Skip to item: of 670
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1873' [‎88v] (183/670)

This item is part of

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

124
is
spoken in Hamasan, over the border, than does the Tigre lan
guage which is employed at Massowah, the Habab country, and other
undisputed Egyptian possessions.
The religion of the people of Bogos was originally Christian, but
their conversion to Mahomedanism was effected about seventy years
ago by private missionary efforts, and their change of faith was not in
any way attributable to pressure from the Turkish authorities on the
coast. A considerable number of them however still adhere to the
ancient faith.
It has been asserted, with some show of truth, that during the
reign of King Theodore the province paid tribute to the Governor of
Hamasan, but this affords an argument against rather than for the
assumption that the country belonged to Abyssinia. An integral
portion of any country does not pay tribute to the ruler of it. The
real fact was that the so-called tribute was nothing else than a species
of black mail which was universally exacted by the border Governors
from any districts inferior to them in strength, and which was not un-
frequently paid with equal regularity both to the Viceroy of Egypt
and the King of Abyssinia. The people of Bogos are an inoffensive
pastoral race, and the tribute was the price of exemption from plunder
and kidnapping on either frontier of the district.
It was commonly thought at Massowah that the Egyptians would
not rest content with this acquisition, but would endeavour to annex
the whole of the country on their side of the Taceazze, but it is
extremely improbable that any such sweeping measure is in contem
plation. Whilst, on the whole, it is doubtful whether such an extension
of the Mahomedan power would be for the advantage of the country,
the latter would at all events be thrown open for the admittance of
the full light of European opinion, and as the climate offers no ob
stacles in the way of colonization, it is quite possible that, paradoxical
as it may seem, the result of annexation might be the gradual extinc
tion of the trade in Gallas and Abyssinians.
The situation of affairs in Abyssinia has changed but little during
the past few months. M. de Sarzec, who returned from a visit to
Prince Kassa whilst the “KwangTung” was at Zoolla, informs me
that the attitude of that Chief depended very much upon the answer
which Her Majesty’s Government might have placed in the hands of
his emissary, Mr. Kirkham. Should that answer be discouraging no
attempt will be made to disturb the position of affairs in Bogos, and it
is probable that the Prince, who is encamped at a little distance from
Adowa in readiness to move, will turn his attention to the westward
and march on Gondar, of which, as the principal city in Abyssinia he
is anxious to take possession. uyssmia, ne
M de Sarzec, who has visited Adowa at the Prince’s invitation
received a very friendly reception, and on his departure was presented
with numerous gifts in token of the high esteem in which he Ls held
presents consisted of arms, &c„ of a description similar to those

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' [‎88v] (183/670), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/CA13, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100138597906.0x0000b8> [accessed 30 June 2026]

Link to this item
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_100138597906.0x0000b8">'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1873' [&lrm;88v] (183/670)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100138597906.0x0000b8">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000912.0x0000de/IOR_L_PS_20_CA13_0183.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