Papers concerning the issue of licenses and visas for Persian and Indian lorry drivers operating between Duzdap [Zahedan] in the East Persian province of Sistan, and Nok Kundi in British Baluchistan [in present-day Pakistan]. The licenses were issued by the Governments of Persia [Iran] and India.The correspondence includes: reports of social unrest in the border region between Persia and British Baluchistan from 1934 to 1936; the Persian military’s commandeering of lorries driven by Indians for the purposes of transporting Persian troops and provisions; reports of the ‘ill-treatment’ of some Indian drivers by the Persian military; compensation claims made by the British Government against the Persian Government, on behalf of Indian drivers who were injured or killed while driving through dangerous areas; discussion between the British and Persian Governments about the Anglo-Persian Treaty of 1857, and the entitlement of British subjects in Persia to ‘most-favoured nation treatment’.The file’s principal correspondents include: HM’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Tehran, Reginald Hervey Hoare, Hughe Montgomery Knatchbull-Hugesson; the British Consul at Sistan and Kain [Ka’īn], Clive Kirkpatrick Daly; the Foreign Department of the Government of India; the Governor General and Chief Commissioner in Baluchistan.The file contains several items of correspondence and newspaper cuttings in French, and a single item in Persian.The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.1 file (212 folios)The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 213; 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 A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
This file consists largely of correspondence concerning stationery supplied to the Political Agency, Bahrain. Items ordered include rubber stamps, notepaper, envelopes, and printed forms. Much of the correspondence relates to the details of orders and the granting of export permits (from the Government of India) for those orders. Correspondents include the following: the Political Agent, Bahrain; the Secretary to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Political Officer, Trucial Coast, Sharjah; the Times Printing and Publishing Company Ltd; Thacker and Company, Bombay (booksellers, publishers, stationers and printers); the British Consulate, Khorramshahr; Gale and Polden Limited (printers, publishers and stationers).In addition to correspondence the file includes two folders (requested from Gale and Polden by the Political Agent) of specimens of Christmas cards produced for embassies, consulates, and other diplomatic missions, as well as colonial protectorates. In a letter, dated 2 June 1949 and addressed to the Christmas Card Manager at Gale and Polden (folio 105), the Political Agent requests 200 Christmas cards, similar in style to the card for the British Embassy, Washington DC, which features in one of the specimen folders. The file contains a photograph (and its negative) of the Political Agency, Bahrain. In the aforementioned letter, the Political Agent specifies that this photograph should be included on the Christmas card.1 file (185 folios)The papers are arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the volume. Circled serial numbers (red for received correspondence; blue/black for issued correspondence) refer to entries in the notes at the rear of the volume.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 187; 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 2-66; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
The file contains correspondence about local affairs in Trucial Oman. These mainly focus on the hostile relations between the Shaikhs of Trucial Oman, and the involvement of some rulers in the restriction of local activities. The file also contains reports sent between the Bahrain Agency, the Sharjah Residency and the Political Residency in the Persian Gulf when any trouble, meeting or peace agreement took place between the local rulers. The reports focused on demands for reforms raised by locals, notables and merchants. These were asking for various reforms including budget, education, health and sanitation, peace and order, removal of all sorts of corruption in the various departments, and the grant of justice and freedom to the inhabitants in trade and other crafts.The representatives of the British Government in the Gulf raised their concerns to the Shaikhs of Trucial Oman regarding the safety of British subjects, and employees. The file also contains petitions raised by the notables and merchants of Iranian and Indian communities living in Trucial Oman to the British authorities. These were also concerned about their own safety.The main correspondence is between the Residency Agent in Sharjah, the Political Agent in Bahrain, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, the British Agency in Trucial Oman, as well as the various Shaikhs of Trucial Oman including Shaikh Said bin Maktum, Ruler of Dubai and Shaikh Sultan bin Salim, Ruler of Ras al-Khaimah.1 file (261 folios)The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to rear of the file.Foliation: the main foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 263; 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 2-238; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
