Abstract: The volume contains mainly letters addressed to Lieutenant William Bruce, Resident at Bushire at the time. Bruce was Acting Resident until 1812, but in this volume he is still often referred to as Acting Resident. A few letters are written to James Orton, Assistant Surgeon at Bushire, who took temporary charge of the Residency while Bruce was away from Bushire. The letters are mainly from the Secretaries of the Government of Bombay. Subjects relating directly to the Residency include: accounts; military and marine expenses. Broader themes within the letters include the diplomatic relations with Persia and the Wahabee [Wahhabis], the procurement of sulphur for its use in gunpowder, the silk and horse trades, and the threat of Āl Qāsimī pirates to British trade in the Persian Gulf.Physical description: Foliation: there is an original pagination, written in ink in the top right of each recto and the top left of each verso. It starts on the first letter with 1 and continues until page 213.The volume has been foliated in pencil, circled, in the top right corner of each folio. The numbering begins with the first letter with 1; then 2-94; 95-95a; and then runs through to 138, which is the last number given on the first blank page at the end of the volume. There are seven blank pages at the beginning and three at the end of the volume.Condition: the item has suffered from insect damage and the paper is very fragile in some parts. Some folios are glued and cannot be read.
Abstract: The item consists of correspondence and extracts of papers relating to French influence and activities in the Red Sea (often referred to as the ‘Arabian Gulph’) and Persia [Iran], sent to the Chairman of the Court of Directors, Charles Grant, and the Secret Committee.Matters covered include:French efforts to establish a trading and military settlement on the island of Cameran [Kamaran] through the agency of Syed Mahomed Akil [Sayyid Muḥammad ‘Aqīl]The preparations for and progress of an expedition to the Red Sea to counter French activitiesThe plunder and destruction of the American ship
Essexby Syed Mahomed Akil and his followersDiscussion of the legality of seizing Syed Mahomed Akil and his shipsAntoine-Alexandre Romieu’s mission to the Court of Persia as an agent of FranceFrench influence in Persia, Bagdad [Baghdad], and AleppoThe impact of any agreement reached between France and Persia on Anglo-Persian relationsA second French embassy to the Court of Persia following Romieu’s death in TehranHajee Mohsen’s [Ḥājī Muḥsin] deputation to Tehran to gather intelligence on French activities and to try and counter their influenceThe proposal of Sir Harford Jones, Resident at Bagdad, that he travel to Persia as British EnvoyThe dispatch of a Persian Embassy to FranceHostilities between Russia and Persia along the latter’s northern frontier.Correspondence regarding the Red Sea comes from the following: the Government of Bombay; Sir Edward Pellew, Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station; the Government of Bengal; Lieutenant Charles Court, Commander of the
Panther, at Mocha; the Government of Madras; Searkrun/Searkum Kirjee, East India Company Broker at Mocha.Correspondence regarding matters in Persia comes from the following: Samuel Manesty, Resident at Bussorah [Basra]; John Barker, Consul General at Aleppo; Harford Jones, Resident at Bagdad, and John Hine, Acting Resident at Bagdad; William Bruce, Acting Resident at Bushire [Bushehr]; Alexander Stratton, Ambassador at Constantinople; Leopold Sebastiani, Prefect of the Catholic Mission in Ispahan [Isfahan]; and Lord Viscount Castlereagh, First Commissioner for the Affairs of India.Physical description: The papers are arranged in rough chronological order, from the left to the right.
