The Journals of Dav

نبذة عن كتاب The Journals of Dav

The journal of David Seton, the British representation in Muscat from 1800 to 1809, written in his own hand, has come into my possession. It was found among a quantity of manuscripts in a London book shop which turned out to be a collection of documents belonging to Captain J. Wainwright, commander of the British expedition against the Qawasim in 1809. During my historical research in the Bombay Archives and India Office Library in London, I found that there are copies of David Seton`s journals. Comparisons showed that the documents in my possession were incomplete, and that the copies I obtained from the Bombay Archives contained a number of obvious errors, which were due to the clerks who originally copies these records often doing a very poor job. I therefore selected the copy I obtained from the India office library in London for the purposes of this study, as it is the best copy and is furthermore in good condition.
I have organised these journals chronologically in five chapters, and placed an introductory study at the beginning of each chapter. I study the text of the documents, indicate the errors, explain the ambiguities, define the undefined, and end the study with a concluding section explaining the events in the Gulf in which David Seton participated before his death in Oman.
Publishing these documents will shed light on the beginnings of British influence in the Arabian Gulf and British involvement in local affairs. It also shows the ignorance of the British authorities in Bombay of the Arabian and Persian coasts, although the British presence in the Gulf had started in 1616. This study also explains the circumstance surrounding the signing of the first treaty between the Qawasim and the British. I have conducted this study in order to place it in the hands of Arab researchers so that they may benefit from it.The journal of David Seton, the British representative in Muscat from 1800 to 1809, written in his own hand, has come into my possession. It was found among a quantity of manuscripts in a London book shop which turned out to be a collection of documents belonging to Captain J. Wainwright, commander of the British expedition against the Qawasim in 1809. During my historical research in the Bombay Archives and India Office Library in London, I found that there are other copies of David Seton’s journals. Comparisons showed that the documents in my possession were incomplete, and that the copies I obtained from the Bombay Archives contained a number of obvious errors, which were due to the clerks who originally copied these records often doing a very poor job. I therefore selected the copy I obtained from the India Office Library in London for the purposes of this study, as it is the best copy and is furthermore in good condition.
I have organized these journals chronologically in five chapters, and placed an introductory study at the beginning of each chapter. I study the text of the documents, indicate the errors, explain the ambiguities, define the undefined, and end the study with a concluding section explaining the events in the Gulf in which David Seton participated before his death in Oman.
Publishing these documents will shed light on the beginnings of British influence in the Arabian Gulf and British involvement in local affairs. It also shows the ignorance of the British authorities in Bombay of the Arabian and Persian coasts, although the British presence in the Gulf had started in 1616. This study also explains the circumstances surrounding the signing of the first treaty between the Qawasim and the British.
I have conducted this study in order to place it in the hands of Arab researchers so that they may benefit from it.