Abstract: This item consists of copies of correspondence, minutes, and consultations, cited in, or enclosed with, political letters from the Government of Bombay. It is the second in a series of three items on Muscat and the slave trade (the others are IOR/F/4/913/25777 and IOR/F/4/914/25779). The principal correspondents are the governments of Bombay and Bengal; Robert Farquhar, Governor of Mauritius; Fairfax Moresby, Commander of HMS
Menai; the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat, [Sayyid Sa‘īd bin Sulṭān Āl Bū Sa‘īd].The item concerns:Moresby’s capture of the
Industry, a ship engaged in the slave tradeAgreements with the Imaum of Muscat about the slave trade and port duesFrench attempts to establish a new base at MadagascarThe state of the slave trade at ZanzibarNegotiation of the Moresby Treaty with the Imaum of Muscat, including a map of the Moresby Line (f 214)Explanations of the Moresby Treaty and the differences between the English and Arabic versionsCaptain William Fitzwilliam Owen’s survey expedition in HMS
Levenand his observations on the slave tradeLiberation of three Christian women from Bahrein, who had been kidnapped from Mangalore.Folios 151-257 of the item are duplicates of folios 86-187 of IOR/F/4/746/20306, with some minor insertions, omissions, and alteration of sequence. Folios 263-271 of the item are duplicates of folios 46-53 of IOR/F/4/785/21163.The item includes a contents page, and the title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Bombay Political No. 943, Draft 8, P.C. 423, [Season] 1827/28’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 148, and terminates at f 287, 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 volume also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: This item consists of copies of correspondence, consultations, resolutions, and minutes cited in, or enclosed with, political letters from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai]. The main correspondents are: the Government of Bombay; Captain Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf; and Captain Anthony Nott, Senior Officer in Command of the Indian Navy in the Persian Gulf. It is the second in a series of seven items on affairs of the Persian Gulf (the others are IOR/F/4/2077/95829, IOR/F/4/2077/95831, IOR/F/4/2077/95832, IOR/F/4/2077/95833, IOR/F/4/2077/95834, and IOR/F/4/2077/95835).The item concerns:The seizure of the acting Governor of Bushire [Bushehr] and the Governor of Rohilla [Rūd Ḥillah] for their failure to pay a debt owed to the Persian garrison of BushireThe siege of Demaun [Dammam] by Ameer Fysul [Amir Fayṣal bin Turkī bin ‘Abdullāh Āl Sa‘ūd]Disturbances at Shiraz caused by an attempt to oust the current Governor of Fars, Ameer Mirza Nubbee Khan [Amir Divan Mirza Nabī Khan Qazwīnī]The reinstatement of Mirza Reza as Acting Native Agent at ShirazThe movements of East India Company schooner
Mahi,and East India Company sloops of war
Cooteand
Elphinstone.A complaint by the Imam of Muscat [Sayyid Sa'īd bin Sulṭān Āl Bū Sa'īd] about the increase in customs duty at Mauritius.The item includes a contents page and the title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Draft 78, P.C. [Previous Communication] 4624, [Season 18]45’, ‘Collection No 8 of No 30’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with f 157 and terminates at f 189, 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 volume also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: Journal of the voyage of the East India Company ship
Blessingfrom Poullambin Point [Palembang, Sumatra, Indonesia] to Surrat [Surat] and England, 1631-33 (dates given are for arrival unless otherwise indicated): left Poullambin Point, 16 August 1631; 28 November 1631 Swalley Hole [Suvali, Surat]; 26 February 1631 [New Style date 26 February 1632], Gombroone [Bandar Abbas]; 8 April 1632, Suvali; July 1632, Morushes [Mauritius]; 12 November 1632, Cape of Good Hope; 10 December 1632, Santaleena [St Helena]; 22 April 1633, the Downs.The ship was at Mauritius from July to October 1632.Inscribed on the front (inner) cover of the volume: 'The Blessing', and 'Name of the Ship does not appear' (folio 2).The journal contains regular dated entries, with navigational readings and notes in the left hand margin.The journal records: navigational information; weather; references to the other ships with which the
Blessingsailed in convoy; and sightings of Dutch ships.The journal employs Old Style (Julian calendar) dates only.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 42; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The volume includes a sequence of blank pages, ff 30-40, which have not been digitised. Pagination: the file also contains a pagination sequence.
Abstract: This item consists of copies of correspondence, minutes, and consultations, cited in, or enclosed with, political and secret letters from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai]. The main correspondents are: the Government of Bombay; Captain Atkins Hamerton, British Agent at Muscat; the Court of Directors of the East India Company; the Foreign Office; the Imaum of Muscat [Imam of Muscat, Sayyid Sa‘īd bin Sulṭān Āl Bū Sa‘īd]. It is the first in a series of three items concerning the trade in enslaved people (the others are IOR/F/4/1958/85479 and IOR/F/4/1959/85480). The enclosures to the letters are contained in the following items.The item concerns:The rescue of enslaved children and their subsequent placement in households or in a trade at Aden or Bombay, or their return homeThe prevalence of the trade in enslaved people at Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh] and ZanzibarDiscussions of how frequently women and children were kidnapped from India and enslaved and sold at Zanzibar, and whether the Imaum of Muscat’s ships were involvedDiscussions of how involved the Imaum of Muscat was in importing enslaved people to IndiaThe difficulties of enforcing treaties abolishing the trade in enslaved people, and in persuading the Imaum of Muscat to agree to such treatiesThe system of importing free labourers from Zanzibar to Mauritius and the British attempts to persuade the Imaum not to permit this system because it was often used to perpetuate slaveryThe case of the
Joshua Carroll, a ship seized by the British on suspicion of it being a slaving ship, and the claims of the company which chartered it that it was engaged in legitimate trade to transfer free labourers to MauritiusThe request of the Nawaub of Sucheen [Nawab of Sachin, Ibrahim Mohammad Yakut Khan I] that the British return a dancing girl whom he had accused of theft and who had taken refuge at SuratAttempts of Neer Nusseer Khan of Sinde [Amir Nasir Khan Talpur] to persuade the British to pardon one of his officials who had been imprisoned for attempting to import nine children on his behalf.Affairs of the English brig
Maria:Captain Turner’s apology for confining one of the Imaum’s seaman in the
MariaThe false accusation of mate of the
Mariaof murderThe Imaum’s attempt to use the
Mariato obtain the inheritance of a man who died at Tamatava [Toamasina, Madagascar].The item includes a contents page and the title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Draft 596, P.C. [Previous Communication] 3593, [Season] 1842’ and ‘Examiner’s Office’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with f 530 and terminates at f 694, 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 of copies of correspondence, consultations, minutes, and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, political letters from the Government of Bombay. The principal correspondents are the Government of Bombay; the Governor of Mauritius, Robert Farquhar; Captain Fairfax Moresby of HMS
Menai.The item concerns the abolition of the slave trade and particularly the negotiations, treaties, and agreements about the slave trade with the following: Radama, the King of Madagascar; the Haukim [Hakim] of Zanzibar, Sueed Ukburee [Sa’īd Akbari]; the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat and Oman [Sayyid Sa‘īd bin Sulṭān Āl Bū Sa‘īd]; the Governor of Bourbon [Réunion], Pierre Bernard Milius.The item describes the treaty Farquhar concluded with Radama, the King of Madagascar, who signed it on 11 October 1820, agreeing to prohibit the sale and exportation of slaves from Madagascar, and stop the attacks on the King of Johanna [Anjouan].There is a discussion of the legal issues of the French and British capturing each other’s ships with slaves on board, including the British captures of
LeSuccesand
L’Eleanore, and the French captures of
Espoirand
Favorite, with a discussion of the
Amediecase from 1810. The possibility of the French forming depots at Providence and St Marie, Madagascar is also mentioned, as is the accidental seizure of two of the Imaum’s ships by the
Psyche.The main focus of the item is the treaty Moresby negotiated with the Imaum of Muscat in 1822, whereby the Imaum agreed that no slave should be sold to Christians from his territory, including Zanzibar, and that vessels carrying the Imam’s flag might be seized if they were carrying slaves east of the Moresby line (the line from Cape Delgado to Diu). The British were allowed to establish agents in the Imaum’s territory to enforce the treaty.The item includes a contents page, and the title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Political No. 12, Draft 496, P.C. 154, [Season] 1823/4’ and ‘Examiner’s Office 1823’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 18, and terminates at f 187, 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 volume also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: Journal of the voyage of the East India Company ship
Marthafrom Bumbay [Bombay/Mumbai] to England, 1702-03 (dates given are for arrival unless otherwise indicated): left Bombay, 7 May 1702; 19 June 1702, Mauritius; 8 November 1702, St Hellena [Saint Helena]; 25 November 1703, Asenshon [Ascension]; 29 December 1702, Berbadoes [Barbados]; 14 April 1703, Ereefe [Erith].The
Marthawas at Mauritius from 19 June to 7 September 1702, and at Barbados from 29 December 1702 to 2 February 1702 [New Style date 2 February 1703].The journal was compiled by Samuel Goodman (described as Cap [Captain] of the
Martha, alongside the captains of the other ships with which the
Marthasailed in convoy, on folio 33).The journal is a continuation of the journal of the voyage of the
Marthafrom England to Bombay, 1700-02 (IOR/L/MAR/A/CXLVI).The journal contains regular entries, in seven columns (where indicated): [date (and occasional remarks)]; [remarks]; H [hour]; K [knots]; F [fathoms]; C [courses]; W [winds]. When the ship is in harbour, the entries consist of date and remarks only.The journal records: navigational information; winds; weather; sea conditions; sightings of other vessels; the names of the ships with which the
Marthasailed in convoy; the decision to sail for Barbados because of war with France and Spain (folio 33); entries marked 'sik', with no other information, indicating that Goodman was sick at the time (folios 51-54); and the removal of the corpse of the ship's original Captain [Thomas] Raynes [Raines], on arrival at Erith (folio 62).The journal also includes two sketches of coastline: folio 12, and folio 15 (Mauritius).From 2 February 1702/03, the journal employs Old Style (Julian calendar) dates, but from 8 February 1702/03 it is double-dated, with both the Old Style and New Style (Gregorian calendar) date.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 62; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located at the top middle of the recto side of each folio.Condition: the volume is extensively damaged at the edges, with consequent minor losses of text and navigational data.
Abstract: Journal of the voyage of the East India Company ship
Boscawenfrom England to Surat, May 1761-March 1762, from Surat to Judda [Jeddah] and back, April-September 1762, from Surat to Bombay [Mumbai], October 1762, from Bombay to Calcutta [Kolkata], November 1762-June 1763, from Calcutta to Mauritius, February 1763 [New Style date 1764]-June 1764, and from Mauritius to England, December 1764-March 1765 (Captain Benjamin Braund).The outward journey from England included a visit to Rio de Janeiro, August-September 1761. The return journey from Surat to Judda included visits to Mocha, May and August 1762. From February 1762 [New Style date 1763]
Boscawenwas moored at either Kedgeree [Khijri] or Ingeli in the Hooghly River delta. An attempt to sail upstream to Calcutta in April 1763 was driven back by bad weather that damaged the ship (f 85).The journal consists of daily entries of information on navigation, winds, weather, contact with other ships, deaths of crewmembers, and general observations. A list of crew and a list of soldiers are provided on folios 2-4. Folio 85 records the death of Captain Braund, onshore at Ingeli, in April 1763.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 1, and terminates at f 165; it is part of a larger physical volume of different shelfmarks in which this shelfmark has been given its own separate foliation sequence, i.e. non-consecutive; 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 part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 126 of 1842, dated 31 October 1842. The enclosures are numbered 3-47 and are dated 1 September to 29 October 1842. There is no abstract of contents.The enclosures, which consist mostly of correspondence with some resolutions of the Government of Bombay, relate to Persian Gulf affairs. They concern matters including:The Officiating Resident in the Persian Gulf, Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Dundas Robertson, addressing a despatch to the Secret Committee, suggesting the advisability of removing the Residency from Bushire [Bushehr] to some other position in the Persian GulfRobertson residing in Karrack [Kharg] instead of Khoormooj [Khormoj] during the Summer months‘Insults’ to British subjects in Persia [Iran], including members of the British Mission and Residency, by soldiers in Bushire and others, and punishments for these ‘insults’The Government of Bombay requesting that Robertson be cautious in his proceedings at Karrack and refrain from ‘interfering in matters in which the British