The file contains case correspondence, including several witness statements and a few Kuwait Political Agency court proceedings, relating to the investigation and prosecution of several criminal offences. These are mainly cases of assault and theft committed in Kuwait against Indian and Persian foreign residents and reported by the victims to the Political Agent. Both the perpetrators and victims of these crimes include Government of India staff employed at the Kuwait Political Agency and the Kuwait Post Office. The main correspondents are Major James Carmichale More, Political Agent, Kuwait and Shaikh Salim ab-Subah [Āl Ṣabāḥ, Shaikh Sālim bin Mubārak], Emir of Kuwait, whose letter exchanges are in Arabic, together with English translations. Some of the petitions and letters of complaint submitted by the victims to the Political Agent, are written in Arabic and in a very few cases, in Persian.1 file (209 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 211; 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 1-210; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
The file comprises correspondence concerning three cases involving dhows, as follows:correspondence relating to a collision between a Bahrain-registered dhow and an Anglo-Iranian Oil Company tug at Khorramshahr in November 1943. Much of the follow-up correspondence concerns the seizure by the Iranian authorities of passports belonging to two Bahrainis who travelled to Khorramshahr to assist in affairs following the collision, and the Bahrain authorities’ efforts to have the passports returned. Principal correspondents in the case include: the Political Agent at Bahrain (Major Tom Hickinbotham); the British Consul at Khorramshahr; the Adviser to the Bahrain Government (Charles Dalrymple Belgrave) (ff 2-15);correspondence dated 1944 relating to an enquiry made by an Indian company, Kanayalal Deepchand Hinduja, seeking the whereabouts of their vessel, the
Fathel Rahman, missing while travelling from Bombay to Basra, with the Political Agent at Bahrain reporting, after enquiries made with the Customs Director at Bahrain and the Residency Agent at Sharjah, that nothing is known of the vessel (ff 16-21);correspondence dated June 1949 relating to an incident taking place off the coast of Sharjah/Dubai, in which a dhow engine caught fire, resulting in the death of one crew member and the injury of another, the latter taken on board HMS
Flamingofor medical care. The principal correspondent in this case is the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf (Captain P Skelton) (ff 22-27).1 file (28 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 file notes at the end of the file (ff 28-29) mirror the chronological arrangement.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 30; 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 also present in parallel between ff 2-20; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Memoranda, statements, forms and other papers relating to military pension payments from the Bahrain Treasury, including to former employees of the State Police in Bahrain. The principal correspondents include: the Political Agent in Bahrain (Captain Charles Geoffrey Prior; Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch); the Controllers (or Deputy Controllers) of Military Pension Accounts (CMPA) in various administrative districts of British India (Southern and Western Command, Mhow; Lahore).Papers in the file include:correspondence relating to arrangements for the recording of depositions by pensions who have stopped receiving their pension payments;CMPA objection statements, detailing the particulars of the CMPA objections over pension payments, audit remarks, replies, and audit decisions. The forms are printed with instructions (ff 23-25, ff 48-50, ff 80-82, ff 115-117);printed payment sheets for ‘Indian Military, Family and Uncovenanted Pensions’ (ff 29-32);circular memoranda from CMPAs, concerning various aspects of pension payments, such as procedure, policy, overpayments, pay increases.The file includes two telegraphic messages written in Persian.1 file (187 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 file notes at the end of the file (ff 187-188) refer to only a small portion of correspondence in the file, dated 1933-1934.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 189; 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 3-187; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
The file contains correspondence in the form of petitions and letters. The petitions were raised by locals of different ethnic and religious backgrounds in Bahrain to the Political Agency, Bahrain. The petitions were in the form of claims against members of Al-Khalifa family. In order to avoid dealing with the claims at court, the Political Agent passed the claims directly to the family member concerned so that they could sort out the claims with the petitions outside court.The correspondence in the file is mostly in Arabic. Folios 31-32 are file notes.1 file (31 folios)The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear 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 33; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Two additional foliation sequences are also present in parallel between ff 4-29, and ff 30-32; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
The file contains correspondence and notes regarding the employment of British nationals by the Government of Afghanistan. It predominantly documents the employment of civil aviation instructors from Hawker Aircraft Limited and Rolls Royce Limited to provide training to the Afghan Air Force. This includes the process of recruiting the instructors, negotiating their terms and conditions, drafting their contracts, renewing their contracts, replacement of staff, and issues arising during the course of their employment. A number of draft contracts can be found within – in some cases both English and Persian language versions of the contract are included.The instructors are employed in connection with the purchase of eight Hawker Hind aircraft in 1937, and correspondence relating to this purchase can also be found within the file. There is also some discussion surrounding the question of policy regarding the employment of British nationals in Afghanistan.The majority of the correspondence is between officials of the Foreign Office (Laurence Collier), the India Office (predominantly Horace Algernon Fraser Rumbold and George Edmond Crombie), HM Minister at Kabul (William Kerr Fraser-Tytler), and the British companies concerned. However, contributions from officials of the Air Ministry, the Afghan Legation in London, and officials of the Government of India have also been filed within.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.1 file (596 folios)The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 596; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The file has one foliation anomaly, f 464A.
Correspondence, statements and other papers relating to incidents of theft occurring at the Political Agency:in June 1933, the theft of money from drawers in an Agency office (ff 2-9);in March 1934, another incident of money stolen from Agency cash boxes (ff 10-11);in August 1937, an incident of theft from the servants’ quarters at the Agency (ff 12-17). Copies of statements and other papers relating to the case can also be found in ‘File 16/38-II Miscellaneous: Notes and orders’ (IOR/R/15/2/1546);in 1944, the discovery of a broken plate, the pattern of which matched china missing and presumed stolen during transit from the Political Residency (ff 19-23);in November 1947, the theft of money (900 Indian rupees) from a cupboard in an Agency office (ff 24-28).Some of the file’s papers are written in Persian.1 file (29 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 file notes at the end of the file (ff 29-30) mirror the chronological arrangement.Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 31; 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 also present in parallel between ff 2-26; these numbers are also written in pencil. Some numbers in the previous foliation sequence are also circled, and have been superseded and therefore crossed out.
The file concerns Persian claims to Bahrain (also spelled Bahrein).The correspondence is mainly between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and the Political Agent, Bahrain. Other correspondents include the British Consular Agent, Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh], and the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain (Charles Dalrymple Belgrave). Enclosures to correspondence from the Political Resident include copies of correspondence from senior officials in the Foreign Office, the Government of India, the Colonial Office and the India Office, and other British officials in the region, including HBM's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Persia, Tehran (Sir Percy Lyham Loraine), the High Commissioner, Baghdad (Major-General Sir Percy Zachariah Cox), and the Consul at Shiraz (Herbert George Chick).The main topics covered in the papers are:reports by the Political Agent and Political Resident;discussion of the issue by the British Government and Government of India;the nature of the claims made by the Persian Government and the question of the British response to those claims;the issuing by the Persian authorities of passports and passes (
