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Persian Gulf Administration Reports 1883/84 - 1904/05 [‎223v] (451/602)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (299 folios). It was created in 1884-1906. 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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20
ADMINISTRATION REPORT ON THE PERSIAN GULP POLITICAL
and killed a 8eedi belon^inff to H. M. S. Redbreast and wounded two other
persons with the same bullet, an Arab and a Seedi, subjects of the Sultan.
The Sultan at once expressed his regret at the sad occurrence and graciously
complied with the representations made by the Commander of Eedbreast
for compensation to the deceased's widow. A similar accident took place at
Semail on the same day when another Wahabee shot a comrade" by accident in
the same way.
EPIDEMICS.
Maskat had been free from epidemic disease for so many years that the
community had begun to believe that the climate was proof against any serious
outbreak of disease. The events of the past year, howeverj have rudely dis
abused them of the illusion.
Cholera after beginning insidiously in Matrah probably early in September
Cholera. was glared epidemic on 30th of that
month, and continued to spread throuo-h-
out Oman until it finally died away towards the end of January. The mor
tality in Maskat and Matrah is believed to have been about 600, and in Oman
generally it is estimated that 12,000 persons fell victims to its ravages. An
interesting report on the subject was drawn up by Lieutenant-Colonel Jayakar,
I.M.S., Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. Surgeon, and is attached to this report.
Hardly had cholera begun to die out when plague made its appearance.
p laguei It has never been ascertained satisfac
torily how the infection was brought to
Maskat, but as it commenced in the Khoja community who are in constant
communication with Karachi, it is probable that it was imported from thence.
Maskat was declared infected on 10th January 1900 and was not declared free
of the disease till the 26th May. It is difficult to give any reliable statistics
as to the deaths and cures. x As in the case of cholera, the disease first went
its course in Matrah, and then as it began to die out there, it took root in
Maskat. The fact that a severe form of fever and influenza prevailed at the
same time, and that the populace generally were very slow to come forward
and report their sick, in fact did their best to conceal them for fear of beino"
subjected to undesired attentions of the local authorities, made it difficult to
know what amount of the extra mortality was due to plague and what to
ordinary fever, but it is probable that many of the deaths reported as suspi
cious were really due to plague. Segregation was adjudged to be impossible
m a community such as that of Maskat, but disinfection and inoculation were
carried on, and the Sultan had hospital sheds built in Maskat and Matrah for
such as could be persuaded to use them. Some 400 persons in all were inocu-
lated with M. Haffkine's serum. The Sultan's arrangements for the welfare
of his community in a medical and sanitary respect are, as of old, most meagre,
but he did in this case shew some readiness to accept advice and rise to the
occasion, and went so far as to engage a medical practitioner from Bombay
experienced in plague work together with an assistant, especially to assist
m combating this epidemic. He was also arranging to entertain a trained
native nurse for the same purpose when happily the advent of hot-
weather brought the epidemic to an end. I am glad to say that, so far as is
known with the exception of one or two suspicious cases reported, there was
no spread of the disease to the interior as was the case with cholera.
NAVY.
Maskat was visited during the year by Her Majesty's Ships Pigeon
Hedoreast, Js8aye 9 Sphinx, Lapwing, Melpomene and Pomone,
The R.I.M.S. Lawrence also visited Maskat in December 1899.
Foreign Navies were represented by the German Cruiser Arcana and
tne iurkish gun-boat Bay id el Daria which touched at Maskat en route for
Constantinople,

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Content

The volume contains printed copies of Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Administration Reports. The Reports are incomplete (according to the introductory letters and lists of contents). Some of the Reports bear manuscript corrections. The following Reports are represented :

The Reports include a general summary 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. (covering the constituent agencies and consulates that made up 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 topics such as the slave trade, piracy, the movements of Royal Navy ships, official appointments, and the weather); meteorological tables; separate reports on Muscat (also referred to as Maskat); reports on trade and commerce; and a number of appendices on special topics, such as supplementary notes on the care and culture of date trees and fruit (Report, 1883-84), historical sketch of the Portuguese in eastern Arabia (Report, 1884-85), notes on a tour through Oman and El-Dhahireh [Al Dhahirah] by Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Barrett Miles (Report, 1885-86), notes on cholera in Persia (Report, 1889-90), report on the cholera epidemic in Maskat, Matrah, and Oman (Report, 1899-1900), and information on individuals and tribes.

Extent and format
1 volume (299 folios)
Arrangement

The Reports are arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the volume. There is an introductory letter/table of contents at the front of each Report, but these show that the Reports are not complete.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation system in use commences at 3 on the second folio after the front cover, and continues through to 299 on the back cover. The sequence is written in pencil, enclosed in a circle, and appears in the top right hand corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. page of each folio.

Written in
English in Latin script
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Persian Gulf Administration Reports 1883/84 - 1904/05 [‎223v] (451/602), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/709, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023373227.0x000034> [accessed 26 February 2025]

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