‘File 5/188 I, 189 I Expenses incurred as a result of slaves taking refuge in consulates and agencies; manumission of slaves and general treatment of slave trade cases’ [‎91r] (194/316)

Content

The first part of the volume contains correspondence to and from the Political Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. between 1912 and 1927, relating to the costs of providing refuge to slaves seeking manumission, incurred by the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Political Agencies and Consulates. Letters between the Treasury of the Government of India and the Political Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. discuss the annual budget allocated to the suppression of the slave trade, from which dietary expenses, as well as clothing and repatriation expenses, were taken. Amongst the particular issues discussed are the expenses related to increasing numbers of slaves originating from Baluchistan in 1923 as a result of that area’s famine, and the increasing costs of feeding slaves due to rising food costs near the end of the First World War.

The second part of the volume comprises correspondence sent between the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. and Agencies/Consulates between 1910 and 1939 on how to deal with the manumission of slaves. The file includes guidelines for manumission (folios 56-58), created by Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Cox in his capacity as Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in 1912. Cox’s guidelines were distributed to the Gulf Agencies and Consulates. These guidelines responded to the ambiguities present at the time in determining whether manumission should be given: the date of an individual’s enslavement, where their owner resided, the nature of their servitude (domestic or otherwise). The guidelines outline the authorities (treaties and proclamations) governing the prohibition of the slave trade in the Gulf, and grounds and procedure for manumission. Procedure for manumission varies dependent on whether slaves have come from Persia, the Arab Coast (Kuwait, Bahrain, Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. , Muscat), and slaves from Persian territory under British protection. Queries over the status of slaves from Persia occupy a significant portion of the remainder of this part of file, due to official Persian policy regarding slaves having changed with Persia’s abolition of slavery in 1928. Also included is a revised set of manumission guidelines drawn up in 1938 (folios 127-29), intended to replace Cox’s earlier rules. These updated guidelines reflect the change in Persia (now Iran’s) policy towards slavery.

Extent and format

One volume (149 folios)

Arrangement

The volume consists of two previously separate subject files that were bound together at a later date. Each retains its own chronological sequence, running from earliest correspondence and front, to latest and rear, with office notes retained at the rear of second file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: Volume is foliated from the front cover to last folio with a small number in the top-right corner of each recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. . Blank folios have not been foliated.

Written in

English in Latin script

View the complete information for this record

Share this item

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023511749.0x0000c1">‘File 5/188 I, 189 I Expenses incurred as a result of slaves taking refuge in consulates and agencies; manumission of slaves and general treatment of slave trade cases’ [&lrm;91r] (194/316)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023511749.0x0000c1">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x0000bc/IOR_R_15_1_215_0194.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>

Copyright: How to use this content