Ilm-o-Khabar) for Bahrain as though it were an inland port of Persia;use of British certificates of identity;anti-British agitation in Bahrain and support for a return to Persian rule;the need for the British Passport Office to make it clear to persons wishing to travel to Bahrain that they did not need a visa from the Persian Legation, London (folios 24-26);support for the Persian claim to Bahrain in the Persian press;proposal to give Bahrain the right to return a member to the Persian Madjliss [majlis] (folio 52);the question of British jurisdiction in Bahrain over foreigners;the history of Persian claims to sovereignty over Bahrain, including analysis of records held by the Government of India;attitude of the Bahrain ruling family;the treatment of Bahraini subjects in Persia, and the question of the protection of their interests by the British.The Arabic and Persian language content of the file consists of approximately ten letters, newspaper cuttings and associated items.1 volume (341 folios)The papers are filed in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file, except where enclosures of an earlier date are filed after the relevant covering letter.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover and terminates at the back cover; 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 also present in parallel between ff 100-111; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence. A third foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 7-116; these numbers are written in blue crayon, are circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
This file includes correspondence between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and the Political Agent at Muscat. There are also correspondence with Walter Beaupré Townley, Minister to Persia; Muhammad Amin Beg [Muḥammad Amīn Beg], the Turk; the Commissioner of Sind, Karachi; Edward Gelson Gregson, Superintendent of Police, Karachi.The file consists of three sections of correspondence:Folios 3-37 concern Persian representation at Muscat raised by the Governor of Bushire following a report of an attack on a Persian shopkeeper at Muscat in
Habl ul Matin [Ḥabl al-Matin] in 1914-1915;Folios 39-56 concern issues to do with the uprising and the Treaty of Seeb [Sīb], 1920, and includes a 'Brief survey of causes and history of the rebellion of the Oman tribes under the leadership of their elected Imam Sheikh Salim bin Rashid-al-Kharusi [Salīm bin Rāshid al-Kharūṣī] till 1915'Folios 58-115 concern Ottoman Turkish subjects, among them Muhammad Amin Beg, in Muscat and their possible influence on the Sayyid Taymūr bin Fayṣal Āl Bū Sa‘īd, the Sultan of Muscat, and includes 'List of Turks who are new, or were until recently, resident in Mascat (f 75-76) and extracts from Karachi intelligence Diary' 19 and 20 September 1914.1 file (119 folios)Foliation: The main foliation sequence commences at the first folio and terminates at the final folio; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and can be found in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Three other incomplete foliation sequences run alongside the main sequence between ff. 1-37, ff 39-56 and ff 58-117; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled and can be found in the same position as the main sequence. Fold out folios: 74-75, 87-88.
This file contains reports and correspondence relating to the mining of iron ore on the island of Abu Musa and Hassan Samayeh's involvements with the Germans. The correspondents include the Political Resident Persian Gulf (Major Percy Cox), Residency Agent Sharjah; Lieutenant-Commander W. Hose, H.M.S.
Redbreast, Bushire; H. Listermann, Consul for the Imperial German Government; Sheikh Sagar bin Khalid, Chief of Sharjah; Foreign Office, Government of India.Topics include:The erection of the Qawasim flag on Abu Musa.Views of the Foreign Office on Abu Musa.German Consul talks with Shaikh of Sharjah about the Wonckhaus company.Informing the German Consul that the Trucial chiefs are under British protection.Provision of guards for Abu Musa.Complaint of Nejef bin Ali against Hassan bin Samaiyeh.Persian claim to the islandThe Trucial chiefs were warned not to grant concessions without consulting the Resident.Wonckhaus agent prevented from landing at Abu Musa and to be allowed to remove all oxide already accumulated.There are many letters in Arabic including letters in Arabic from the German Consul to the Sheikh of Sharjah with translations. Also a hand written letter in English from the German Consul in Bushire to the Political Resident; and a Persian newspaper,
Nedai-e-Watan.1 volume (255 folios)The papers are arranged chronologically from the front to the rear of the file.There are two foliation sequences. The first foliation sequence which should be used for referencing, begins on the first folio of writing, on number 1. After number 3 there is a blank folio, which is not numbered. The sequence then resumes on the next folio, on number 4 and runs through to number 255, which is the last folio of writing. This sequence is written in pencil, in the top right corner of each folio.The second foliation sequence begins on the third folio of writing and runs from number 1 through to number 248A, ending on the last folio of writing. The second sequence is written in blue crayon, in the top right corner of each folio.