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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’ [123r] (85/114)
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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
77
Events in Zanzibar from the death of Syed Majid-
looked forward to by officers who have rendered long- and valuable service in the political
department, and who will with pood cause complain if they are superseded by a medical
gentleman who has been selected for temporary employment solely because he was on the spot.
cf If the Zanzibar
Agency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
is not to be continued, it would be satisfactory to His Excel
lency in Council that the matter should be so decided now, as the terms in which the Foreign
Office speak of Dr. Kirk's service will render the appointment by t|iis Government of any of
its officers whose claims rest on distinguished service in the political department an invi
dious duty."
To this the Government of India replied—
" Her Majesty's Secretary of State for India has desired that no change shall be made
in the existing arrangements till the result of the parliamentary enquiry held during the late
sessions is made known. Among the arrangements to be maintained in the interim, it seems
desirable that Dr. Kirk should be permitted to continue in his present post as acting for the
holder of the substantive appointment absent on leave."
Dr. Kirk represented in a letter of the 18th July 1871, that his influence
at Zanzibar had been much lessened by a rumour that he was to be superseded
in consequence of his policy not being in accord with that of the Bombay
Government.
87. Q uestion as to whether any lien was retained by M r.
C hurchill on the Z anzibar appointment .—The Secretary of State enquired
by telegraph on the 1st September 1871, with reference to his Secret despatch
• ride ■ ] si ^-P r ^ 21st,* for an immediate report whether
any successor to Mr. Churchill had been appointed,
or whether he was to be regarded as Zanzibar Agent on leave. The query
was put by telegram to the Bombay Government, which replied by telegram
of 5th, that a letter from Mr. Churchill regarding his appointment had been
referred to the Accountant General, who had not yet replied.
With regard to this matter it was observed, in Bombay Political Proceed
ings for March 1871, there was entered a letter from the Accountant General,
saying that Mr. Churchill could retain a claim to his appointment for five
years from the 12th December 1871, provided he obtained sick leave for that
period under the existing rules. This period of five years was probably men
tioned because Mr. Churcbill did not start by being in the Indian service;
and to turn him out of his Zanzibar appointment would really be to turn him
out altogether, which could not be done till after a period of five years.
On this the Bombay Government ordered that he should be allowed leave
of absence for six months on medical certificate. The Government of India
accordingly informed the Secretary of State that Mr. Churchill must be
regarded as
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.
on leave, and Dr. Kirk officiating for him at
Zanzibar. Attention was invited to the despatch {vide paragraph 75) in
which the Government of India had condemned Mr. Churchill's conduct.
88. A ttitude of S yed B urgash towards E ngland and M uscat.—
A despatch from Dr. Kirk to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (dated
18th July 1871, iVo. 7G—281) contained his views as to the attitude of Syed
Burgash towards both England and Muscat.
He wrote—
w Much as His Highness has in his outward and official bearing affected an independence
of recognition by foreign nations, I have been well aware of the inward importance he attached
to that of England, and of the strenuous endeavours he has of late been making bv
alleging himself to his brother, Syed Toorkee at Muscat, to ward off the danger that he had
reason to apprehend in that quarter. His aim has steadily been to convince his
brother that any hints at the recovery of the old subsidy paid by the late Syed
About this item
- 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.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/18/B150A
- Title
- ‘Précis of correspondence relating to Zanzibar affairs from 1856 to 1872. Prepared by Captain P D Henderson, attached to the Foreign Department’
- Pages
- 81r:137v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence