![‘File 5/65 I Question of disposal of emancipated slaves and proposal to check traffic between Muscat, Oman ports and Zanzibar’ [‎14r] (38/200)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x0000ad/IOR_R_15_1_200_0038.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "‘File 5/65 I Question of disposal of emancipated slaves and proposal to check traffic between Muscat, Oman ports and Zanzibar’ [‎14r] (38/200)")
‘File 5/65 I Question of disposal of emancipated slaves and proposal to check traffic between Muscat, Oman ports and Zanzibar’ [14r] (38/200)
The record is made up of 1 volume (95 folios). It was created in 18 Jan 1889-14 Jul 1905. 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.
for the purpose, either as town labourers or as hamals or carriers, Sir
Lloyd Mathews believes that it would be quite feasible to arrange for
their employment in that eapacity by the numerous European mercantile
firms here; in which case they would receive no holding or house, but a
regular daily wage, paid weekly or monthly according to the nature of
the contract.
It is probable that these freed slaves could be utilized in much the
same way on the mainland, and I should be quite ready to receive one
hundred (I had rather not have more at first till we see how they
answer) at Mombasa, where both the Railway and certainly the Public
Works and Shipping Departments could find regular employment for
them, as carriers and town labourers. Their settlement on agricultural
holdings on the coast would present greater difficulties than in the
islands of Zanzibar and Pemba, for the Government has no plantations
there under regular supervision, and most of the land belongs to Arabs
and Swahilis and is cultivated on the " Metayer " system by their slaves.
But we could allow them, if they wished, to settle at Mwele, where
there is abundant and fairly good land waiting for cultivation, provided
they had earned enough money to feed themselves and their families
during the eight months or so which must elapse between their settlement
and their getting in their first crop.
Much must depend upon the antecedents and past habits of the
slaves, as well as on the class of work to which they have been accustomed.
The domestic slave born and bred in an Arab household in Arabia proper
(a class known in this country as " wazalia '), and trained to follow their
masters, according to the fashion of the Oman, as armed retainers, would
probably not be suitable for any kind of agricultural or porterage work,
and any importation of freed slaves of this class would indeed constitute
a very undesirable addition to our population both here and on the '
mainland. But ordinary agricultural freed slaves, employed in the date 1
plantations, or accustomed to manual labour, whether born or not in
Arabia, would probably be very useful, and both here and at Mombasa
we would gladly arrange for their reception.
I have, &c.,
Arthur II. IIardinge.
The Marquess of Salisbury, K.Gr.,
&c., &C., &c.
it
A
About this item
- Content
The volume contains correspondence between Government of India officials and 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. of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , on the question of the disposal or repatriation of slaves manumitted in the Gulf region, in response to concerns from the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. over the potential social consequences of settling further Africans in the city (folio 5). British government officials in London and India discussed the practicalities of sending freed slaves to Britain’s possessions in East Africa, where freed slaves could be employed in the region’s agricultural plantations (folio 13 onwards).
In December 1897 Captain Hugh Daly, Deputy Secretary to the Government of India, wrote to 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. (Lieutenant-Colonel Malcome Meade), requesting him to liaise with Her Majesty’s acting Consul-General at Zanzibar, Basil Cave, to arrange for the dispatch of freed African slaves to be repatriated at Zanzibar (folio 23). A batch of correspondence from 1899/1900 documents the arrangements made 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. (then Major Percy Cox) to send eleven liberated slaves to Zanzibar. Particular attention is paid to keeping the cost of the freed slaves’ passage back to Africa to a minimum.
The remainder of the file covers the period 1897 to 1905, and deals with specific cases of emancipated slaves being dispatched to Zanzibar, either 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. in Bushire or the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. in Muscat. This includes a report written 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. (Major Charles Kemball) in Nov 1902 outlining the numbers of slaves transported over a two year period (1900-1902) from Muscat to Zanzibar, including method and cost of transport (folio 82).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (95 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers in the volume are arranged in rough chronological order, running from earliest at the front of the volume, to latest at the rear.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The volume has been foliated with a small circled number in the top-right corner of each front-facing page, beginning with the front cover and running to the last folio.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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‘File 5/65 I Question of disposal of emancipated slaves and proposal to check traffic between Muscat, Oman ports and Zanzibar’ [14r] (38/200), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/200, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023213314.0x000027> [accessed 14 December 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/1/200
- Title
- ‘File 5/65 I Question of disposal of emancipated slaves and proposal to check traffic between Muscat, Oman ports and Zanzibar’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 1ar:1bv, 2r:7v, 7ar:7av, 8r:94v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence