[Slave Trade]. A Bill for Carrying into Effect the Agreement Between Her Majesty and the Imaum of Muscat for the More Effectual Suppression of the Slave Trade.

€ 2.500,00

British Parliamentary bill effecting an historically important agreement between the Queen of England and Sayyid Said bin Sultan, ruler of Muscat and Oman, for the suppression of the slave trade. Signed on 2 October 1845, the agreement came into effect on 1 January 1847, prohibiting the slave trade across Muscat and Oman "under severest penalties", urging the Sultan "to use his utmost influence with all the Chiefs of Arabia, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, in like manner, to prevent the introduction of Slaves from Africa into their respective territories". Among other clauses, the agreement grants permission to the commanders of war ships and of ships of the East India Company to inspect vessels under the Sultan's command suspected in being involved with the slave trade, sets bounties for slaves, and declares condemned vessels to be sold for Her Majesty's service or be broken up.

The slave trade in the British Empire was officially abolished in 1807, although enslaved people in the colonies were not freed until 1838. Throughout the 19th century, Great Britain undertook numerous measures to suppress the slave trade worldwide, mainly through diplomacy and treaties.