1. 'Proceedings of Captain Chiefalla, of the Greek Privateer "Hellas" – Proclamation issued, forbidding British subjects from serving under any foreign flag against the Turks in India or the Red Sea'

Description:

Abstract: The item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence, minutes and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, letters from the Government of Bombay and the Government of Bengal. The item is chiefly concerned with proceedings against Captain Nicolo Chiefala of the Greek vessel Hellas, who is suspected of carrying out 'piratical' acts in the Red Sea by detaining and plundering several vessels which were under multiple foreign flags. In particular, the item relates to:Enquiries, mostly at Mocha and Bombay, into Chiefala's activities by a committee composed of the Superintendent of Marine, the Advocate General and the Senior Magistrate of PoliceEnquiries into claims that British subjects were employed on the Hellasand that multiple English vessels provided assistance and provisions to her, including the English ship Trois FrèresChiefala's claims that he had appropriate authorisations from the Greek and Mauritius Governments to purchase and arm a vessel for the purpose of molesting ships under Turkish control in the Red SeaAccounts and petitions from individuals whose ships were detained by Chiefala and individuals associated with the Hellas, such as the Commander of the Trois FrèresThe Government of Bombay's correspondence with multiple Governments in the Red Sea requesting further information and assistance in detaining Chiefala and his associates, Sailing Captain Samuel Lingard and Lieutenant DenhamA proclamation by the Government of Bombay forbidding British subjects from serving under foreign flags who intend to attack Turkish vessels; the Advocate General's opinions on the legality of this proclamation as well as the authority of the Government to make such a proclamation.Correspondents include: Governments of Bombay, Bengal and Madras; Sir Charles Malcolm, Superintendent of the Marine, Bombay; Anthony Hammond, Advocate General, Bombay; J D Devitre [James D De Vitre], Senior Magistrate of Police; the Governments of Goa, Mocha, Mauritius and Demaum [Ad-Dammān]; the Imaum [Imam] of Senna [Sana'a]; Residents at Cutch [Kutch], Mocha and in the Persian Gulf; the Native Agent at Mocha; Jean-François Hodoul, Commander of the Trois Frères.The title page of the item contains the following references: 'Bombay Political Department No. 4', 'P.C. 980, Draft. 38. 1832' and 'Examiner's Offi-'.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 4, and terminates at f 157, 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.

2. ‘Vol: VI. Persian Gulph [Gulf]’

Description:

Abstract: The item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence, minutes and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, extracts of the Government of Bombay Political Consultations. The item is concerned with multiple issues pertaining to the political situation in the Persian Gulf, in particular:Reports and discussions of the hostilities between the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat and the Chief of Bahrein [Bahrain] in one conflict and between Sultan bin Suggar [Shaikh Sulṭān bin Ṣaqr Āl Qāsimī, Ruler of Ra's al-Khaymah] and Shaikh Tanoon [Shaikh Ṭaḥnūn bin Shakhbūṭ Āl Nahyān, Ruler of Abu Dhabi] in anotherAttempts by Major David Wilson, Resident in the Persian Gulf, to de-escalate the above conflicts; his instructions for several East India Company ships to gather information whilst delivering packets along the Arabian side of the Gulf and their subsequent reportsDubious activities of the Greek vessel Hellasat Mocha; the detaining of the Company's ship Trois Freresby the Dowlah [Dola, Governor] of Mocha due to his suspicion of its involvement with the Hellas; the intervention of the Native Agent at Mocha and Captain Robert Moresby, Captain of the Company ship Thetis, to secure the release of the Trois Freres; the subsequent establishment of a Committee to investigate the character of Nicolo Chiefala, Captain of the HellasReports of piracy on the merchant vessel Carnaticby subjects under the control of the Imaum of MuscatSultan bin Suggar's killing of the 'pirate' Mooslim bin Rashid [Muslim bin Rashīd al-Qāsimī], the capture of his crew, and the debate between the Imaum of Muscat and the Government of Bombay as to whether certain members of the crew should be released.The item also touches on other matters including: the charging of pilotage at Bushire; the financial drain of hosting an Envoy from the Pacha of Bagdad [Baghdad] at Bussorah [Basra]; the introduction of two men to Wilson by the Prince of Sheraz [Shiraz] and his request that Wilson provides them with every assistance; the granting of aid to an esteemed Jewish merchant who wishes to remove his property from Bagdad and settle in Bombay.A section (ff 129 verso - 131 verso) of the item, which pertains to the forced collection of money from the people of Burburra [Berbera] by Captain Frederick W Greer, of the Company ship Elphinstone, has been crossed out with pencil.The item consists mainly of correspondence between Wilson and William Newnham, Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay. Other correspondents include: W Clerk, Acting Persian Secretary; Major Robert Taylor, Political Agent at Bussorah; Shaik Syeb Ibraheemjee [Shaikh Sahib Ibrahimji], Native Agent at Mocha; numerous officials of the Marine for the Government of Bombay; Secretaries to the Supreme Government, the Government of Mauritius and the Government at Fort St George; the Imaum of Muscat, the Prince of Shiraz, Sultan bin Suggar, the Dowlah of Mocha and several of their agents.The title page of the item contains the following references: ‘P.C. 783, Draft 477, Season 1829/30’ and 'Examiner's Office 1830’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 4, and terminates at f 140, 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.

