Skip to item: of 92
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

‘Persian Gulf gazetteer. Part 1. Historical and political materials. Précis of Katar [Qatar] affairs, 1873-1904.’ [‎10v] (20/92)

The record is made up of 1 volume (46 folios). It was created in 1904. 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

10
29-A. Colonel Ross replied that the
Polltioal A., November 1875, Nos. 5«-68. Chiefs mi^ht
" rest assured that tbe Bntish Government would freely and effectually maintain the
friendly engagements existing between it and all the Tmcial Chiefs of the coast, and that so
long as they continued to observe their engagements they might be perfectly certain that the
British Government would not withdraw its friendliness and favour, and that no interference
with the mutual rights and engagements would be tolerated."
Political A., November 1875, Nos. 52-58. This reply of Colonel ROSS WSS approved
• No, 3064 -P., dated 19th November 1876.; of by the Government of India.*
30. The aggresnive policy of Nasir Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. soon showed itself. In NoTem*
ber 1875 Colonel Ross was informed that a Turkish vessel-of-war bad been
despatched by him to the Arab coast, and that certain of the littoral Chiefs
had tendered him proffers of allegiance. On this Colonel Ross remarked—
<s The fact seems to be that Nasir Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. purchased his Governorship by a heavy payment
and that his appointment is solely owing to this, The troops and vessels of the Turkish
• Vi . 14 . ,0*/. kt 000000 Government are not placed at his orders. At the
Political A., January 1876, N ob . 222-223. . .. 1 . i ,, "NT™
same time it seems to be the case that JNaeir
Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. himself is disposed to be as aggressive od the Arab coast as he may fiud psaoticable."
' 31. About a year later (November 1876) Captain Guthrie, Commanding
the gunboat May Frere, was sent by Colonel Ross with despatches to the
Chiefs of Bidaa and Odeid on the subject of certain piracies committed on
the Katar coast. At Bidaa Captain Guthrie reported that he found SO
or 40 Turkish soldiers under a subordi-
Political A., February 1877, Ho.. l-SS. nate offioer _
" The town pays from nine to ten thousand Krans a year to the Turkish Government,
- t , ^ which is represented as not being sufficient to
Political A., e ruary / , x os. . meet the cost of the few soldiers kept there, whose
duties are more those of police than of a military body. While Captain Guthrie was in
conversation with the Chief, the second officer of the Turks blundered in, ordered a lot of people
out, and asked Bin Thani what the May Frere wanted at Bidda, to which Captain Guthrie
replied, " that is my business." The officer followed Captain Guthrie to the beach, and as the
latter was pulling off shouted to him to leave the harbour before sunset as the country was
Turkish. A number of Arabs having heard the order Captain Guthrie decided on remaining
at El Bidaa for 24 hours. Whilst on shore Captain Guthrie met a Sergeant in Turkish uniform,
who said that he came from Peshawar, and had been a soldier at the capture of Delhi. From
this man Captain Guthrie received some interesting information regarding the Turkish army
in Nejd which contained, he said, at least 100 Indian subjects who could not get away.
On the 18th October Captain Guthrie arrived at Odeid where he found the trucial flag
flying. The Chief admitted that he paid 40 or 50 dollars yearly to the Turks, four of whom
had visited Odeid in 1873, settled terms and then left. Finally, Captain Guthrie reported that
the inferior character of the drinking water at Odeid had in a measure prevented the Turks
from settling there."
« In a letter to LieutenaDt-Colonel Prideaux,t dated 17th October 1876, the News-agent
at Bahrein also said that Sheikh Butye, the Chief
Political A., Febrnarj 1877* N ob . 1 -88- . 0 f Qdeid, paid tribute to the Torks through
Jassim bin Mahomed. The agent also said that the Turkish Government collects through
Jassim about 9^000 Krans per annum from the Guttur coast, and that Jassim being much
troubled by * Bedoos' besides being put to great expense, regrets having become a Governor
on behalf of the Turks, and is anxious to become a British subject/'
Plunder of a Bahrein boat at sea by Beni Hajirs and an excessive
contribution levied by CMef of Eidaa on British Indian traders
residing there-
1874-75.
32. With his letter, dated 12th September 1874, reporting certain aggres-
_ ,,, . . -. , v 1fi(T , Q(e sive movements of the 3?eni Hajir tribe
Political A., November 1874, J*os. 187-196. • i. t > i • j . t ti ta * i r» • i ,
against Bahrein, the 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.
forwarded a translation of a letter from the News- writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. at Bahrein in which
he stated that at Khor Shajeyj the Beni Hajir
" espied the mushwa of Abdul Karim" (a British subject) ({ of Bushire, now residing at
Bahrein, and pursued and captured it, plundering therefrom 2,000 and odd dollars, the pro-

About this item

Content

The volume, stamped ‘Confidential’ on the front cover, is part 1 (historical and political materials) of a précis of Qatar (spelt Katar throughout) affairs for the years 1873 to 1904. It was prepared by Judge Jerome Antony Saldanha of the Bombay Provincial Civil Service, and published in 1904 by the Government of India Foreign Department, Simla, India.

