1. Aden Affairs

Description:

Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 85 of 1847, dated 1 October 1847. The enclosures are dated 15 July-28 September 1847.The primary correspondents are: Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Captain Indian Navy and Political Agent at Aden; the Secretary to the Government, Bombay; and the Military Board, Bombay. Relevant enclosures include: correspondence between Haines and Captain James Kilner, Executive Engineer, Aden; letters from Kilner to the Brigade Major, Aden, the Superintending Engineer at Aden and the Superintending Engineer at Poona [Pune]; letters from Brigadier W Spiller, Commanding the Aden Field Force, to the Quartermaster-General of the Army, Poona, and from the latter to the Secretary to the Government, Military Department, Bombay. The item also includes several minutes of the Governor and President in Council and the members in Council, Bombay.The documents chiefly relate to a dispute between Haines and Kilner regarding the latter’s method of procuring kirby [stalks of the bajra grass, or pearl millet, also spelled ‘kurbee’ in this item] for the Engineer Department at Aden (ff 223-252).Haines complains that Captain Kilner has:Acted contrary to the civil and military orders by purchasing forage, especially kirby, directly from the local inhabitants of Lahidge [Lahej, also spelled Lahedge in this item] outside the Turkish Wall (boundary wall of the Aden settlement) instead of at the Aden marketUsed a contractor (a ‘Mr Weiss’, the ‘Coral and Sand Contractor’) to arrange kirby procurement, and to purchase articles arriving by boat without obtaining the necessary customs permitsCaused potential tensions between the local inhabitants and the British and ‘injured’ the Aden market.Kilner counter-complains about Haines, notably stating that:There is no explicit prohibition on purchasing outside the walls or from the interiorHaines interfered unduly in having Lieutenant Charles John Cruttenden, the Political Assistant, interrogate Mr Weiss at the police officeHis methods actually save money for the Government, especially since prices in the Aden market are more than double what he pays and the quality of market kirby is particularly poorCustoms permits should not be required for ‘trifling articles’ such as mats and basketsHaines has recently made specific arrangements to prevent locals bringing articles from the interior for the Engineer Department.Ultimately the authorities in Bombay communicate that whilst Kilner must conform with the rules of the Political Agent for procuring supplies, the price of kirby has now risen so high it is impossible to purchase it and ‘Government looks to [the Political Agent] to take secure measures to avert such complaints of excessive dearth’ and ensure that plentiful supplies find their way to the Aden market (f 249).Other matters covered in the item are as follows:The visit of Mahomed Eschreff Bey [Muḥammad Sharīf Beg], Commissioner from the Sublime Porte [Government of the Ottoman Empire] to the sea port towns of the Arabian coast, including: Haines’s concern that the extension of [Ottoman] Egyptian and Turkish influence in the area (notably at Hodeida [Al Hudaydah] and Mocha) may affect Aden’s trade with Zeyla [Zeila] and Berbera (notably the trading fair at Berbera); and Haines’s request, approved by the authorities in Bombay, that a vessel of war be dispatched to monitor the spread of Turkish influenceThe plundering of the ‘Interior Kafilah [caravan]’ due to various members of the Agribi [‘Akrabī], Subei [Subaīhī] and Azeibi [‘Uzaybī] tribes ‘retaliating each other in consequence of some petty feud between them’ (f 221)Rumours that Sultan Hamed Abdalla Foutheli [Aḥmad bin Abdullāh al-Faḍlī] will meet Sultan Hamed M’ Houssain [Aḥmad bin Muḥsin al-‘Abdalī] of Lahidge at ‘Sheik Othman’ [Shaykh Uthman] to settle their disputes including over Sheik Hydra ibn Maidee of Bir Ahmed [Shaikh Ḥaydarah bin Mahdī of Bi’r Ahmad].Note: The last two enclosures, the Bombay Timessummary of Intelligence and Bombay Overland Telegraph and Courier, are noted as ‘Missing 30.10.1906’.Physical description: 1 item (45 folios)

2. Aden Affairs

Description:

Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 88 of 1847, dated 15 October 1847. There are two enclosures: one is dated 29 September 1847; the other is undated. Two other enclosures listed in the abstract, copies of the Bombay Times Summary of Intelligenceand the Bombay Overland Telegraph and Courierare not present.The item comprises a report on affairs in Aden, by Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Captain Indian Navy and Political Agent at Aden, to the Secretary to the Government, Bombay, approved by a minute of the members in Council. Haines’s report covers the following matters:The continued good relations with ‘our neighbours’The regular supplies to the market from the interiorContinuing dissensions between the Abdali [al-‘Abdalī], Azeibi [‘Uzaybī], Agribi [‘Akrabī] and Subei [Subaīhī] tribesThe meeting between the Abdali and Foutheli [Fadhlī] chiefs at Sheik Othman [Shaykh Uthman] has not yet taken placeThe [Ottoman] Turkish Commissioner Eschreff Beg [Muḥammad Sharīf Beg] has reached Judda [Jeddah] and the firman [order] he gave to Sherriff Hussein ibn ali Hyder [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī Haydar, Sharif of Mocha and Al Hudaydah] is reported to be a forgery written by a merchant at HodeidaRain showers in Aden.Physical description: 1 item (5 folios)

3. Proceedings of the Bombay Government connected with the Affairs of Aden

Description:

Abstract: This part of the volume consists of a copy of a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, No. 103 of 1842, dated 28 September 1842. It contains material relating to the following:The relations between the Sultan of Lahidge [Sulṭān of Lahij, Muḥsin bin Faḍl al-‘Abdalī], the Fouthalee [Faḍlī] Tribe, and the British garrison at AdenThe possible ‘restoration’ of the stipends paid by the British to the Chief of the Fouthalee Tribe and to Sheik Hazzah Ibn Raqqut [Shaikh Hazzāʻ bin Raqqūt?]The appointment of Eschreff Bey [Ashraf Bey] as Commissioner to assist British merchants, and ‘remove’ Sheriff Husain Ibn Ali Hyder [Sharīf Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī Ḥaydar]The ‘extortions’ by Osman Pasha [‘Uthmān Pāshā], Ottoman Governor of Judda [Jeddah], and complaints by the Political Agent at Aden [Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines]The establishment of the new town of Aden, and reservation of ground for ‘military purposes’.Physical description: 1 item (47 folios)