3. ‘Relative to certain inaccuracies in the Treaty negotiated with the Imaum of Senna in January 1821 – the stipulation which reduces the duty on imports & exports applied exclusively to English Merchants’

Description:

Abstract: This item consists of copies of correspondence, memoranda, and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, political letters from the Government of Bombay. The principal correspondents are: the Government of Bombay; the Resident at Mocha, Captain Gilbert Hutchinson; and the Imaum of Senna [Imam of San'a, Yemen, al-Mahdī ‘Abdullāh bin Aḥmad bin ‘Alī].The item concerns the differences between the Arabic and English versions of the Treaty of 15 January 1821, which William Bruce, Resident at Bushire [Būshehr], negotiated with the Imaum of Senna. The differences are:Whether the reduction in customs duty to two and a quarter percent applies only to English merchants (as in the Arabic version) or to all merchants trading under the British flag (as in the English version)In the English version, the dependents of the British Factory are to be under the protection of the Resident (omitted in the Arabic version)In the English version, in the case of a dispute between dependents of the Resident and the Imaum, the Dola [Governor] of Mocha and the Resident are to adjudicate and the offender is to be punished by their own authority (all omitted in the Arabic version).The discussion primarily concerns the second difference, which the British are most eager for the Imaum to agree to. The East India Company Broker’s business transactions with the Americans and the Imaum’s debts owing to him are extensively discussed in this context. The Resident also reports on his visit to Aden with a view to moving the Residency there.The item includes a contents page, and the title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Political No. 9, Draft 496, P.C. 154, [Season] 1823/4, Examiner’s Office ‘23’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 28, and terminates at f 201, 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.

4. The ‘Hostility’ of the Sherriff of Mocha

Description:

Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 32 of 1843, dated 1 May 1843. The enclosures are numbered 3-10 and are dated 14 November 1842 to 27 April 1843.The majority of the item consists of a summary (enclosure No. 3) of the proceedings of the Government of Bombay in response to the perceived hostilities committed by the Sherriff [Sharif] of Mocha, Hussain ben Ali Hyder [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī Ḥaydar], and his brother Hamood [Ḥammūd] against British subjects, following the Sherriff taking possession of the sea ports of Mocha and Hodeida [Al Hudaydah], following the evacuation of those places by the troops of Mahomed Ali Pasha [Muḥammad ‘Alī Pāshā al-Mas‘ūd bin Āghā].The ‘hostilies’ set out in the summary include the Sherriff of Mocha ordering that: the British flag which was hoisted in front of the house of the Acting Native Agent at Mocha, Abdool Russool [‘Abd al-Rasūl], be pulled down; no Englishmen be permitted to land armed; no supplies be provided to British or Honourable Company’s Government vessels without payment of duties; and all British merchants trading with Mocha and Hodeida should in future pay nine per cent duty instead of the customary duty of two and a half per cent.The summary also discusses: the Sherriff and his brother, acting as Governor of Mocha, preventing any further supplies being sent from Mocha to Aden and ‘throwing every impediment’ in the way of British commerce; the Sherriff seizing the private property belonging to the Acting Native Agent at Mocha; a Commissioner being appointed by the Sublime Porte [the Government of the Ottoman Empire] to remove the Sherriff, following representations made by the British Government to the Porte; intelligence that an arrangement between the Ottoman Commissioner and Sherriff Hussain has been nearly concluded, whereby the British flag would be re-hoisted and a bond of future friendly conduct towards British subjects would be made; and the view of the Political Agent at Aden, Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, that such a conclusion could not be accepted as ‘British dignity would be injured’ if no punishment was inflicted on the Sherriff of Mocha.Copies of the following documents are included in the summary as appendices: a letter from the Political Agent at Aden to the Secretary to the Government of Bombay, John Pollard Willoughby; a letter from the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Stratford Canning, to the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Earl of Aberdeen; and a treaty between the British Government and the Imaum of Senna [Imam of Yemen at Sana'a], dated 15 January 1821.Enclosure Nos. 4-7 relate to the Government of Bombay soliciting the instructions of the Governor-General of India in response to the application of the Imaum of Senna for British aid in his attempt to recover possession of the ports of Mocha and Hodeida.Enclosure Nos. 8-10 concern: the conduct of HM Consul and Honourable Company’s Agent in the Dominions of the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat (also spelled Muskat in this item), Captain Atkins Hamerton, in relation to the case of the alleged murder of an ‘Arab seaman’, who was a subject of the Imaum of Muscat, by a British seaman, James Dawson; the view of HM Government that the proceedings adopted by Hamerton in the case are illegal, and that his conduct in sanctioning the witnesses against the prisoner being placed in irons during a voyage to Mauritius is entirely disapproved of and highly censured; the Governor in Council directing that Hamerton be cautious in future not to send persons accused of murder to England without direct instructions from the authorities. Enclosure No. 8 includes a letter to Hamerton from the Colonial Secretary, Mauritius, with an enclosed letter from HM Procureur and Advocate General at Mauritius.Physical description: 1 item (82 folios)

