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‘Précis of correspondence relating to Zanzibar affairs from 1856 to 1872. Prepared by Captain P D Henderson, attached to the Foreign Department’ [‎111r] (61/114)

The record is made up of 1 file (55 folios). It was created in 1872. 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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Proceedings subsequent to the arbitration relating to the question of the subsidy
discuss with me the terms of the new treaty, as if the, by him, much desired decision of the
Government of India had reached him ; but it was no pledge on my part that such a decision
would ever come; and my letter to Syed Burgash, in which I tell him that he is liable to the
payment of the subsidy, will go to show that no pledge was ever made of the kind/"
On reference to previous correspondence, however, it was ascertained that
the letter referred to by Mr. Churchill contained only the substance of the
communication, and not the communication itself. In reportins: this corres
pondence to the Secretary of State's (despatch No. 66, dated 17th October
1871), the Government of India expressed a hope that it might even yet be
possible for Her Majesty's Government to accept the views which had been
so often and so strongly expressed with regard to the subsidy. The despatch
continued—
"We venture to draw your Grace's attention to. this correspondence, as illustrating the
difficulties to be apprehended from continuing the present dual control of the relations of the
British Government with Zanzibar. In this case while as yet the question of the con
tinuance or non-continuance of the subsidy was a matter of correspondence between the
Government of India and your Grace, and while yet the final decisian of Her Majesty's
Government had not been communicated to us, the 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. at Zanzibar receiving,
in his Consular capacity, instructions from Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
gave the Sultan to understand that he might soon expect to be relieved of the payment."

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Content

The file is a précis of correspondence related to affairs at Zanzibar between the years 1856 and 1872, prepared by Captain Philip Durham Henderson of the Foreign Department in the Government of India. The contents of the précis, which includes reports from Christopher Palmer Rigby, the British Consul at Zanzibar, and Sir William Marcus Coghlan, relate to: the death in 1856 of the Sultan of Muscat Syed Saeed [Sa‘id bin Sulṭān al-Sa‘id] without a direct heir; the succession struggle between Syed Thoweynee [Thuwaynī bin Sa‘id al-Sa‘id] and Syed Majid [Sa‘id Majid bin Said al-Sa‘id]; British arbitration in the dispute; succession arrangements at Muscat and Zanzibar; the slave trade between Zanzibar and Muscat. The précis is organised into six chapters (labelled I to VI), as follows:

  • I – Events preceding the arbitration by the Government of India;
  • II – Arbitration of the Government of India;
  • III – Proceedings subsequent to the arbitration relating to the question of subsidy;
  • IV – Events at Zanzibar from the arbitration to the death of Syed Majid;
  • V – Events in Zanzibar from the death of Syed Majid;
  • VI – Slave Trade.

The contents page lists four appendices (labelled A to D) that are not included in this copy of the précis.

Extent and format
1 file (55 folios)
Arrangement

The correspondence contained in the précis is arranged in an approximate chronological order, with those of earliest date (1856) at the front, and those of latest date (1872) at the end. The correspondence is further arranged into six chapters labelled I to VI. Subheadings throughout the précis are numbered from 1 (for the first subheading in chapter I) to 131 (for the last subheading in chapter VI). A contents page (ff 82-84) lists the chapters, subheadings and subheading numbers. Note that a discrepancy appears between the subheading numbers and the subheading contents in chapter VI.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The foliation for this description commences at f 81, and terminates at f 137, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right hand corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additonal foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 6-192; these numbers are also written in pencil but, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.

Pagination: The file also contains an original printed pagination sequence 1-105.

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English in Latin script
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‘Précis of correspondence relating to Zanzibar affairs from 1856 to 1872. Prepared by Captain P D Henderson, attached to the Foreign Department’ [‎111r] (61/114), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B150A, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023935572.0x00003e> [accessed 11 March 2025]

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