
  • Land issues, including plantations of tea, cinchona, and opium poppy, exploration for coal deposits, and land revenue settlements
  • Revenue, expenditure, and taxation
  • Pay, pensions, recruitment, and other personnel issues in the Indian Civil and Military establishments
  • Public works, including railways, canals and irrigation
  • Education
  • Telegraphy, including international telegraphic links with India
  • Affairs concerning Princely States, including issues of succession, internal administration, the education of heirs, debts, and railways
  • Anticipated famine in Bengal
  • Issues concerning emigration from India to British, French, and Dutch colonies, including the proposed emigration of Indian labourers to Fiji
  • Military affairs, including the organisation and supply of military units
  • Military operations, including an expedition in the Garo Hills and counter-insurgency operations against the Moplahs [Mappilas] in Malabar
  • Affairs in Persia, including: requests from the Persian Government for seconded Prussian and French army officers; frontier disputes between Persia and Turkey; the arbitration of the Mekran [Makran] and Seistan [Sistan] borders; a proposed railway from the Caspian Sea to Teheran [Tehran]
  • Affairs in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and Arabian Peninsula, including: conflict in Nejd [Emirate of Najd] between Saood [Sa’ūd bin Fayṣal Al Sa’ūd] and Abdullah [‘Abdullāh bin Fayṣal Al Sa’ūd]; the Turkish [Ottoman] occupation of Lahsa [Al Hasa] and suspected Turkish designs on the Gulf coast; and the slave trade
  • Affairs in and around Aden Settlement, in particular Turkish activity in the region
  • Affairs in the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, in particular the consolidation of and challenges to the rule of the Sultan Syud Toorkee [Sayyid Turkī bin Sa’īd Āl Bū Sa’īd]
  • Affairs in Zanzibar, including the slave trade, the Zanzibar Subsidy to Muscat, and contact with the mission of Dr David Livingstone in Central Africa
  • Affairs in the Red Sea, including the illegal destruction of dhows by the British ship Thetis and suspected Egyptian designs on Berbera,
  • Sir Bartle Frere’s mission to investigate the slave trade in East Africa, negotiations with the Sultans of Zanzibar and Muscat for treaties to suppress the slave trade, and recommendations for other anti-slavery measures
  • Affairs in Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. [Ottoman Iraq], including the administration of Reouf Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. [Muḥammad Ra'ūf Pāshā], a steamer service operated by the British India Steam Navigation Company between Bussora [Basra] and Bagdad [Baghdad], and a prohibition on the export of Arab horses
  • Affairs in Central Asia, including: arbitration of the northern border of Affghanistan [Afghanistan]; discussions with Russia concerning spheres of influence in the region; affairs in Eastern Turkestan [Xinjiang] and the proposed expedition of Thomas Forsyth to Yarkund [Yarkant]; a Russian expedition against Khiva; the visit to India of envoys from Affghanistan and Bokhara [Bukhara]
  • Affairs in Burmah [Burma/Myanmar]
  • Affairs in Siam [Thailand], Nipal [Nepal], and Thibet [Tibet]
  • The Panthay Rebellion in China.

The primary correspondents are:

Extent and format
1 volume (332 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 323-329.

Physical characteristics

​Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 332; 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.

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 1873' [‎86r] (178/670), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/CA13, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100138597906.0x0000b3> [accessed 12 July 2026]

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