5. Mocha Affairs

Description:

Abstract: This item comprises a copy of an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee: Bombay Secret Letter 9 August 1820. The enclosure is dated 9 August 1820.The enclosure comprises a letter from Mountstuart Elphinstone, Governor of Bombay, addressed to the Imaum of Senna [Imam of San’ā, Yemen], demanding an apology and reparation for the ‘insults and cruelties’ of the Governor of Mocha towards ‘a respectable officer of the British Government at it's [East India Company] factory’ in Mocha and stating that Captain Loch of HM Navy is being sent with a squadron of ships to see that the demands, including the negotiation of a treaty, are met.Physical description: The despatch comprises one enclosure, numbered 1. The enclosure number is written for reference on the verso of the last folio of the enclosure.

6. 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 86 of 1841, dated 29 October 1841. The enclosures are dated 18 April 1839-25 October 1841.The principal correspondents are: Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Political Agent, Aden; the Officiating Chief Secretary to the Government, Bombay; and the Secretary to the Government of India. Also included are numerous enclosures and minutes of the Governor and President in Council, Bombay, subscribed to by the Board.The papers notably cover and include the following:A description by Haines of the disruption to kafilas [camel caravans, also spelled kafilahs in this item] of supplies entering Aden ‘in consequence of the continued revengeful, and insulting conduct of the Fouthelee [Faḍlī] and Abdalee ['Abdalī] Tribes’ (f 521), and the Government of Bombay’s agreement to his request for permission to stop supplies by sea entering the ports of any ‘chief’ who is ‘decidedly hostile’ to the British Government, provided there is the naval means to enforce a blockadeA report of the expulsion from Aden of a ‘suspicious’ caravan, under Sheik Mahomed Hyder [Shaikh Muḥammad Ḥaydar] of the Abdalee tribe, and the thwarting of a surprise attack by ‘a body of Arabs’ (f 528) on the ‘outwork’ at the Turkish Wall, including copy of an account of the incident by the officer in charge of the Turkish Wall Out Post (ff 525-533)Papers relating to measures ordered by Haines subsequent to his receipt of permission from the Government of Bombay to act on the offensive against tribes accused of attacking and disrupting the kafilahs bound for Aden. Included are: Haines’s account of the surprise British attack involving the demolition of the town of Newbut Maaidee [Nawbat Mahdi, also spelled Maidee and Mahdee in this item] purportedly the rendezvous point of the Fouthelee ‘chiefs’ planning attacks on Aden, and the destruction of the guard post allegedly erected at Sheik Othman [Ash Shaykh ‘Uthmān, also spelled Shaick in this item] to ‘molest’ the kafilahs bound for Aden (ff 538-542); and copies of Haines’s correspondence with Lieutenant-Colonel William Croker Commanding the Aden force, with related accounts of officers present during the operations (ff 543-551)Agreement of the Governor-General of India with the Governor in Council, Bombay, to increase the police establishment at Aden, and the arrangements to be made by the Superintendent of Police and the Military Board, Bombay, and the Superintendent of the Indian