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'Papers Respecting the Slave Trade on the East Coast of Africa and the System Pursued for its Suppression' [35v] (10/72)
The record is made up of 1 volume (34 folios). It was created in 29 Oct 1869. 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.
10
sin in the sight of Government, for, by our law, such an one shall not inherit his father.
But if the English Government insist on our paying the subsidy, we will do so to them,
but not to Salim, our brother's murderer. Let the British Government then, if it so please,
brinff on us shame by paying this money to Salim. We have ordered our Agent m
Bombay to pay the said subsidy to the Governor of Bombay at any time he may
demand it.
l\th Jemadi-ul-awul, 1284.
This is from your friend Majid bin Saeed.
It is true. , ,. ...
(Signed) MAJID BIN SAEED, with his own hand.
Inclosure 5 in No. 6.
The Sultan of Zanzibar to the Governor-General of India.
(Translation.) 11 Jemadee-ul-awul, 1284 (September 11, 1867).
BY the blessing of God I am well. May your Excellency continue to enjoy good
health Your Excellency's letter of the 22nd May reached me on the 4th Jemadee-ul-
awul. In that letter your Excellency writes to say that it is incumbent upon me to pay
40,000 kursh, as decided by Lord Canning. 1 beg now to observe that, had Lord
Canning been able to know that Saulem would kill his father Thoweynee, and succeed to
the guddee of Muscat in the place of his father, his Lordship would have never recorded
SUCh ^acknowledge that I am under the orders of the British Government, but 1 shall
not pay even one kursh, not to speak of 40,000 kursh, to one who has slam his father;
for if I pay him this sum, I shall perpetrate a deed which will be held ignominious in the
eyes of the people of Arabia, and other places. I am also not justified by the laws ot
God to pay this money to him (Saulem), for, according to the Mahometan law, he, as he
has killed his father, cannot succeed him. But if the British Government considers it
incumbent upon me to pay 40,000 kursh, I shall pay this sum to that Government, not to
Saulem, who has slain my brother. If the British Government wishes to expose me to
shame, it is in its power to pay the said sum to Saulem. I have directed my v akeel at
Bombay to pay the above sum to the Governor of Bombay when it may be demanded from
Inclosure 6 in No. 6.
The Governor- General of India to the Sultan of Zanzibar.
Khureeta
An important letter usually sent in an elaborate textile pouch, dispatched as part of the royal or diplomatic correspondence of rulers and elites.
.
Fort William, December 24, 1867.
I HAVE received the letters addressed to me by your Highness on the 10th and 11th
of September last, and am glad to hear of your Highness' welfare, and I trust that such
good health will continue. ., , ,, 0( ^ .. ,
I regret to learn that the payment of the yearly subsidy by the State of Zanzibar to
the Muscat State, to which your Highness was pledged by the decision of Lord Canning,
should have proved distasteful to you; but I cannot modify the terms of the engagement
by which vour Highness consented, in behalf of yourself and your successors, to pay a
yearly subsidy of 40,000 crowns to Syud Thoweynee, and his successors, on the throne ot
Your Highness refers to circumstances alleged in connection with the death of Syud
Thoweynee. My friend, this question does not affect your pghness' engagement to pay
the vearly subsidy to the Muscat State. Syud Saulem was placed on the throne of Muscat
not "by the British Government, but by the Arab Chiefs, soldiers, and people, and the
leading men of Muscat have exonerated him from the guilt imputed tohnn. ,
Syud Saulem is now the Imaum of Muscat; he is theretore entitled to al the rights
and privileges appertaining to that principality, and as such he has a just claim to the
stipulated payment from Zanzibar. j. j ^ 4-^
Mv friend, I am satisfied that a sense of honour alone has led you to demur to the
discharge of this obligation; but it is an obligation which your Highness is bound by your
own engagement to fulfil ; and your Highness' honour will in no way be tarnished by the
fulfilment of your engagement, but remain bright and resplendent as of yore.
About this item
- Content
This file contains printed copies of correspondence between British officials regarding Britain's attempts to prohibit slave traffic on the East Coast of Africa, relations between Britain and the Sultanate of Zanzibar, and Zanzibar's relations with Muscat. The correspondence dates from September 1866-July 1869.
The file contains translated copies of correspondence between the Sultan of Zanzibar, Majid bin Saeed and the Viceroy of India, John Laird Mair Lawrence as well as translated correspondence between an Envoy of the Sultan of Zanzibar and the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Lord Stanley [Edward Henry Stanley].
On folio 42r, the file contains a translation of a letter from Queen Victoria to the Sultan of Zanzibar, Majid bin Saeed. The letter confirms the friendly relations between the two and informs the Sultan that a sword has been specially commissioned for him as a gift.
The file also contains translated correspondence between the Sultan of Johanna [Anjouan Island, now part of the Comoros Islands] and Henry Adrian Churchill, Britain's Agent in Zanzibar.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (34 folios)
- Arrangement
The file is arranged in rough chronological order, with the earliest correspondence at the beginning of the file and the latest at the end of the file.
- 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 31, and terminates at f 66, 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
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'Papers Respecting the Slave Trade on the East Coast of Africa and the System Pursued for its Suppression' [35v] (10/72), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B83, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023608767.0x00000b> [accessed 22 March 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/18/B83
- Title
- 'Papers Respecting the Slave Trade on the East Coast of Africa and the System Pursued for its Suppression'
- Pages
- 31r:54r, 55r:66v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence