1. 'Vol 196: 1854/55 Commerce'

Description:

Abstract: A collection of letters, which with the exception of one from L Darling to Her British Majesty's Consul at Bushire, are all from, or to, Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire. The first is a covering letter for a package of samples of piece goods sent by Kemball to Henry Bartle Edward Frere, Commissioner in Scinde [Sindh], Kurrachee [Karachi]. This is followed by a collection of correspondence between Kemball and Shariarjee Rustomjee, Bombay, on the subject of Shariarjee Rustomjee’s proposed sale of goods at Bushire and his engagement of an agent for this purpose. In response to his concerns that his goods should be taxed as British property and secured from unlawful encroachment, Kemball advises Shariarjee Rustomjee to appoint a British subject rather than the native agent proposed. One letter is from L Darling in London seeking to obtain commercial information regarding the market of Bushire. Kemball’s letter in reply includes a copy of a letter from Messrs I A Malcolm and Co., an American firm established in Bushire, providing the requested information. There is a letter from Kemball to Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, Political Agent in Turkish Arabia, Bagdad [Baghdad], on the subject of the establishment of a standing committee at Kurrachee for the direct sale of horses from the Persian Gulf. This letter includes copies of several others all relating to this same subject. The final two letters are letters of introduction, written by Kemball to Henry Bartle Edward Frere, recommending two horse traders bringing horses to Kurrachee for sale.Physical description: Pagination: Pagination is written in ink, in the top right corners of the rectos and in the top left corners of the versos.Foliation: Foliation is written in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. This sequence begins on the fourth folio after the front cover, on number 2, and ends on the last folio of writing, on number 25. This is the sequence used by this catalogue to reference items within the file.

2. ‘Case of the Persian Nobleman Agha Khan Mehlatee. Vol: 2’

Description:

Abstract: This item consists of copies of correspondence, minutes, memoranda, resolutions, and consultations cited in, or enclosed with, political letters from the Government of Bombay. These political letters appear in IOR/F/4/2388/127592. The main correspondents are: the Government of India; the Government of Bombay; Major Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq]; Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Sheil, British Chargé d’Affaires at Tehran; and Agha Khan Mehlatee [Āqā Khān I]. It is the second in a series of four items on Agha Khan Mehlatee.The item concerns:The initial demands of the Persian [Iranian] Government that Agha Khan be expelled from British India, and later demands that he be confined to the Bengal PresidencyAgha Khan’s move from Scinde [Sindh] to Bombay [Mumbai] and then to Calcutta [Kolkata]Accusations from the Persian Government that Agha Khan, with the help of his brother, is fomenting unrest in Beloochistan [Balochistan]Payment of a stipend to Agha Khan from the Government of India, and payments for him to move to CalcuttaAn offer of the Persian Government to allow Agha Khan to return, provided that he returns via Bushire [Bushehr] and Shiraz, or Bagdad [Baghdad] and Kermanshah, rather than through Beloochistan and KermanAgha Khan’s rejection of the terms under which he might return to Persia.The item contains a contents page and the title page of the item contains the following reference: ‘Draft no 22 of 1851’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with f 451, and terminates at f 663 as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto side of each folio. The sequence contains one foliation anomaly, f 456a.Pagination: the item also contains an original pagination sequence.

3. Affairs in India and Elsewhere

Description:

Abstract: This part of the volume consists of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay's Secret Department to the East India Company's Secret Committee, Number 8 of 1841, dated 31 January 1841. The enclosures are dated 2 November 1840 to 1 February 1841.The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence sent and received by the Government of Bombay, and copies of other papers such as minutes, memoranda and resolutions.The main correspondents are as follows: the Government of Bombay's Military Board; the Secretary to the Government of India; the Political Agent in Lower Scinde; and the Quarter Master General of the Bombay Army. Other correspondents include the Envoy and Minister at Cabool [Kabul], and the Political Agent in Upper Scinde.Many of the enclosures relate to military affairs in Scinde [Sindh, also spelled Sinde in the volume] and elsewhere in India.It also includes enclosures relating to the following:Rules established by the Rao of Cutch, stating that among those vessels trading between Sinde and Bombay, those which were driven into Mandavie [Mandvi] by adverse weather conditions were exempt from the payment of the duties previously exacted at that Port (enclosures relating to this include a Supplementto the Bombay Government Gazette, which contains a notification on this subject by the Government of Bombay's Political Department, which is printed in English, Persian, Gujarati, and Marathi)Ordnance and ammunition ordered for the Envoy and Minister at Cabool [Kabul]A carriage intended as a present from Queen Victoria to the Imaum [Imam] of MuscatAga Khan, Governor of Kerman, requesting the Government of Bombay to aid his agent in the collection of contributions from members of his tribe living in Bombay.In addition, this part includes:Three newsletters from the Secretary to the Government of India, containing précis of the latest intelligence received by the Governor General of India, from places including: Peshawur [Peshawar], Upper and Lower Scinde [Sindh], Afghanistan, Khiva, Burma, Nepal, China, Persia [Iran], and Bagdad [Baghdad]A sketch map of the route from Deesa to Lheree via Nuggur, Purkur, Wanga Bazaur, Roree and Shickarpoor [Shikarpur] by Lieutenant J Jacob of the Bombay Artillery (folio 468).Physical description: There is an abstract of contents of the despatch, numbered 1-89, on folios 383-402. These numbers are repeated for reference on the verso of the last folio of each enclosure. Enclosures no. 80-82 listed in the abstract of contents are not included in the volume.