!['Slave-dealing and Slave-holding by Kutchees in Zanzibar' [‎122r] (32/63)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000833.0x000108/IOR_L_PS_18_B90_0032.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'Slave-dealing and Slave-holding by Kutchees in Zanzibar' [‎122r] (32/63)")
'Slave-dealing and Slave-holding by Kutchees in Zanzibar' [122r] (32/63)
The record is made up of 1 file (28 folios). It was created in 1870. 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.
29
No. 1.
No. 418.
Political Department.
Sir R. Temple, K .O.S .I., Secretary to the Government of India, to Secretary to
Government, Bombay.
Sir Fort William, the 22d April, 1868.
' I have received and laid before His Excellency the Governor General in
Council your Letter, dated 31st ultimo, No. 73, regarding the right of the British
Government to interfere with the subjects of the Rao of Kutch, established in
Zanzibar, in the matter of offences against British laws for the suppression of the
slave trade.
2. It appears to the Governor General in Council that the decision of the
question raised, turns on the following issues:
I Do the Kutch subjects in question merely own and hold slaves ?
II. Or do they deal in and make contracts regarding slaves, involving trans-
actions tantamount to slave-dealing P „ ^ . r, -i,
III. Does their case resemble that of Messrs. H. A. Fraser & Co., at Zanzibar,
which case was held to involve such an approach to slave-dealing as to
come under the prohibitions of English statute law ?
3 It may be assumed that the Kutchees are not British subjects in the ordinary
acceptation of the term, and that they are in much the same position towards the
British Government as the people of Kattiawar.
4 But if the transactions of the Kutchees are found to amount to slave-dealing,
then a question will arise as to whether these transactions can be stopped in the
same manner as the transactions of Messrs. Fraser & Co., m Zanzibar, weie
stopped, the Messrs. Fraser being British subjects. And this question turns on
another viz., can the people of Kutch be in this particular respect put on the
footing of quasi British subjects ; that is to say, m matters m which the British
Government is concerned, as it is in the question of slave-dealing, can that
Government, as the Lord Paramount of the State to which their immediate
allegiance is due, exercise a check over them in transactions beyond the
boundaries of India.
5 The last point will obviously demand legal consideration. But this might
well be deferred till the questions of fact have been taken up, and ^ h^s been
decided whether the Kutchees are engaged m slave-dealing w not. It the y are
merely slave holders, then there would seem to be no sufficient legal warrant for
interfering with them. ^ ^ .
6 I am therefore to request that information on the issues of fact above
mentioned may be furnished to the Government of India
I have, &c.,
(Signed) R. Temple,
Secretary to the Government of India.
No. 2.
No. 1256.
Political Department.
Bombay Castle, 9th May 1868.
The Secretary to the Government of India, No. 418, dated the 22d April 1868.
In reply to Government Letter, No. 73 of 1868, regarding the right of the
British Government to interfere with the subjects of the Rao of Kutch, esta-
11532. ^
About this item
- Content
This file contains a selection of correspondence, extracts and reports regarding the involvement of British subjects from the Princely State of Kutch [Cutch] in the slave trade in Zanzibar and attempts by the British Government to end this involvement.
Much of the correspondence is from Britain'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. in Zanzibar, Henry Adrian Churchill and Britain'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. in Kutch, Major Alexander Young Shortt. This includes translated copies of correspondence between Churchill and the Sultan of Zanzibar, Seyd [Sayyid] Majid bin Said.
On folio 128, the file contains a proclamation issued by the ruler of Kutch, the Maharaja Dhiraj Mirza Maha Rao Shree Praguruljee, that warns his subjects in Kutch of the penalties of being engaged in the slave trade in general and specifically in Zanzibar.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (28 folios)
- Arrangement
The file is arranged in rough chronological order.
A contents page is included on folio 108.
- Physical characteristics
Condition: the file is contained within a bound volume that contains a number of other files.
Foliation: The foliation for this description commences at f 107, and terminates at f 134, as it is part of a larger physical volume; 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. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 5-134; these numbers are written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
Use and share this item
- Share this item
'Slave-dealing and Slave-holding by Kutchees in Zanzibar' [122r] (32/63), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B90, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023800070.0x000021> [accessed 4 April 2025]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023800070.0x000021
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_100023800070.0x000021">'Slave-dealing and Slave-holding by Kutchees in Zanzibar' [‎122r] (32/63)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023800070.0x000021"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000833.0x000108/IOR_L_PS_18_B90_0032.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
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_100000000833.0x000108/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/18/B90
- Title
- 'Slave-dealing and Slave-holding by Kutchees in Zanzibar'
- Pages
- front, 107r:108v, 111r:135v, i-r:i-v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence