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‘Report on the administration of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muskat Political Agency for the year 1879-80’ [‎298r] (26/161)

The record is made up of 1 volume (80 folios). It was created in 1880. 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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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 muskat political agenct pop 1879-80, 15
APPENDIX D TO PART I.
flofcs upon the heeding, treatment, fyc., of the Persian nude, and upon
Persia as a source of supply for mules, hy Lieutenant I. MacIvor,
Assistant 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. , Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
At a time when the question of transport largely engrosses the
attention of Government and the Military authorities in ludia^ when
the Afghan war has taxed to the utmost the transport resources of
India and has proved the inadequacy of the camel as a transport
animal under certain conditions, and the necessity of recourse to other
means of transport, a few notes upon the breeding, treatment, &c., of the
Persian mule in Persia, and upon Persia as a source of supply for mules,
may not prove uninteresting.
The value of the mule as a transport animal, especially in rough
mountainous countries and in countries where made roads, if any, are
few and far between, cannot well be overrated.
The merits of the mule as a baggage animal, compared with the
camel and the pony, are tolerably well known, and may be here briefly
enumerated. Compared with the camel, the mule, whilst capable of
carrying a load but little inferior in weight to that carried by the
camel, possesses the following advantagesEarly maturity, the mule
being fit for service at four years of age, the camel not until five; greater
speed, the average rate of marching of the mule being three and a half
miles an hour, while that of the camel is two and a half; for military pur
poses this is a very considerable advantage, as it enables them to keep
pace with the troops, and also to accomplish longer marches; surefootedness
over " kotuls" or " ghauts" and bad ground, the mule marching under a
heavy load over the most rocky and roughest tracks almost as well as on
a made road, while on sharp rocky roads and on slippery wet soil the
camel is almost useless; greater hardihood and a stronger constitution,
for though the mule is subject to most of the diseases and ills that affect
the horse, yet he is subject in a less degree, while the camel is liable to
various peculiar diseases that are not in the least understood by the best
veterinary surgeons, and the remedies applied by the most skilful camel-
men themselves prove that they are equally ignorant and helpless in
effecting a cure, e.g., I have seen a cameFs off-ear slit as an infallible
remedy for lameness in the near hind leg! also his neck fired for the
same purpose, and other equally incomprehensible remedies.
Compared with the horse or pony as a baggage animal, the mule pos
sesses greater endurance; is more surefooted ; has much tougher sinews, so
that his legs stand more work; is more hardy and stronger in proportion
to his size, and has harder hoofs, a matter of no small moment when con
tinuous marching has to be performed, and shoeing -smiths are not always
procurable. The mule is also steadier and less inclined to fight than the
pony.
I am unable to say how the Persian mule compares with the mule
of other countries, not being sufficiently acquainted with any o lei.
But the mule of any other country which excels the Persian in enc mance

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Content

Administration Report on the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. 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 Muskat [Muscat] Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. for 1879-80, published by Authority at the Foreign Department Press, India (Calcutta), and forming part of the Selections from the Records of the Government of India, Foreign Department (No. 171) and based on reports sent to Government by 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and 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 Muscat. The report is preceded by a copy of a letter sent by Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Charles Ross, 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 the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , to A. C. Lyall, Secretary to the Government of India, dated 30 June 1880, which enclosed the submission of the original reports to the Government of India (folios 290-91).

The report is divided up into a number of sections and subsections, as follows:

1. General Report for 1879-80 , prepared by Ross (folios 291-308), which is divided a number of small reports, organised by region, as follows: 1. ’Omán or Muskat State; 2. Pirate Coast; 3. El-Bahrain; 4. Nejd, El-Hasá [Al-Hasa] and El-Katr [Qatar]; 5. Southern Persia; and 6. Bassidore [Bāsa‘īdū]. The reports detail the state of local affairs in each region, including relations between tribes and rulers, disease, incidents of piracy, migrations. The report for Southern Persia contains a separate report for Fars. The report for Bassidore includes reports on: political appointments; royal naval activity, postal affairs; observatory activity; and administration of the trade in mules in Persia. Four appendices follow the report: A. List of Guttur (or El-Katr) [Qatar] ports and names of chiefs and main tribes; B. Terms of a mutual agreement entered into by the Trucial Chiefs of the Oman Coast through the medium of Hajee Abul Kassim, Moonshee, specially deputed on this service, and Hajee Abdur Rahman, Government Agent, Arab coast, dated 24 June 1879; C. tabulated meteorological data from the Bushire 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. Observatory; D. Notes upon the breeding, treatment, etc., of the Persian mule, and upon Persia as a source of supply for mules, written by Lieutenant I MacIvor, Assistant 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 the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .

2. A Memoir on Nejd , prepared by Ross (folios 308-21), comprising an outline history of the Wahábees [ Wahhābī A follower of the Islamic reform movement known as Wahhabism; also used to refer to the people and territories ruled by the Al-Saud family. ] of Nejd and the Ál-Su’ood [Āl Sa‘ūd] Amirs, from 1691 to the present day, and a number of appendices: A. Genealogical of the Āl Sa‘ūd; B. List of principal districts and towns of Nejd; C. Tribes of Nejd; D. List of authorities and sources of information availed of in preparing Memoir of Nejd .

3. Report on trade for 1879, prepared by Ross, dated 26 May 1880 (folios 321-56), comprising a summary of the year’s harvest and trade; the Commercial Treaty; customs duty; assistance to vessels in distress; prohibition export of specie exceptions; notice of prohibition of export of produce; mercantile tribunals; protection of British subjects; introduction of industrial machinery and agricultural implements. Three appendices follow: A. Report on the salt caves and mines and the trade in salt in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , written by the Assistant Surgeon, Abder Raheem, Bassidore, 20 March 1880; B. Tabulated list of productions [summer and winter agricultural planting) of Fars; C. Tabulated trade statistics, indicating the quantity and values of imports and exports in the region, lists of goods traded, and nationality and tonnage of trading vessels.

4. Administration report of the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , Muskat, for the year 1879-80 , prepared by Major Charles Grant, His Britannic Majesty’s 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. and Consul, Muscat (folios 357-65), comprising: an overview of the political situation in Muscat, changes in British personnel at the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. ; the slave trade; marine events; and trade. An appendix of tabulated trade statistics follows the report, detailing nationality and tonnage of vessels visiting Muscat, and lists of imports and exports.

Extent and format
1 volume (80 folios)
Arrangement

The report is arranged into a number of parts and sections, with tabulated statistical data directly following written sections. There is a contents page at the front of the report (folios 288-89), which refers to the report’s internal pagination sequence.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio. It begins on the first folio, on number 285 and ends on the last folio, on number 364.

Pagination: The volume contains an original typed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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‘Report on the administration of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muskat Political Agency for the year 1879-80’ [‎298r] (26/161), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/V/23/37, No 171, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023580190.0x00001c> [accessed 22 December 2024]

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