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Persian Gulf Administration Reports 1883/84 - 1904/05 [‎285v] (575/602)

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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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4
ADMINISTRATION REPORT ON THE PERSIAN GULF The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. POLITICAL
flag and guard there has not been recognised by His Majesty's Government
further discussion of this point has for the present been held in abeyance.
The loner expected " Eeglement Douanier " was authoritatiyely issued and
came into force on the 1st September 1904. This fiocument constitutes the
working regulations of the Persian Customs Administration as conducted under
Belgian management, and was provided for by the Article 5 of the AnHo-
Persian Declaration of 9th February 1903. Attached to the Bfcglement is a
list of the places at which Customs posts are authorised, and at the head of this
list it is set forth that the said list can only be departed from by special Keso-
lutiocs of the Ministry of Customs, which must be duly notified to the British
Legation.
Prom the date of the execution of the Declaration of February 1903 up to
the present time, the Customs Administration had been guided in their work by
a series of temporary rules issued from time to time from the Central Office
and had been allowed considerable scope for the exercise of discretion and for
applying the rules on elastic lines. Now, however, that the formal Keglement
has been issued, there is little further room for the exercise of any such discre
tion and the rigorous enforcement of its multitudinous provisions (many of them
quite unsuited to Gulf conditions) has been the cause of a good deal of difficulty
and friction, which, however, it is hoped will gradually subside if those Articles
that are found to work specially hardly can be modified in due course.
So much feeling has been caused by the strict application of certain Articles
that towards the close of the^ year the Persian mercantile community seem
inclined to show active opposition to their enforcement and to contemplate, by
the way of protest, the total suspension of their trading operations until their
grievances are heard. As the greater part of the business of this community is
with Bombay, such a denouement could not but have a very injurious effect
upon our own commercial interests, and every effort is being made to prevent
the incidence of a complete deadlock.
Since the issue of the R^glement, serious difficulties have several times
arisen with the Customs authorities at various Gulf ports in coDnection with
mails for the British Post Offices. In their zealous endeavours to carry out the
letter of the^ regulations punctiliously, local Customs officials have seemed
inclined at times to place the most strained interpretation on some of the
Articles of the Ueglement^and in doing so have more than once been led into
taking arbitrary action which, if it did not fortunately bring about any specially
untoward result, produced temporary situations of considerable local delicacy,
pending adjustment by higher authority.
In this connection I would chiefly allude to cases of interference with mail
bags in transit.
For instance, at Bushire on 1st December 1904, the British parcel mail bags
instead of being taken as usual direct to the British Post Office were forcibly
seized by the Customs authorities and held up for a week until the matter had
arrived at a settlement through His Majesty's Legation. Similar attempts were
also made at i^ingah and Mohammerah to gain possession of the mail bags on
their being landed, and at Bunder Abbas four bags were actually seized and
only released after being opened at the Custom House.
Another connection in which the Customs authorities seem to have formed
erroneous ideas of their powers under the Eeglement has been that of arms
and ammunition in transit and destined for other than Persian ports. Thus
in January, although a precisely parallel case had occurred earlier in the year
(on which occasion the Resident and Consul-General had refused to acquiesce
in the delivery to the Customs authorities by the Captain of a British Steamer
of certain arms carried by passengers proceeding to Koweit) the Director-
General of Customs at Bushire called upon the commander of S. S. Goalpara
to deliver to him certain arms and ammunition belonging to a party of Turkish
Regulars proceeding on relief from A1 Hassa via Bahrein and Bushire to
Bussorah. In spite of several exchanges of views between the Director-General
and 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. , the former insisted on his right to seize and confiscate the
arms, and in the end appeal having been made to the British Consulate-General
by the Turkish Vice Consul — the Resident saw no other course open to hi -rn thaa

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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 [‎285v] (575/602), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/709, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023373227.0x0000b0> [accessed 26 February 2025]

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