Articles From Our Experts

A guide to the Departmental Papers: Political and Secret Separate (or Subject) Files (IOR/L/PS/10), describing what the files represent, their subject matter, how they are organised, and the different types of papers they contain.

What do the Gombroon Diaries convey about eighteenth-century Persia [Iran] and the Gulf (1708-1763)?

Far from mere formulae, colophons are miniature historical archives that illuminate the lives, practices, and environments of the scribes who shaped the Arabic manuscript tradition. This is part one in a series of three.

How and why did the British Library come to hold 14,000 Arabic manuscripts within its collections?

This article looks at the India Office Records Map Collection’s holdings relating to the Arabian Peninsula and The Gulf. It considers why the India Office assembled such a significant collection for so distant a region, and outlines the variety and organisation of the material.

Colophons do more than date a manuscript – they let us hear scribes speak, revealing their identities, anxieties, lineages, and the cities in which they worked. This is part three in a series of three.

The QDL contains a wealth of material covering the early years of the oil industry in the Gulf and surrounding region. This is the second article in a series of two.

Behind every scribal date lies a puzzle: multiple calendars, variant month names, approximate formulae, and the interpretive challenges they pose for modern readers. This is part two in a series of three.

The Qatar Digital Library contains over 800 records with French-language material from the India Office Records, spanning many centuries. This is the first article in a series of two and explores French-language records relating to France itself.

A government department unique in its scope and power, the India Office had a profound impact on the history of the Gulf.

An East India Company diary from the early nineteenth century demonstrates some of the challenges encountered when cataloguing older India Office records.

‘Islamic’ and ‘Western’ are terms used to describe different styles of binding but experts agree that much further research is required to create more meaningful categories.

The establishment of the Bahrain Agency in 1900 cemented previous British interest in the Persian Gulf and set the tone for increased economic and political involvement in the 20th century.

An overview of the records created by Britain’s Political Residency at Bushire between 1763 and 1948, including a description of the records and the subjects they cover.

Wherever European navies sailed, they introduced their own designs of ships and adapted those they saw being used locally. This is the second article in a series of three by the author, providing context and explanation for nautical terminology in the India Office Records.

The private papers of George Nathaniel Curzon offer a window on the workings of the British Empire.

An overview of Bahrain Political Agency files dealing with the impact of the Second World War on the Gulf region.

There are many different types of vessels used from the Red Sea to India. All of them have developed over the years to suit the local conditions. This is the third article in a series of three by the author, providing context and explanation for nautical terminology in the India Office Records.

Ships have always been important in the history of the Gulf, and therefore are prominent in the India Office Records and other documents on the QDL. This is the first article in a series of three by the author, providing context and explanation for nautical terminology in the records.

The QDL contains a wealth of material covering the early years of the oil industry in the Gulf and surrounding region. This is the first article in a series of two.

A vast array of cartographic material has been hidden amongst the India Office Records’ administrative files; this material provides a fascinating insight into the workings of British imperial knowledge gathering in the Gulf and beyond.

An overview of records on the Qatar Digital Library originating from the Political (External) Department (IOR/L/PS/12), including a description of the records and the subjects they cover.