'Memorandum on the Drafts of Despatches regarding the Affairs of Muscat and Zanzibar' [30r] (9/24)
The record is made up of 12 folios. It was created in 15-20 Jul 1868. 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.
9
Under the most favourable circumstances, it is
now impossible for the Resident in the Gulf to get
an answer from India under six weeks, and four
months would, I believe, be more nearly the average.
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
politics are not likely to be familiar
to Indian statesmen, unless they have been espe
cially studied, and a Viceroy is peculiarly ill-situated
for obtaining information relating to naval matters
when at Simla, where he can only by the merest
accident meet any one who has any practical know
ledge of or interest in naval affairs or commerce,
especially in the Seas of Western India. In all
these respects, the Secretary of State in London is
infinitely better off than any Viceroy can be at
Simla. Even Bombay is inconveniently distant for
controlling the Resident, unless he fully understands
what the Government intend and wish, and enjoys
their entire confidence, so that he can act promptly
on a known policy, without waiting for orders; and
I feel convinced that any attempt to substitute a
system of minute report and reference for instruc
tions from Calcutta or Simla, before action, must
end in perpetual blunders and failures.
The Resident should continue to be a trusted
and intelligent representative, not a clerk in leading
strings. Any attempt to put him in the latter
position will lead to failures and cross purposes,
numerous and serious in proportion to the length
of the leading strings. The evil will be greater if
it is attempted to pull the strings from Bombay,
and greater still if from Calcutta or Simla.
The consequences of the present system are worse
than complete paralysis of all useful action. Abso
lute inaction in dealing with a semi-civilized, igno
rant, and fanatical people is often dangerous, but
action on such people, through a mistrusted agent,
directed four months after the events contemplated,
by a distant and ill-informed absolute Government,
is* worse than mischievous; it is ridiculous, and
almost certain to produce results the opposite of
what was intended.
In the present case, with the best intentions of
not interfering in the internal affairs of Muscat, we
have thrice, in two years, turned the scale, and
always in the direction opposite to that which our
interests, our obligations, and our intentions indi
cated. We have recognized and bolstered up a
parricide, actively checked his relations who would
have deposed him; we have made one uncle a
prisoner and deported him, and threatened another
with blockade, if he exercised his undoubted rights,
as an independent sovereign, to punish his nephew ;
and, finally, we have supplied our parricidal protege
with funds to break up a confederacy of the tribes
of Oman, who had risen in rebellion to depose
him. It is true we did not contemplate any of
these results, but they have all been produced by
our
agency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
and influence, in spite of our intentions.
The circumstances which led to my letter of the
23d of March 1866 were briefly these :—
The Wahabees, and pirate tribes instigated by
9638 b . C
About this item
- Content
Printed memorandum, written by Henry Bartle Frere, member of the Council of India, London, between 15 and 20 July 1868. The document broadly discusses British imperial policy in Persia and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , East Africa, and Western India. Its specific foci include the Zanzibar subsidy (payable to Muscat), Persia's desire for a naval presence in the Gulf, the suppression of piracy, the preferred nationality of the Agent at Muscat, and the protection of British subjects trading in the region. The memorandum contains proposals for change in the way the region is administered.
Several postscripts consist of extensive extracts from correspondence between Frere and John Lawrence, Viceroy of India, between 23 March 1866 and 12 June 1866. Included within this is a table of trade statistics entitled: Statement showing the Value of Trade between the Port of Bombay and Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (including Muscat), during the last five years, viz., from 1860-61 to 1864-65, as compared with the Trade twenty years ago, in 1844-45 , signed by A F Bellasis, Commissioner of Customs, Bombay, 27 March 1866.
- Extent and format
- 12 folios
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: ff 26-37.
Pagination: there is an original, printed pagination system, from 1 to 24.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
Use and share this item
- Share this item
'Memorandum on the Drafts of Despatches regarding the Affairs of Muscat and Zanzibar' [30r] (9/24), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B2/3, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100030782368.0x00001a> [accessed 27 August 2024]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100030782368.0x00001a
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100030782368.0x00001a">'Memorandum on the Drafts of Despatches regarding the Affairs of Muscat and Zanzibar' [‎30r] (9/24)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100030782368.0x00001a"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000788.0x000385/IOR_L_PS_18_B2_0025.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000788.0x000385/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/18/B2/3
- Title
- 'Memorandum on the Drafts of Despatches regarding the Affairs of Muscat and Zanzibar'
- Pages
- 26r:37v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence