The volume contains copies of covering letters sent with copies of the 1873 Slave Trade Proclamation, which was reissued on an annual basis. The letters were sent by Bushire Political Residency staff to a range of British representatives around the Gulf, including the Political Agents (Bahrain, Muscat, Trucial Coast, Consulates), representatives at the region’s telegraph stations (including Jask), and a representative of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company at Ganawah [Bandar Ganaveh]. The volume also contains numerous replies from recipients of the treaty, responding that they have posted or distributed it as requested.The volume also contains two copies of the treaty (folios 93 and 148). The treaty is printed in five languages (English, Arabic, Marathi, Gujarati and Kanarese). In a letter of 1926 to the Political Resident (Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Prideaux), the Political Agent in Kuwait (James More) notes the poor quality of the Arabic translation of the treaty. In response, Prideaux arranges for an improved Arabic translation be sent to him by More, for use on future reprints of the treaty. The revised translation is distributed for the first time in 1929. The two copies of the treaty enclosed reflect the ‘before’ (folio 93) and ‘after’ (folio 148) versions of the Arabic treaty text.One volume (158 folios)Arranged in chronological order, from earliest at beginning of file to latest at end.Foliation: The volume is foliated from the front cover to last folio, with small numbers in the top-right corner of each recto. Folio number 7 is omitted, and that there are some instances where the reverse side of pages are numbered if they are written or printed on.
The majority of the file is correspondence relating to about forty-eight manumission applications, most of which were made at the Political Agency at Bahrain. Some applications are made with the Residency Agent at Sharjah, and forwarded to the Agency at Bahrain for submission to the Political Resident in Bushire. Other applications involve Trucial Coast slaves applying for manumission at the Political Agency at Muscat. These applications were sent by the Muscat Agency to the Political Residency at Bushire, from where they were forwarded to the Political Agency at Bahrain for enquiries to be made at Sharjah.Aside from the manumission applications, the file also includes printed copies of the Proclamation of the Slave Trade Act (1873), distributed annually around the British offices of the Persian Gulf (folios 30-32, 215-217), and an Arabic copy of the Saudi Government's 1936 regulations regarding the slave trade (folio 178, with an English translation on folios 180-184).1 file (349 folios)Correspondence in the file has been arranged in a rough chronological order, from the earliest at the front of the file to the latest at the end. This chronological ordering means that correspondence relating to specific manumission applications is scattered through the file, rather than grouped together by application. There are office notes at the end of the file (folios 310-347), whose arrangement mirrors the chronological order of the file correspondence.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 340; 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 between ff 303-348, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.