M.A. Jinnah: Gubernatorial Correspondence & Administrative Affairs

Sub title : Furniture Procurement, Vendor Proposals, and State Protocol

Subject: M.A. Jinnah -- Governor-General of Pakistan | Administrative correspondence | State procurement

Date of publication: 1948

Language: English

Page: 8p.

Source: National Archives of Pakistan

Serial no: 28072

Keyword: M.A. Jinnah -- 1948 -- Quaid-i-Azam -- Governor-General -- Pakistan | Oriental Building and Furnishing Company -- furniture contract -- customs duty -- transportation charges | Pakistan High Commission New Delhi -- Khan Bahadur Mohammad Hassan Khan -- Siddiq & Company | Westing House -- refrigeration -- administrative dispute -- Quetta Residency.

Abstract: A collection of official correspondence from 1948, detailing the administrative and logistical challenges faced by Muhammad Ali Jinnah in his capacity as the first Governor-General of Pakistan. The central theme involves a protracted dispute with the Oriental Building and Furnishing Company in New Delhi over the delivery, customs duties, and transportation costs for a consignment of furniture ordered for his official residence. The file includes internal memos between his secretariat in Quetta/Karachi and the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, showcasing negotiation, contractual interpretation, and state protocol. A separate letter from a vendor, Siddiq & Company, seeking an audience to promote Westing House appliances, illustrates the commercial solicitations directed at the new head of state. These documents reveal the mundane yet critical administrative burdens accompanying the establishment of a new government.

Description: This file contains a series of interconnected letters from 1948, offering a rare look into the practical administrative duties that occupied Muhammad Ali Jinnah during the first year of Pakistan's existence. The core of the collection is a detailed contractual and logistical dispute concerning furniture ordered from Delhi, highlighting post-Partition complications like inter-dominion customs and transport. The correspondence between Jinnah's assistant private secretary, the High Commissioner's office in Delhi, and the furniture company proprietor reveals Jinnah's firm but fair negotiating stance, his insistence on contractual clarity, and his willingness to find a compromise. The vendor proposal for electrical appliances, while less contentious, underscores his accessibility and the economic interests swirling around the new state's leadership. Collectively, these papers depict Jinnah not only as a founding father but also as a chief executive meticulously engaged in the operational foundations of his office and the nascent state's domestic economy. SCANNED BY: NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF PAKISTAN.

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