This file consists of exchanges to do with events and personalities in or around Gwadur [Gwadar] on the Makran Coast of Baluchistan. The file includes a list of important personalities in Oman, and the 1882 administration report and trade returns. The end of the file consists of an extensive biographical sketch of Sultan Sayyid Sa`id ibn Sultan by Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Barrett Miles.In between these items are letters on incidents of plunder and looting in Gwadur. They include subsequent applications to the Political Agency for countermeasures or compensation by British protected subjects and responses from the Sultan of Oman's governor (Wali) in Gwadur at the time, Sayyid bin Musallem.1 file (134 folios)The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 136; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
This is a correspondence file about the operation and impact of the quota system and export licensing restrictions that were imposed by the Government of India, on the supply of Indian tea (and to a lesser extent the supply of coffee) to Bahrain and also to Eastern Saudi Arabia and Qatar, during the Second World War (1939-1945). The main official correspondents are the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Political Agent, Bahrain; the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain; the Director of Customs and Port Officer, Bahrain; the Food Controller, Bahrain; the Tea Controller for India, Calcutta; and other Government of India officials in the Departments of Commerce and External Affairs. Included in the file are various circular lists that give the names of Indian tea exporters and Bahrain tea importers, such as the monthly list of India tea quota allotments prepared by the Political Agent, Bahrain and similar lists, complied by the Director of Customs and Port Officer and the Food Controller on behalf of the Government of Bahrain.The file also contains merchants' correspondence between: Indian tea exporters and Bahrain tea importers about their shipping consignments; the Chairman of the Persian Gulf States Pool (an association of Indian tea exporters) and the Political Agent, Bahrain about the distribution of tea quotas among members of the Pool; Bahrain tea importers and the Political Agent, Bahrain about Indian tea importations allowed to be landed at Bahrain under the Government of India quota system.1 file (223 folios)File papers are arranged more or less chronologicallyFoliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 225; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional incomplete foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 93-204; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. Pagination: the file notes at the back of the file (ff 204-224) are paginated in pencil. The original front file cover, containing the original file title and file reference number, is missing.
The file contains correspondence about the supply of various essential commodities from India, by sea from Bombay and Karachi to Bahrain and the Trucial Coast ports of Dubai and Sharjah for local consumption, during the Second World War (1939-1945). Several commodities are mentioned including spices, nuts, oils, cotton and leather goods, hosiery, soap, matches and cement. These goods were in short supply due to wartime conditions and subject to Government of India export restrictions and import quota arrangements in the Persian Gulf shaikhdoms under British protection. The main correspondents are the Political Agent for Bahrain, the Director of Customs and Port Officer for the Government of Bahrain, the Export Trade Controllers (also referred to as Foreign Trade Controllers) in Karachi and Bombay, as well as other Government of India officials, mainly in the External Affairs Department, New Delhi. They discuss the allotment of Government of India surplus quota goods among merchants in Bahrain, Dubai and Sharjah and exchange distribution lists that contain the names of all approved importers (local merchants), together with the names of their Indian exporters or shippers in Bombay and Karachi, and the type and quantity of the controlled commodity allotted to them. In addition, there are detailed submissions from the Political Agents for Bahrain, Kuwait and Muscat to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf at Bushire, expressing concerns about new Government of India instructions for improving the coordination of export control procedures in India with import control procedures in the Persian Gulf shaikhdoms, in particular, that Export Trade Controllers in Indian ports only grant export licenses and permits to Indian exporters and shippers who appear on their established shippers lists. The file also contains merchants’ correspondence, from several importers in Bahrain and their nominated export agents or shippers in Karachi and Bombay, complaining to the Political Agent for Bahrain, about the refusal of the Export Trade Controllers in Indian ports to grant them export licences and permits.1 file (240 folios)Files papers are arranged more or less chronologically.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 242; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-217 and between ff 218-241; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
The file contains correspondence which mainly discusses the application of the Indian Companies Act in Bahrain. The main concern of the correspondence is the possibility of modifying the Act to allow companies’ shareholders to consist of both British subjects and Bahrain subjects. It also contains correspondence regarding a newly established motor company in Manamah called the Persian United Motor Company, Bahrain, The file includes copies in English and in Persian of the terms and agreements made by the shareholders of the Persian United Motor Company. The file also contains an agreement made between the Political Agent, Bahrain, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and Shaikh Hamad bin Esa [Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah, Ruler of Bahrain] for the Indian Companies Act in Bahrain to be applicable to the newly established companies in Bahrain.The correspondence is mainly between the British Residency and Consulate General in Bushire, the Political Agent in Bahrain, Shaikh Hamad bin Esa, Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign and Political Department, Messrs Cardew, Smith and Ross in London and the Under Secretary of State, India Office.1 file (22 folios)The papers are approximately arranged in chronological order, however there are some letters attached which refer to earlier dates than the ones at the beginning of the file.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 24; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional mixed foliation/pagination sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-21; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
The file contains correspondence relating to several complaint cases investigated by the Political Agent, Bahrain. They include: the desertion of his wife by a Kuwaiti subject in 1930; the recovery of money owing to a divorced wife by her ex-husband in 1931; the alleged seizure of goods from the vessel of a Kuwaiti Nakhoda [captain or master] who had run aground in Qatar in 1934; the non-payment of a business debt to a British Indian merchant of Kuwait, by a Bahrain merchant in 1936; and the release from imprisonment in Bahrain of a convicted Government of India employee, in 1949.The correspondence also includes copies of the printed annual statement of accounts for Kuwait Municipality for the period 1936-1939, which are in Arabic.The correspondence is mainly between the Political Agents for Kuwait and Bahrain and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf.There are also several petitions and witness statements made by the claimants and their representatives, including several in Arabic and one in Persian. There are also several letters in Arabic from the Ruler of Kuwait to the Political Agent, Kuwait about some of the complaints under investigation.1 file (100 folios)The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 102; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. A previous foliation sequence, which is present between ff 4-101 and is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
This volume contains correspondence and contractual agreements signed between 1924 and 1926 on oil exploration and export rights in Kuwait, and to a lesser extent, other Gulf territories. The correspondence is primarily between the Anglo-Persian Oil Company based in Abadan, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, the Political Agent in Kuwait, the Eastern and General Syndicate Limited, and the Ruler of Kuwait. The file contains one foldout map of Kuwait's territory drawn for oil exploration at folio 157. The file contains Arabic documents that are primarily letters to the Ruler of Kuwait from the Political Agent in Kuwait, as well as a multi-language pamphlet outlining the history of the Anglo Persian Oil Company in French, Persian, and English.1 Volume (379 folios)The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 381; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Correspondence exchanged between the German Consulate at Buschär [Bushire] (Helmuth Listemann) and others: the Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh] representative of the German firm Robert Wönckhaus and Company (Herr H Rosenfeld; Herr Krumpeter); the British Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Zachariah Cox); German Government officials at the Auswärtiges Amt (Foreign Office) in Berlin, the German Chargé d’Affaires in Tehran (Hartmann Oswald Heinrich Ferdinand Freiherr von Richthofen).The correspondence refers to a dispute over a concession for the mining and shipment of red oxide at Abū Mūsá, originally awarded to Arab merchants by Shaikh Sālim bin Sulṭān Āl Qāsimī of Sharjah in 1898, and part of which was subsequently acquired by Wönckhaus and Company in 1906. The dispute was sparked by the Ruler of Sharjah, Shaikh Ṣaqr bin Khālid Āl Qāsimī’s cancellation of the concession in 1907, and subsequent claims by Wönckhaus and Company and the German Government, over financial losses arising from the cancellation of the concession.Amongst the papers are copies of correspondence, agreements and other papers dating between 1892 and 1907, relating to the original contract to mine red oxide at Abū Mūsá. Many of these agreements are in Arabic, with most accompanied by English translations.The majority of the file’s correspondence is in German. Official letters exchanged between the German Consul at Bushire and the British Political Resident are in French.1 file (263 folios)The file’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order, from the earliest item at the front to the latest at the end.The subject 4949 (Abu Musa oxide) consists of six volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/318-323. The volumes are divided into six parts, with each part comprising one volume. Part 6 (IOR/L/PS/10/323) is missing.Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 263; these numbers are printed, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
The volume consists mainly of six bound compilations of treaties and undertakings, together with related correspondence and other supplementary material, made between the British Government and the British Protectorates of the Persian Gulf, 1820-1919. These treaty compilations were published by the Government of India in 1919 and comprise: the Trucial Treaties to January 1906, Treaties with Rulers of Kuwait from 1841 to 1913, Treaties with the Sultan of Oman and Muscat from 1845 to 1914, Undertakings with the Trucial Chiefs of Oman from 1911 to 1912, Treaties with the Shaikh of Mohammerah from 1899 to 1919 and Treaties with the Rulers of Bahrain from 1820 to 1914. In addition, there is a separate Foreign Office ‘Memorandum on British Commitments (During the War) to the Gulf Chiefs’ made in 1916, which contains at Appendix A, the English text of the treaty made with the Ruler of Qatar in 1916. The treaty compilations are published in English and Arabic, except for the treaties with the Shaikh of Mohammerah, which are published in English and Persian.1 volume (222 folios)The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume. The subject 2902 (Treaties and Engagements between the British Government and the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast of the Persian Gulf) consists of one volume.Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 216; these numbers are written in pencil, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the two leading and ending flyleaves. A previous foliation sequence has been superseded and therefore crossed out.