Government is not concerned’, in response to a letter from Robertson regarding the ‘oppressive conduct’ of Lootf Ally Khan [Luṭf ‘Alī Khān Lārī], the Officer in Charge of the detachment of Persian troops stationed at Karrack, towards the inhabitants of the island and the men under his commandThe removal of the Head Quarters of the Indian Naval Squadron in the Persian Gulf from Karrack to Bassadore [Basaidu, also spelled Bassidore in this item], and the establishment of a naval depot on BassadoreThe reply received from Abdoolla bin Sooneyan [‘Abdullāh bin Thunyān bin Ibrāhīm Āl Sa‘ūd], the Ruler of Nedgd [Najd, also spelled Nedjed in this item], to a letter from Robertson regarding Abdoolla bin Sooneyan’s letters to the ‘Arab Piractical Sheikhs’The Native Agent at Bahrein [Bahrain], Mirza Mahomed Ali [Mīrzā Muḥammad ‘Alī], reporting on affairs at Bahrein, including his account of what happened after it became known that some of the ‘women, children, slaves [enslaved persons] and dependents’ of Humood Omeree [Ḥammūd al-‘Umayrī] were in the Native Agent’s house under British protection, and Abdullah bin Ahmed [‘Abdullāh bin Aḥmad] ‘gave orders to his sons to go and kill them’ (folio 152v)The Government of Bombay requesting an enquiry to be instituted by the Officiating Resident in the Persian Gulf into the conduct of the Native Agent at Bahrein in having first offered an asylum, and then surrendered to the contending factions on that island, persons whom it appears had fled to his house for protectionThe decision that no remuneration should be granted to the Moonshee [Munshi] attached to the Residency of the Persian Gulf for expenses incurred in entertaining a person in the ‘habit and character of a Derveesh [dervish]’ representing himself to be the son of the late Futteh Allee Shah [Fath-‘Ali Shāh Qājār] of Persia and uncle of the present King [Shāh], but who was ‘an imposter’HM Consul and Honourable Company’s Agent in the Dominions of the Imam of Muscat (also spelled Maskat in this item), Captain Atkins Hamerton, addressing a letter to the Government of Mauritius regarding him sending a British seaman, James Dawson, to Mauritius to be tried for the murder of an ‘Arab’ seaman named Ramzan [Ramaḍān], a subject of the Imam of Muscat, in the town of ZanzibarDocuments relating to the complaint made to the Imaum [Imām] of Muscat against Robert Brown Norsworthy, residing in Zanzibar, by Schaikh Awez [Shaikh ‘Uways al-Barāw] of Barawa (also spelled Browa in this item)The reports of the Commodore in the Persian Gulf, William Lowe, on affairs in the Persian Gulf, including: the state of the public buildings at Bassadore; everything being ‘quiet on the [Arabian] Coast with the exception of their usual squabbles inland’ (folio 188); this season being the best for many years for pearl fishing, with some of the merchants having made large sums of money; and his recommendation of Ally [‘Alī], the eldest son of the Agent at Sharga [Sharjah], Moollah Hussain [Mullā Ḥusayn], for the position of Agent at Lingar [Bandar-e Lengeh]A complaint of obstruction by Persian soldiers to the passage through the gate of the town of Bushire of Lieutenants C D Campbell and W B Selby of the Indian NavyLieutenant A E Ball, commanding the Honourable Company’s brig of war
Euphrates, reporting his proceedings on the trip he was deputed to take to the Arab Coast and pearl banks of the Persian GulfCommodore Lowe’s intended measures for removing the naval stores from Karrack to BushireThe separation of the Commodore in the Persian Gulf’s guard for the naval depot at Bassadore from the guard of the Resident in the Persian GulfThe appointment of a committee to determine whether a horse given to Commodore Lowe by the Prince of Shiraz is fit for cavalry, or should be sold by public auction; and the payment by the Government of Bombay of expenses incurred by Commodore Lowe and others on account of the horse.The main correspondents are the following: the Government of Bombay; the Officiating Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Secretary to the Government of India with the Governor-General; the Superintendent of the Indian Navy; HM Consul and Honourable Company’s Agent in the Dominions of the Imaum of Muscat; and the Deputy Adjutant General of the Army, Major C Hagart.Other correspondents include: Abdoolla bin Sooneyan; the Commodore in the Persian Gulf, William Lowe; HM Chargé d’Affaires at the Court of Persia, Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Sheil; and the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Meerza Abul Hassan Khan [Mīrzā Abū al-Ḥasan Khān Shīrāzī, Īlchī Kabīr].Physical description: 1 item (138 folios)
Abstract: Correspondence concerning the movements of the former Shah of Persia [Iran], Reza Shah Pahlavi, in the wake of his enforced abdication by the British Government in September 1941. The papers cover: arrangements for the removal of Reza Shah from Persia; discussion amongst British officials over where the Shah should be sent into exile, with Mauritius, British East Africa [Kenya], the Seychelles, Canada, and South Africa all discussed; reports of Reza Shah’s departure from the Persian port of Bandar Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās] on 27 September 1941 (ff 85-86, ff 80-82); arrangements for the passage of Reza Shah and his touring party; Reza Shah’s stay in Mauritius, and his opinion of the islands; Reza Shah’s passage to South Africa; the movements of other members of the Persian royal family, including Reza Shah’s wives and children. The file’s principal correspondents are: the British Minister at Tehran, Reader William Bullard; the Foreign Office; the Governor of Mauritius, Bede Edmund Hugh Clifford; the External Affairs Department of the Government of India.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.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 180; 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: Journal of the East India Company ships
Mary, Hartand
Hopewellby Peter Andrews, covering a voyage from Cape Bona Esperance [Cape of Good Hope, also written in the journal as Cape Bone Sperance] to Surratt [Surat] and back to England between 20 July 1627 and 12 January 1629 [New Style date 12 January 1630] (Captain Malim,
Hopewell; Captain John Hall,
Mary, Captains Bartholomew Goodall and Richard Swanley,
Hart).Peter Andrews changed ship twice during this voyage: he was on board the
Marybetween 20 July 1627 and 5 July 1628 (folios 11-28), the
Hartbetween 6 July 1628 and 7 October 1629 (folios 28-44) and the
Hopewellbetween 9 October 1629 and 12 January 1630 (folios 44-47). The journal consists of mostly daily entries of information on the following: navigation; winds; weather; contact with other East India Company ships, contact with Portuguese ffriggatt [frigates] and ships; descriptions of the coasts seen during the ships' course; commodities carried; and other observations.The dates of the entries (where indicated) are in the Old Style (i.e. the Julian calendar).Inscription: 'A journal kept by me Peter Andrewes m[as]ters maite off the Mairy and then m[as]ter off the Hart till the discease off Capt: Andrew Eyers and then by consultation m[as]ter off the Hopewell ffrom the Island of S Hellena to England' (folio 10); 'By me Peter Andrew m[as]ter off the Hopewell
'(folio 47).The ship's route includes the following destinations (dates given are approximately those of arrival): Cape Bona Esperance, July 1627 (folio 11); Mohillia [Moheli], 10 September 1627 (folio 15); Daman, 27 November 1627 (folio 19); Swally [Suvali], 13 January 1627 [New Style date 13 January 1628] (folio 20); Surratt, 18 January (folio 20); Dabull [Dabhol], 28 January (folio 20); Gundevee [Gandavi], January (folio 20); Surratt, February (folio 22); Goa, April 1628 (folio 23); Cocheene [Kochi], 15 April 1628 (folio 24); Mauritius, 30 May 1628 (folio 28); Augusteene Baye [Saint Augustine Bay], 5 July 1628 (folio 28); Mossanbique [Mozambique], 21 July 1628 (folio 29); Mohillia, 20 August 1628 (folio 30); Persia, January 1628 [New Style date January 1629] (folio 34); Mauritius, 26 July 1629; St Hellena [Saint Helena], October 1629 (folio 44); Plimoth [Plymouth], 18 December 1629; the Downs, 10 January 1629 [New Style date 10 January 1630].Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 87; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The volume includes a sequence of blank pages, ff 48-85, which have not been digitised.Pagination: the file also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: Journal of the voyages of the East India Company ships
Hopewelland
Star, recorded by Abraham Sayers. An inscription states that Sayers made the outward journey on board the
Hopewelland returned homeward on the
Star.The
Hopewelldeparted Gravesend on 24 February 1627. The journal covers visits to a number of destinations including the following (dates are those of arrival): 10 July 1627, Cape [of Good Hope]; 10 September 1627, Mohele [Mohéli]; 30 November 1627, Swallo Road [Suvāli, also written as Swallow Road]; 17 March 1627 [New Style date 17 March 1628], Dabull [Dabhol]; 27 May 1628, Morrossos [Mauritius]; 30 September 1628, Swallo Road; 12 March 1628 [New Style date 12 March 1629], Soldany Bay [Saldanha, South Africa]; 15 April 1629, Santalena [St Helena]; 5 July 1629, the Downes [Downs].The entries are dated according to the Julian calendar.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 46; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers.Pagination: the file also contains an original pagination sequence.