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‘Administration report of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muscat Political Agency for 1888-89.’ [‎60v] (29/60)

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. .

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28
ADMINISTRATION REPORT OF THE PERSIAN GULF The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. POLITICAL
The ordinary description of Persian wool exported is coarse and uncleaned.
A well-informed firm in Bushire calculate that
Wo01, 3,125,000 pounds of wool are annually exported
from South and South-Western Persia, of which about a quarter goes to Bombay
and the rest to Busrah, where it is cleaned and mixed with superior sorts from
Baghdad and thence shipped to Prance, England, and America. The quantity
of Persian wool thus exported is considered small for the area, but of course
a considerable quantity is taken up in the manufacture of carpets, felts, and
other stuffs.
Steamers and Freights.
The number of steamers employed in the Gulf trade was, owing to the
abundance of grain, large, and freights which were low in the early part of the
year rose to 405. and upwards to London.
Imports,
The improvement in this trade which was observed at the close of the year
1887 became more marked in the opening months
Cotton Goods. ^ 1888. Assurance of a good harvest caused a
more hopeful feeling in the bazaars, and stocks of goods which importers,
especially in districts affected by previous failure of crops, had found difficulty
in selling began to move off more quickly, but owing to high rate of exchange
(krans 37 to 37^ to £) profits, if any, were small, and in many instances losses
were sustained. This activity lasted until the hot weather, when the usual
slackness recurred and demands for goods fell off considerably. In August,
however, improvement set in and sales were made on a larger scale and at
higher prices, but not sufficiently high to compensate the importers for the
increased prices ruling in Manchester, owing to the action of the cotton
ring. Exchange, however, became more favourable, having fallen to krans 34,
so the position of importers became more satisfactory. In evidence of the im
provement of this trade in 1888, it is noticed that failures were few and insigni
ficant. No doubt, the alleged scarcity of grain in the present year will un
favourably affect this import trade. As a rule, Manchester goods hold their
place and the tendency has been to receive more costly goods, but at Bunder
Abbas, Russian red chintz has superseded that formerly imported from India,
the traders alleging that they obtain an equally good stuff at cheaper rates from
Russia.
The Copper Syndicate having succeeded in maintaining prices at Home at
' Copper. a level, profitable import was impossible, and
the stocks on hand in Persia appear sufficient to
meet present demands.
Large consignments of sugar continued to arrive from Marseilles, Persian
Loaf sugar. merchants being the principal importers, owing to
the fact that the scale of duty in force for native
merchants in this article is more favourable for them than foreigners' rates.
The prices have been low.
An active competition has been going on in the markets of Bushire and
Petroleum. Busrah between the Russian and American oils,
descriptions being imported from Bombay and
Karachi by native merchants. The cheapness of the Russian oil enables
it to compete against the superior American qualities. During the past year
a cargo of American oil was run direct from New York and landed at Bushire
and Busrah.

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Content

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.

Written in
English in Latin script
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‘Administration report of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muscat Political Agency for 1888-89.’ [‎60v] (29/60), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/V/23/56, No 259, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023626733.0x00001e> [accessed 27 November 2024]

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