Abstract: The item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence and reports cited in, or enclosed with, letters to and from the Government of Bombay concerning the Government of Bombay's investigations into the alleged acts of piracy and murder committed by Syeed Mohomed Aukil [Shaikh Sayyid Muḥammad bin Aqil Al-Ajaybi, also Sayyid Muḥammad ‘Aqīl al-Saqqaf]. Syeed Mohomed Aukil is accused of murdering the crew of the American ship
Essexnear the island of Cameran [Kamaran] and stealing the treasure, rigging and sails that were onboard. The item contains a copy of a report (ff 357 recto-365 verso) by Richard Thomas Goodwin, Secretary to Government of Bombay, and Charles Joseph Briscoe, Justice of the Peace at Bombay, which includes a deposition by Nicholas Hamm, Commander of the Arab ship
Phoolk. In response to the information supplied by the report, Robert Smith, Advocate General at Fort William, advises the Government of Bombay to trace the witnesses mentioned by Hamm and provides instructions on how to arrest Syeed Mohomed Aukil if the opportunity presents itself.Correspondents: Government of Bombay; Court of Directors of the East India Company; Jonathan Duncan, President and Governor of Bombay; Richard Thomas Goodwin; Charles Joseph Briscoe; Francis Warden, Chief Secretary to Government of Bombay; Neil Benjamin Edmonstone, Chief Secretary to Government at Fort William; Robert Smith.The item includes multiple spellings of Syeed Mohomed Aukil and of the Arab ship
Phoolk.The title page of the item contains the following references: 'Political No. 30, Season 1814/15, Draft 20', ‘Vide former Collection?’ and 'Examiner's Office November 1812'.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 353, and terminates at f 371, 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.Pagination: the item also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: This item consists primarily of copies of correspondence and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, letters from the Governments of Bengal and Bombay concerning the purchase of the Island of Cameran [Kamaran, also spelt Kameran, Kumran, and Camran] by Syed Mohamed Akil [Sayyid Muḥammad Aqil al-Ajaybi, also Sayyid Muḥammad Aqil al-Saqqaf, also spelt Seyud Mahomud Akil, Sueed Mooummud Akil] from Shereef Ahmood of Abu-Arish [Hammud bin Muḥammad Sulaymani, Sharif of Abu 'Arish, also referred to as Shaikh Hamood, Sherif of Aboo Aresh]. The letters discuss whether Mohamed Akil was acting for the French, and propose measures to prevent French influence in the Red Sea. This includes correspondence with Sir Edward Pellew, Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station, about the ships HMS
Dedaigneuse, HMS
Psyche, East India Company cruisers
Mornington,
Ternate, and
Panther, HMS
Concorde, and HM Sloop
Victor, and reports from their cruises.The item also features information on: Mohamed Akil's alleged taking of an American ship, the USS
Essex of Salem; the murders of the Englishman Mr Carter, who was on board the
Essex, and her captain (Joseph Orne); the massacre of the rest of the crew; and the sinking of the ship. There is also a description of Mohamed Akil's alleged murder of the French captain M Gaspard. The actions of the French privateer
Le Vigilante, and the French frigate
Piedmontoise[
Pièmontaise] are also mentioned.Correspondents include the Resident at Mocha, the Resident at Muscat, and the Broker at Mocha, and their informants, with letters about Mohamed Akil's movements, biography, and the likelihood of being able to try him for piracy, robbery, and murder.There is some commercial discussion of trading coffee, woollens, and gunpowder, and a political agreement with the Shereef Ahmood of Abu-Arish.The title page of the item contains the following references: 'Political No. 7, Season 1808/1809, Draft 178, Para. 20'; and 'Examiner's Office, July 1808'.Physical description: The documents are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front of the item to the rear.
Abstract: Enclosures nos. 2-7 to a dispatch from the Secret Department, Bombay Castle, dated 1 January 1840. The enclosures are dated 21 October-16 December 1839. The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence relating to affairs in Aden, including:The potential threat posed to Aden and the rest of Yemen by Koschid Pacha [Khorshid Pasha], General of Egyptian ForcesAn attack on Aden by members of the Fouthelee [Fadhli] and Abdalee [Abdali] tribes on 11 November 1839, which was repulsed without British lossesA proposal to set up a Native Agent in Lahedge [Lahej]An attack on the Island of Kerm [Kamaran, also spelled Koum in the file] by Saed ben Mootluk [Sa’ad bin Mutlak, also spelled Said bin Mootlah].The primary correspondent is the Political Agent, Aden. Other correspondents include: the Native Agent, Mocha; the Vice Consul, Judda [Jeddah]; M Houssain bin Fudthal [Muhsin ibn al-Fadl al-Abdali], Sultan of Lahedge; Sultan Abdalla Fouthelee [Ahmad ibn Abdallah al-Fadhli]; and Koschid Pacha. The two letters from Koschid Pacha, relating to the attack on Kerm, are written in French.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 3, and terminates at f 29, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence between the Aden Resident, the Colonial Office, the Foreign Office, and the Government of India Foreign and Political Department.The correspondence concerns the question of applying sanctions at Kamaran, in light of the Italo-Ethiopian dispute. The legal and administrative status of Kamaran is discussed, in the context of British responsibilities under Article 16 of the Treaty of Lausanne, and Article 16 of the Covenant of the League of Nations.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the end of the correspondence (folio 1).Physical description: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 15; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The file consists of correspondence between the Aden Chief Commissioner, the Government of India Foreign and Political Department, and the Colonial Office. The papers discuss the continuation of the postal service at Kamaran following the transfer of Aden to the Colonial Office, and the possible establishment of a postal service between Kamaran and Jizan [Jazan].The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained within the file by year. This is placed at the end of the correspondence (folio 1).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 10; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The file concerns arrangements for the transmission of post between Jizan (Saudi Arabia) and Kamaran (Yemen), and covers the establishment of wireless telecommunications between Jizan and Aden.The file is composed of correspondence between: the Foreign Office; the India Office; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Secretary of State for the Colonies; the Admiralty; the British Legation at Jedda; and HM Ministry for Foreign Affairs at Mecca.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 61; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: This file relates to Italian activities in the Middle East, particularly in the Yemen. The correspondence includes discussion of the following:British policy in the event of the Italians occupying Sheikh Said [Ra’s Shaykh Sa‘īd], or any other part of the Yemen.The Yemen's position in the Italo-Abyssinian conflict [Italo-Ethiopian War].Relations between Ethiopia and the Yemen.Italian activities in the Yemen.British suspicions regarding Italian activities in the Yemen.Future British policy in the Yemen.Internal affairs in the Yemen.Anglo-Italian relations in the Middle East, and the likelihood of Italy violating the Rome Understanding of 1927.Ibn Saud's [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] view on Italian activity in the region.The visits of Italian destroyers to Kamaran Island in March 1937 and January 1938.British and French concerns that Italy, following its denunciation of the Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, seeks possession of the Island of Doumeira [Dumēra Desēt, Red Sea, also spelled Dumeira in the file], currently under French control.The file features the following principal correspondents: His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan, succeeded by Sir Reader William Bullard); the Political Resident, Aden (Sir Bernard Rawdon Reilly); the Governor of Aden (Reilly again); the High Commissioner, Cairo (Sir Miles Lampson); His Majesty's Ambassador in Cairo (Lampson again); His Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires, Alexandria (John Cecil Sterndale Bennett); His Majesty's Ambassador in Paris (Eric Phipps); His Majesty's Ambassador in Rome (Eric Drummond); the British Consul General, Jibuti [Djibouti] (Herbert George Jakins); the British Naval Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station (Vice-Admiral Alexander Robert Maule Ramsay); the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Anthony Eden); the Secretary of State for the Colonies (James Henry Thomas, succeeded by William George Arthur Ormsby-Gore); officials of the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, and the Air Ministry.In addition to correspondence, the file includes the following: copies of extracts from Aden political intelligence summaries; copies of the minutes of meetings of the Committee of Imperial Defence's Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East, dated 26 November 1935, 14 December 1936, and 8 June 1937 respectively; a copy of a translation of a treaty of friendship and commerce between the Ethiopian and Yemeni governments, which was ratified on 21 September 1935.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (folios 2).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 349; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: This part comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, and notes pertaining to proposed occupation of the Kamaran Islands. Discussion includes the reasoning that the British saw for this in order to pre-empt Italian action and the Government of India's view that in the first place an understanding should be arrived at with the Italian Government. Further discussion concerns the Foreign Office's view that an arrangement with Italy would be impracticable and their preference therefore for British occupation of the islands. Also discussed is an application by a British company for a licence to prospect for minerals on the Farsan Islands.Physical description: 1 item (217 folios)