Navy to despatch ten volunteers from the Bombay Police, and equip them with swords and belts (ff 561-570)Instructions issued in October 1841 by the Government of Bombay for sending ‘as an experiment’, twenty or thirty Hindoo [Hindu] convicts to Aden to work on the roads, fortifications and public buildings, including guidance regarding clothing and diet for convicts (ff 616-618). The instructions and tables of guidance are preceded by: copies of correspondence, dated April-November 1839 and July-August 1840, between the Government of Bombay, the Government of India, the Acting Advocate-General, Bombay, and the Superintendent of Police, Bombay, regarding the legality of sending to Aden fifty convicts to be employed on the construction of the public roads, tanks, etc., in connection with a request by Haines (ff 572-605); an analysis by the Acting Advocate-General of the law in relation to transportation sentences (ff 579-588); a memorandum by the Political Secretary, Bombay, summarizing relevant correspondence and decisions up to October 1841; and a letter from the Advocate-General, Bombay, confirming that convicts sent to Aden could afterwards be legally sent to another (British) settlementA report of a visit to Mussawah [Massawa] by Lieutenant Willmott Christopher, commanding the HC [Honourable Company’s] schooner Constance, forwarded to Haines by the Senior Naval Officer at Aden, (ff 623-629), covering affairs in the vicinity including French activities and influenceThe report by Mr J Hatchatoor, the British Agent at Tedjoura [Tadjoura], of the murder of three of his servants and the hostility of the ‘chief’ of that place (ff 636-638), and Haines’s despatch of the Euphratesto assist in finding the perpetrators and to convey Hatchatoor and his staff to AdenPapers and correspondence relating to the misdirection to Ceylon [Sri Lanka] of a packet (mail) from Haines, on the steamer Seaforth, including instructions to the Political Agent that future despatches intended for the Government of Bombay should be sent separately from those intended for distribution by the General Post Office at Bombay, and the Government of Bombay’s recommendation that the post office clerk responsible be fined one month’s salary (ff 648-657)Memorandum by the Officiating Chief Secretary, Bombay, regarding the packets from Calcutta [Kolkata], intended for England by the October mail steamer Cleopatra, which reached the Bombay Presidency a day after the steamer’s departure for Suez (ff 660-665)Memorandum by the Governor-General of India to the Secret Committee (ff 668-672) which: describes ‘the various insults and injuries sustained by the British Government, its servants and subjects at the hands of the present Shariff [Sharīf] of Mocha’; explains the reasons why no action has been taken up until now, including the lack of naval means, failure of the posited overthrow of the Governor of Mocha by the Imam of Senna, and political difficulties in requesting the removal of an official who is endorsed by the government (Ottoman Porte) of a British ally; and proposes that Captain Grey commanding HMS Endymionvisit Mocha to inform the Shariff of how seriously his proceedings are viewed by the Government of India and to attempt to obtain redress without resorting to ‘actual hostility’.Physical description: 1 item (175 folios)

7. 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 77 of 1841, dated 30 September 1841. The enclosures are dated 17 July-28 September 1841.The principal correspondents are: Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Political Agent at Aden; the Officiating Chief Secretary to Government, Bombay; the Superintendent of the Indian Navy; and the Military Board.The papers cover and include the following matters:A copy of a survey of the ‘coast of Africa in the southward and westward of Aden’, entitled ‘Memorandum to accompany the Chart of the Bay of Tajoorah [Tadjoura], & part of the Coast of the Hebrawul’, by Lieutenant W Barker, Indian Navy, Commanding the HC [Honourable Company’s] brig Euphrates(ff 38-79), forwarded by Haines to the Secretary to the Government, Bombay. Also included are letters from the Acting Secretary to Government, Bombay, to Haines, the Engineers’ Department, Bombay, the Secretary to the Government of India, and the Superintendent of the Indian Navy. The letters acknowledge the ‘memoir’ and map (not included in this item), order and forward copies of the map, and convey the approbation of the Government, Bombay for the ‘zeal and energy’ of Lieutenant BarkerAn application by Haines to the Government of Bombay explaining the need for the appointment of a clerk to aid the Assistant Political Agent (notably with Post Office duties) and listing the current duties of the Assistant and his own duties (ff 87-91), and the refusal of the Government of Bombay to agree to the requestReports by Haines of the disruption to kafilahs [camel caravans] of supplies entering Aden, resulting from violent clashes between divisions of different competing tribes near the frontier of the settlement. Haines notably describes the activities and forces of Sultan M’Houssain Futhel of Lahidge [Muḥsin bin Faḍl al-‘Abdalī, Sultan of Lahej] and the Foudthelee ‘Chief’ [Sultan Aḥmad bin ‘Abdullāh al-Faḍlī], their apparent hostility to the British, and the alleged plan of the Foudthelee ‘Chief’ to attack the field works at AdenMeasures to be pursued as a result of the ‘perseverance exhibited by the Chief of Lahedge in stirring up the other tribes in the neighbourhood to unite with him in hostile attempts against our garrison at Aden’, and the policy to be adopted with respect to the ‘oppressive and unjust treatment of the subjects and dependents of the British Government by the Sheriff [Sharīf] of Mocha’ (f 98)Minute by the Governor in Council, Bombay, concurred in by civil members of the Board (ff 100-102), giving Haines discretionary powers, during the relief of the European portion of the garrison of Aden, to mount an offensive against the tribes in the immediate neighbourhood who are considered hostile to the British Government, including authority to attack Shaick Othman [Ash Shaykh ‘Uthmān] where a post has been erected by ‘the hostile Arabs’ (f 107). Authority is given for military measures provided that: Haines thinks it would be politically expedient; the officer commanding at Aden has the means to undertake it; it will not increase hostility towards the British; and it will not require prolonged operations. Haines is also permitted to take advantage, if necessary, of HMS Endymionin the Red Sea to enforce ‘redress’ from the Sheriff of MochaHaines’s detailed response and justification of his actions, subsequent to a complaint made by the Superintendent of the Indian Navy regarding Haines’s ‘interference’ in the duties of various vessels in the Red Sea, notably delaying the HC [Honourable Company’s] schooner Constancefrom being despatched to Suez with the mails (ff 108-110). Included are copies of Haines’s letters to the Superintendent of the Indian Navy concerning the use of the Euphratesand Constancein connection with Captain William Cornwallis Harris’s mission to Shoa [Shewa] and to monitor and counteract French activities and influence in the vicinity of Zeyla [Zeila] and Tedjoura, and requesting that the HC sloop-of-war Cliveremain at Aden to potentially proceed on ‘secret service’ to Mocha (ff 111-115). The Government of Bombay responds that vessels should ‘not be interfered with except under some great emergency involving the safety of important interests which justify the disregard of ordinary rules altogether on the responsibility of the officer deviating therefrom’ (f 116), and undertake to inform him in future when a vessel is on express orders from GovernmentThe murder of the ‘Arab interpreter named Ahmed’ outside the Turkish Wall at Aden, notably a copy of an account written by Captain George Duff, 10th Regiment Native Infantry, Commanding the Turkish Wall outpost (ff 119-124)Supplies and stores on board the HC brig Palinurus(at Bombay [Mumbai] harbour) including: distribution of the biscuit amongst the Indian Navy vessels in harbour and the steam vessel conveying the relief regiment to and from Aden; instructions for the rest of its provisions to be unloaded; and the lack of room on the steamer proceeding to Suez on 1 September to convey to Aden any portion of military stores on board the Palinurus(ff 125-131)A memorandum recording the present establishment attached to the Palinurusand her proposed employment to convey convicts to Singapoor [Singapore], including a table of foodstuffs ‘of the quantity of diet for convicts’, and a ‘statement shewing the monthly cost of provisions supplied during the voyage to European and native convicts transported from Bombay’ (ff 132-135).Physical description: 1 item (105 folios)

8. 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)

9. Board's Collections Vol 690

Description:

Abstract: This volume consists of two items which are copies of correspondence, minutes, and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, letters from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai]. The items are:IOR/F/4/690/18908 ‘Vol: 1 – Relative to the disgraceful treatment experienced by Lieut Dominicetti of the Marine from the Dola of Mocha and others, and to the plunder of the Company’s Factory at that place in 1817 – also Proceedings of the Expedition which was in consequence dispatched against the Town of Mocha.’IOR/F/4/690/18909 ‘Vol: 2 – Relative to the disgraceful treatment experienced by Lieut Dominicetti of the Marine from the Dola of Mocha and others, and to the plunder of the Company’s Factory at that place in 1817 – also Proceedings of the Expedition which was in consequence dispatched against the Town of Mocha.’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 371; 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.