Abstract: The volume is
Precis Containing Information in regard to the First Connection of the Hon'ble East India Company with Turkish Arabia, as far as the Same Can Be Traced from the Records of the Bombay Government, together with the Names of the Several British Residents and Political Agents Who Have Been Stationed at Bagdad[Baghdad]
and Bussorah[Basra]
between A.D. 1646 and 1846, accompanied by Other Information(Calcutta: Foreign Department Press, 1874).The volume includes a five paragraph introduction stating that the record had been compiled following a request to the Government of Bombay from the Government of India (folio 15). The information is a mixture of précis and direct quotation, with comments. The sources are correspondence; minutes; extracts from proceedings; treaties; lists; the diary of the Bombay Government; the diaries of Surat and Gombroon [Bandar Abbas]; reports; committee reports; dispatches to the Court of Directors; statements from the Military Auditor-General; and firmans.The record includes selected information on appointments; personnel; treaties; trade; relations with the Ottoman authorities; diplomatic contacts; political developments; climate and health; administration; and naval and martime affairs.Five appendices at the rear of the volume (folios 85-109) give transcripts of treaties between England/the United Kingdom and the Government of the Ottoman Empire (the Sublime Porte), signed 1661-1809; and a 'Memorandum on the present condition of the Pachalic [Pachalik] of Bagdad and the means it possesses of renovation and improvement' dated 12 November 1834.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at 1 on the first folio bearing text and terminates at 109, on the last folio bearing text. The numbers are written in pencil and enclosed in a circle and appear in the top right hand corner of the recto page of each folio. There is also an original printed pagination, numbered i-xxviii (index); [1]-137 (main body of text); [i]-xlix (appendices).Condition: the volume is disbound and has lost its front cover.
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 124 of 1846, dated 29 October 1846.The enclosures, numbered 3-8 and dated 16 to 29 October 1846, consist of:Minutes of the Governor of Bombay and the Civil Members of the Board, regarding the suggestion made by the Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq], Major Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, in a despatch to HM Ambassador at Constantinople [Istanbul], of increasing the duty levied on horses exported from Bussorah [Basra]A letter from the Secretary to Government of Bombay, Arthur Malet, to the Secretary to the Government of India with the Governor-General, Frederick Currie, forwarding copies of these minutes for submission to the Governor-General.Physical description: 1 item (9 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises a despatch (undated but probably 16 January 1857) containing three copies of the
Bombay Government Gazette, Extraordinary Issue, published 15 January 1857, announcing the ‘unresisted’ occupation of Karrack [Kharg Island, also known as Khark] on 4 December and the surrender of Bushire [Bushehr] on 10 December ‘after an ineffectual opposition’, and praising the conduct of the military and naval forces and their commanders.Physical description: 1 item (4 folios)
Abstract: A copy of a letter from Francis Warden, Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay [Mumbai], to James Parish, Secretary to the Government of Bombay, sent from Poonah [Pune] and dated 27 October 1822.The letter concerns the agreement concluded between William Bruce, Resident in Bushire [Būshehr], and the Government of Fars at Sheraz [Shīrāz] (IOR/L/PS/9/69/124 and 131), disavowing the agreement as contrary to the policies of the Government of Bombay on issues including Kishm [Qeshm] and Bahrein [Bahrain]. It contains instructions for Bruce’s dismissal and the removal of the occupying forces on Kishm to be replaced by naval patrols. It also forwards draft letters to regional rulers on the issue of the disavowed agreement (IOR/L/PS/9/69/132-134).The letter was enclosed in the letter of Major George Willock, Acting Chargé d’Affaires in Persia [Iran], to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 25 January 1823 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/126).Physical description: 1 item (4 folios)
Abstract: A copy of a letter from James Parish, Secretary to the Government of Bombay [Mumbai], to William Bruce, Resident in Bushire [Būshehr], sent from Bombay Castle and dated 1 November 1822.The letter reprimands Bruce for making an agreement with the Government of Fars at Shiraz (IOR/L/PS/9/69/124) without orders from the Government of Bombay, disavows the agreement, and dismisses Bruce from his post as Resident.The letter was enclosed in the letter of Major George Willock, Acting Chargé d’Affaires in Persia [Iran], to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 25 January 1823 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/126).Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: A copy of a letter from James Parish, Secretary to the Government of Bombay [Mumbai], to Major George Willock, Acting Chargé d’Affaires in Persia [Iran], sent from Bombay Castle and dated 1 December 1822.The letter forwards correspondence relating to the agreement between William Bruce, Resident in Bushire [Būshehr], and the Government of Fars at Shiraz.The letter was enclosed in Willock’s letter to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 25 January 1823 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/126).Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: A copy of a letter from James Parish, Secretary to the Government of Bombay [Mumbai], to Major George Willock, Acting Chargé d’Affaires in Persia [Iran], sent from Bombay Castle and dated 22 May 1822.The letter announces the dispatch of reinforcements to the British forces occupying Kishm [Qeshm].The letter was enclosed in Willock’s letter to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 27 August 1822 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/117).Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: A copy of a letter from Sir Charles Colville, Commander-in-Chief at Bombay [Mumbai], to Henry Willock, HM Chargé d’Affaires in Persia [Iran], sent from Bombay Castle and dated 19 March 1821.The letter concerns the Persian claim to sovereignty over the island of Kishm [Qeshm]. Colville advises Willock to inform the King [Shah] that Persia’s claims will be considered by the Marquis of Hastings, Governor-General of Bengal, and to stress Britain’s need for a base to combat ‘piracy’ in the Gulf.The letter was enclosed in Willock’s letter to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 10 July 1821 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/66).Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)