‘Administration report of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muscat Political Agency for 1888-89.’ [54v] (17/60)
The record is made up of 1 volume (29 folios). It was created in 1889. 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
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16
ADMINISTEATION REPORT OF THE PERSIAN GULP POLITICAL
The reigning " Ibn Rasheed " is said to be now about fifty years old and vigorous. He
has the misfortune, for such it is accounted, to be childless, but he is on the best terms with
his able cousin Hamood Ibn Obeyd and that branch of the family, and Hamood is at present
the most likely successor.
The Government of Mohammed Ibn Rasheed is firm and popular; his subjects boast of it
as the best in the world. He may be reproached by enemies as the slayer of his kin, but by the
majority of the townspeople he is respected and feared, and the security and prosperity enjoyed
under his rule is certainly appreciated.
As to foreign policy Mohammed Ibn Rasheed has hitherto shown the same prudence and
circumspection as his predecessors. His neighbours are the Turks on one side, and the Ibn
Su'ood princes on the other. After years of fit-ful warfare Ibn Rasheed has crushed his
Wahhabi rivals and established his supremacy over El-'Ared, The slaughter of the sons of Su'ood
in Khorj last year is recounted in another place, and the partizans of the Al-Su'ood appear to
be utterly crushed.
Ibn Rasheed is fully aware how necessary it is to " menager 33 the Turkish Government,
and some semblance of recognition of the suzerainty of that power is accorded, but the small
tribute paid to the Shereef of Medina may be regarded as having more a religious than a
political significance.
At the present time Ibn Rasheed wields paramount power from the confines of Syria to
El-Hasa, which is the residence of a Turkish Governor, An Agent of his resides at Riddh, and
is virtually the Governor, but, with the caution of his race, Ibn Rasheed has not wholly
dismissed the Wahhabi family from the scene. Perhaps out of gratitude for former aid, perhaps
from other motives, Abdallah-bin-Feysal is still honored by Ibn Rasheed with the title of
Imam, that is to say, religious head of the Wahhabi sect of Mohammedans. It may be regarded
as almost certain that Ibn Rasheed will not undertake any important enterprize without full
deliberation or without making sure of the approval of the Sublime Porte.
E. C. ROSS, Colonely
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.
,
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
,
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Administration Report on the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. 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 Muscat Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. (no 265, Foreign Department serial no 25) for the year 1888-89, published by Authority and printed by the Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta [Kolkata]. A copy of a letter from Colonel Edward Charles Ross, 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul-General for Fars, to Henry Mortimer Durand, Secretary to the Government of India (Foreign Department), dated 21 June 1889, is included in the report (folio 48), the original of which submitted the report to Government, under the following headings:
Part 1 ( General Summary ), submitted by Ross and dated 21 June 1889 (folios 49-57), containing numbered summaries of local political affairs, and incidents or events of particular note for: 1) Oman and Muscat state; 2) Oman pirate coast, including Ras-el-Khaimah [Ra’s al-Khaymah], Umm-el-Kawain [Umm al-Qaywayn], ’Ajman, Shargah, Debaye [Dubai], and Abu-Dhabbi [Abu Dhabi]; 3) El-Bahrain; 4) El-Katr [Qatar]; 5) Nejd and El-Hasa [Al-Hasa]; 6) Fars and the Persian Coast; 7) Persian Arabistan; and 8) Persian Baluchistan. Summaries of official appointments, naval movements, slave trade activity and climatic observations taken at the observatory at Bushire conclude the report. Appendix A is entitled ‘Notes on the “Ibn Rasheed” family of Jebel Shammer, and present position of Mohammed “Ibn Rasheed”’, with a genealogical table of the Rasheed dynasty. Appendix B is a translation of the Shah of Persia’s proclamation of 1888. Appendix C is a copy of the regulations for the navigation of the river Karun. Appendix D contains tabulated meteorological data for the year, supplied by the Bushire observatory.
Part 2 ( Annual Report of the Muscat Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. and Consulate for the Year 1888-89 ), submitted by Lieutenant Wallace Stratton, Her Britannic Majesty’s Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. and Consul at Muscat, containing a summary of affairs at Muscat (folios 58-59), under the headings: political affairs, official changes, and slave trade.
Part 3 ( Report on the Trade of South Persia and Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. for the Year 1888 ), submitted by Ross (folios 60-69). The report comprises a short summary of the year’s trade, with notes on: produce, including grain, opium, tobacco, gum and wool; steamers and freights; imports, including cotton goods, copper, loaf sugar, and petroleum; banking agencies; the opening of the river Karun to navigation; and the pearl fisheries. Appendix A comprises tabulated data on import, exports and revenue, in the Gulf ports and towns of Bushire, Shiraz, Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh], Bunder Abbass [Bandar-e ʻAbbās], Bahrain and the Arab coast. An index to the trade tables can be found at folio 61v.
Part 4 ( Muscat trade report for the year 1888-89 ), submitted by Stratton and dated 17 May 1889 (folios 70-75), comprising a brief summary of the year’s trade at Muscat, and also containing tabulated data on imports and exports at Muscat (listed by commodity), and the nationality and average tonnage of vessels visiting Muscat.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (29 folios)
- Arrangement
The report is arranged into four numbered parts, with lettered appendices containing further reports and statistical data following each part. The General Summary is further organised into numbered sections, and further divided into paragraphs which are also numbered, from 1 to 102.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio. It begins on the first folio, on number 48, and ends on the last folio, on number 75.
Pagination: The volume contains an original typed pagination sequence.
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- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Reference
- IOR/V/23/56, No 259
- Title
- ‘Administration report of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muscat Political Agency for 1888-89.’
- Pages
- 46v:76r
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence