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Persian Gulf Administration Reports 1883/84 - 1904/05 [‎274v] (553/602)

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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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ADMINISTEATION EE PORT ON THE PERSIAN GULP POLITICAL
The tribal
polities of
Oman.
P ART II.—ADMINISTRATION REPOET OF THE MASKAT POLITI-
CAL AGENCY An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , 1903-1904
In the matter of internal politics the year under review would have
furnished a generally satisfactory record had it not been for the sinister
activity of the sons of the Sultan's old enemy, the late Saleh-bin-ali-al-Harthi,
leader of the rebellion of 1895.
Since their father's death in 1896, his three sons, Aysa, Ali, and Ahmed
have seldom allowed many months to pass without seeking unpleasant notoriety
of one kind or another, and making themselves a source of expense and
anxiety to the Sultan. The two younger brothers are restless ne'er-do -W3lls
of a troublesome type but possessed of littie personal reputation or influence
except among such kindred spirits of their own and allied clans as are ready to
respond to their call when any convenient opportunity arises for committing'
depredations upon ill-protected or unsuspecting neighbours.
The eldest of the three, Aysa, takes after his father, and is certainly a
more dignified and serious character than his brothers. He has a considerable
reputation for asceticism and piety of a somewhat bigotted type, and has no
small confidence in his own astuteness as a politician, but though he affects
to disapprove of the turbulent vagaries of his brothers and even writes apologe
tically of them, he appears unable or disinclined to put any check upon them,
even if he does not give them secret encouragement.
As before stated the family seldom remains in the back ground for long
together, but the last occasion, upon which they made themselves especially
conspicuous, was in 1901, when the first expedition was undertaken on the
Sultan's behalf to explore the reported coal bearing tract in Jaalan. It will
be remembered that on that occasion, realising that organised obstruction to the
geologist's movements afforded a convenient means of annoying and black
mailing the Sultan, the brothers collected a considerable retinue and for some
weeks altogether barred the progress of the exploring party, finally contriving
a treacherous ambuscade which only good luck prevented from being fraught
with serious consequences.
During the present year it was in the month of August that the brothers
first drew public attention to themselves. During that month His Highness
the Sultan had proceeded to Soor to endeavour to settle certain dissensions
between the two clans inhabiting that port which bade fair to develope into a
sanguinary feud which might have continued indefinitely, but he had hardly taken
the matter in hand when he was obliged to hurry northwards again in the
" Noor-ul-Bahr " owing to the receipt of a disquieting report to the effect that
the sons of Saleh-bin-Ali had suddenly migrated from the Sharkiyeh with a
strong following, and were plotting to possess themselves of the strongholds of
Hazm and Rostak. It was in the first place well understood that, were they
to succeed in this enterprise, they would make the Ports a base of operations
for organised annoyance to the Sultan, and it was further freely rumoured that
Aysa aspired to set up a religious Imam in the person—if not of himself—of
some puppet who would be in the leading strings of himself and his following.
It may here be explained that the Ports of Hazm and Rostak with their
environments have been held for some generations past by representatives of
the " Azzan " and cc Kais," collateral branches of the reigning family's clan,
the Al-bu- Seyyid. Hazm being now held by Seyyid-bin-Ibrahim-bin-Kais,
whose sister is one of Seyyid Paisal's wives, and Rostak by Hamood-bin-
Azzan. The genealogies of both unite with that of the Sultan in the person
of Ahmed-bin-Seyyid c< A1 Imam." Though outwardly on good terms with His
Highness, and in receipt of honorific allowances from him, they are practi
cally independent of his authority, and being members of rival branches of
the family, it has never been safe for the present reigning family to place too
much store on their loyalty. Aysa-bin-Saleh no doubt realised that the
atmosphere of Hazm and Rostak was a congenial one for the development of
his designs.

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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 [‎274v] (553/602), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/709, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023373227.0x00009a> [accessed 3 April 2025]

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