Previous 2/670'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1873' [‎87v] (181/670)
182/670 Next'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1873' [‎88v] (183/670)
View all items
'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1873' [‎88r] (182/670)
Previous 2/670'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1873' [‎87v] (181/670)
182/670 Next'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1873' [‎88v] (183/670)
Skip to item: of 670
See full record
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1873' [‎88r] (182/670)

This item is part of
'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1873'
670 images
Ref: IOR/L/PS/20/CA13

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. .

Transcription

This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.

Apply page layout

' A sfe «s
[et »Un\
lei, pl« ain,
^ 3 P ar t)laj
^“rtallfci
^irnaJoi
; be obj«(,[
rfnillfc
3e * n g carried
lained to t
been openlj
his iife (
)in he be?,
lar Egyptiaa
Effendi; hot
f the villages
searching in
them fol of
iplaint to k
otainforhi
ction to the
was in the
il(^p.64o]
that he was
Massowah;
t that such
paid to his
lother Con-
arrived at
late during
gentleman,
lintment as
the French
(at least do
includes the
even com*
3S are ever
s his eye 1°
fovernor ia
yhilstMufl-
rityof^
)nsarel eft
123
to take care of themselves. At the same time it should be noted that
at Massowah, as at other places where this illicit traffic flourishes,
legitimate trade is almost at a standstill, and that the Governor’s
favourite scheme of bringing water to Massowah from the mainland by
means of an aqueduct is now languishing for want of funds, the
ordinary revenue of the port being insufficient for the purpose.
The Red Sea slave trade is of an exceptionally revolting nature.
Nine-tenths of the unfortunate victims are recruited from the
southern frontiers of Abyssinia, where an incessant series of border
quarrels affords a plentiful harvest to the kidnapper. As a rule,
only children are thought worth capturing in these forays, and as the
free and independent spirit of the Galla race renders them unfit for
domestic or menial service, the males are immediately emasculated,
and disposed of to the slave merchants. The slaves captured in the
Western Galla countries are usually brought to Massowah by way of
Matemenah, where there is annually held a large market, whilst Zaila
is the principal emporium for those brought from the Eastern Gallas
through Shoa, the Christian inhabitants of which country take an
active part in the trade. The ordinary price of an eunuch at Mas
sowah is $150, and this sum is seldom exceeded in the case of the
females. Ordinary males and girls of inferior personal attractions
may be purchased at much lower rates. After arrival at Imukulloo,
the slaves are drafted off amongst the various brokers, and shipped
from any place on the coast where a buggalow Large trading vessel. can conveniently lie.
None are brought into the island of Massowah, and the majority com
mence their sea voyage from a small port, called Mberamie, a few
miles to the northward. I was informed that a duty of $5 a head was
paid to Abdullah Effendi on exportation, but I cannot vouch for the
truth of this statement.
Munzinger Bey had been suddenly summoned from Massowah to
Egypt, about a fortnight before the arrival of the “Kwang Tung,” a
vessel of war having been despatched for the purpose of conveying
him to Suez. It was rumoured that his visit to Egypt was partly in
reference to Sir Bartle Frere’s mission, and partly in connexion with
the recent acquisition of territory on the north-east of Abyssinia.
The annexation of Bogos is now an accomplished fact, and, so
far as I am able to judge, the inhabitants of that district have no
reason to regret the transfer. It is an error to suppose that this pro
vince forms a portion of Abyssinia, in the usual acceptation of that
term by the people of the country. The true geographical and
ethnical frontier of Abyssinia cannot be determined in our present
state of knowledge, but the term is conventionally used by the natives
in a linguistic sense, and merely comprises the country in which two
languages, Amharinya and Tigrinya, are spoken, and which is possibly
bisected by the river Taccazze. The language of Bogos is Bilen,
which is akin to the Agon and other indigenous languages of
Abyssinia, and possesses far less resemblance to the Tigrinya, which
14540. Z z 2

About this item

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 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
View the complete information for this record

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1873' [‎88r] (182/670), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/CA13, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100138597906.0x0000b7> [accessed 28 June 2026]

Link to this item

https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100138597906.0x0000b7

Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image. 

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100138597906.0x0000b7">'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1873' [&lrm;88r] (182/670)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100138597906.0x0000b7">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000912.0x0000de/IOR_L_PS_20_CA13_0182.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000912.0x0000de/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image
Reference
IOR/L/PS/20/CA13
Title
'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1873'
Pages
front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:57v, 58ar:58av, 58r:332r
Author
East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
Usage terms
Open Government Licence