The main subjects of the précis, which is comprised chiefly of extracts from Government correspondence, run as follows:

  • Turkish movements in Qatar, 1873; Chief of Bahrain (spelt Bahrein throughout) advised to keep aloof from complications in Qatar, 1873;
  • British intervention refused to Chief of Debai [Dubai] in case robberies committed against vessels of his subjects on Qatar coast, 1873;
  • Threatened attack on Bahrain and Qatar (Zobarah [Zubara]) by the Bedouin tribes of Beni Hajir, 1874;
  • Complaints of Turkey about Chief of Bahrain’s encroachments in Qatar, 1874;
  • The Beni Hajir attack Zubara and commit piracies, 1875;
  • Aggressive policy of the Turks and establishment of a new Turkish province on the Arabian littoral of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ;
  • Plunder of a Bahrain boat by the Beni Hajir and an excessive contribution levied by the Chief of Bidaa [Al-Bidda] on British Indian traders residing there;
  • Claims preferred by the Government of Basrah [Basra] on behalf of the inhabitants of Qatar against certain residents of Bahrain, 1876;
  • Alleged ill-treatment of British Indian subjects, 1879;
  • Piracies at Zubara – destruction of Zubara by Shaikh Jasim [Jāsim bin Muḥammad Āl Thānī], 1878;
  • Ill-treatment of Indian traders, 1879;
  • Question of suppression of piracies on the Arab coast. Claims of the Turks to Odeid [’Odaid] (1871-81); previous history of ’Odaid, 1837-76;
  • History of ’Odaid continued, question of Turkish jurisdiction on the Qatar coast, and suppression of piracies, 1878-81;
  • Removal of section of the Al-bu-Kowareh tribe from Al-Bidda to Foweyrat [Fujairat], 1879;
  • Threatened attack on Bahrain by Nasir-bin-Mobarik [Nasir bin Mubarak] and Shaikh Jāsim of Al-Bidda, 1881;
  • Shaikh Jāsim’s desire to occupy ’Odaid, 1881;
  • Policy as to the relations to be maintained with Shaikh Jāsim and the Turkish Government in Qatar, 1881;
  • Ill-treatment of British subjects by Shaikh Jāsim and exaction of a fine from him, 1880-82;
  • Protest of the Porte against British proceedings at Al-Bidda. British disclaimer of Turkish jurisdiction in Qatar, 1883;
  • Shaikh Jāsim’s projected expedition against a branch of the Beji Hajirs in 1884;
  • Fight between the Ejman [Ajman] and allied tribes on one side and Morah and Monasir tribes on the other, 1884;
  • Disputes between Shaikh Jāsim and the Chief of Abuthabi [Abu Dhabi], Jāsim’s intentions to occupy ’Odaid and the ill-treatment of Bedouins at Al-Bidda, 1885-86;
  • Outrages against Indian subjects under Jāsim’s instigation, and Shaikh Jāsim made to pay a fine, 1887;
  • Protests of the Porte against British Government proceedings, 1888;
  • Question of withdrawal of the Turkish garrison from Al-Bidda;
  • Turkish expansion along the Arab coast and the policy of the British Government, 1888;
  • Hostilities between Shaikh Jāsim and Shaikh Zaid [Zayed bin Khalifa] of Abu Dhabi, reported movements of the Chief of Jabal Shamer Ibn Rashid towards Oman in order to aid Shaikh Jāsim, 1888-89;
  • Jāsim carrying munitions of war by sea, 1889;
  • Turkish project of rebuilding Zubara, 1888;
  • Turkish measures for establishing their jurisdiction on a firmer basis on the Arab coast. Increase of Turkish forces in Qatar, 1888;
  • Intrigues of Jāsim against Abu Dhabi, 1889-90;
  • Turkish projects for rebuilding Zubara and ’Odaid, 1890-91;
  • Hostilities between Shaikh Jāsim and the Turks, 1891-93;
  • British policy towards Jāsim during the hostilities. Chief of Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, 1893;
  • Question of Turkish jurisdiction in Qatar, 1893;
  • Removal by Turkish authorities of the British flag from a boat at Al-Bidda, 1897;
  • Occupation of Zubara by the Al-bin-Ali tribe with the support of the Turks and Shaikh Jāsim. Threatened attack of Bahrain, and the energetic measures taken to expel the settlement, 1895;
  • Arab rising against the Turks in Qatar;
  • Disturbances off the Qatar coast between the Amamera and Al-bin-Ali tribes, 1900;
  • Piracies committed by the Beni Hajir off the Qatar coast, 1900;
  • Reconsideration of our general policy on the Arab side of the Gulf;
  • (1) Proposed British protectorate over the Chief of Qatar; (2) Aggressive action of the Porte in attempted to establish mudirates at ’Odaid, Wakra and Zubara, 1902-04.

The appendices are as follows:

Extent and format
1 volume (46 folios)
Arrangement

The contents of the précis are arranged in rough chronological order, and organised under a number of subheadings, with each paragraph numbered from 1 to 229. Three appendicies follow the main précis. There is a contents page at the front of the volume (f 5) which lists the subheadings with their corresponding paragraph numbers. The appendices are referenced using the volume’s pagination system.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover and terminates at the inside back cover; 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 volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence, with page numbers located top and centre of each page.

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

‘Persian Gulf gazetteer. Part 1. Historical and political materials. Précis of Katar [Qatar] affairs, 1873-1904.’ [‎10v] (20/92), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C243, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023526379.0x000016> [accessed 19 September 2024]

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_100023526379.0x000016">‘Persian Gulf gazetteer. Part 1. Historical and political materials. Précis of Katar [Qatar] affairs, 1873-1904.’ [&lrm;10v] (20/92)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023526379.0x000016">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000884.0x0001c9/IOR_L_PS_20_C243_0021.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_100000000884.0x0001c9/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image