1. ‘Vol 250 Wrecks, Maritime outrages’

Description:

Abstract: The volume contains correspondence relating to nine cases of shipwreck, plunder, piracy, or other maritime outrage, each assigned in the volume under the ‘Heading VIII: Wrecks, maritime outrages, etc.’ and each taking place during the period 1857 to 1861. Correspondence includes the original reports of each case, the Resident’s instructions to naval officers in the Gulf to investigate the incident, and to retrieve stolen property, identify the culprits, or obtain compensation, where appropriate, the Resident’s report of the incident to the Bombay Government, and the Bombay Government’s response, frequently containing extracts of resolutions or official notes relating to the incident. The chief correspondents in the volume are Captain (James) Felix Jones, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Henry Lacon Anderson, Secretary to the Government of Bombay, and various officials of the Persian Gulf Squadron.The cases are numbered as subjects 10 to 19, and are summarised on the cover sheet that precedes each set of correspondence, as follows:10: ‘Illegal intention of an Aboothabee [Abu Dhabi] vessel by the Al Ali chief’ (folios 1D-27);12: ‘A boat belonging to a subject of Congoon [Bandar-e Kangan] chief wrecked in Dec/57 near Somaysmah on Guttur [Qatar] coast, & plundered. The Chief of Bahrain, on Resident's requisition, made over to Resident 1000 M. S. [Muhammad Shah] Rs [rupees] as an indemnity to the sufferers’ (folios 28-32);13: ‘Regarding an Asseloo Ghoncha [boat] plundered off Dihiffar near Makullah [Al-Mukallā] east of Aden’ (folios 33-46);14: ‘No vessel available to recover fines from Aboothabee. Tigrisand Constanceat last afforded’ (folios 47-61);15: ‘Three Nejdees [Najdis] thrown overboard by nakhuda Oobeyah of Debaye [Dubai] & others in his boat. Two drowned, one saved who became informer’ (folios 62-108);16: ‘Alleged outrage on a wrecked vessel by the inhabitants of Bokha [Bukhā]. The Chief of Bokha & his people exonerated by Lieut[enant] Dyer Commanding Tigris’ (folios 109-14);17: ‘Seizure by Sheikh of Mohumrah [Khorramshahr] of a Sharjah vessel by way of retaliation for fraudulent act committed by a native of Sharjah who carried off to Sharjah a vessel & property confided to his charge by the Sheikh of Mohumrah. Mutual restitution effected at last’ (folios 115-27);18: ‘Regarding plunder of the town of Limah by several boats from Ras el Khymah [Ra’s al-Khaymah], killing several men. Inaccuracies of Gulf charts’ (folios 128-41)19: ‘Piratical outrage perpetrated by Raschid i. Dubbanee of Ras el Khymah’ (folios 142-47)Subject 11, which precedes subject 10, has a cover sheet, entitled ‘Piracy on a Hindyan boat by divers from Bahrein [Bahrain]’, but contains no papers.Physical description: Foliation: The main foliation sequence commences at the front cover and terminates at the back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and can be found in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Foliation anomalies: 1, 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D; 23 and 23A; 46 and 46A; 63 and 63A; 141 and 141A.

2. 'Vol 255 Slave Trade'

Description:

Abstract: The volume's correspondence and other papers document British officials' attempts to suppress the slave trade in the Gulf, and their procedures for dealing with liberated slaves. The principal correspondents in the file are the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Captain Felix Jones), H. L. Anderson, Secretary to the Government in Bombay, and representatives of the Persian Gulf Squadron of the Indian Navy, primarily Commodore Griffith Jenkins, Commanding Officer of the Persian Gulf Squadron.A number of subjects comprise the volume, as follows:1. British operations against the slave trade in Bahrain, including the retrieval of two slave girls from the Sheikh of Bahrain, and the recovery of one-hundred dollars from the Sheikh of Bahrain, as compensation for the seizure of two slaves from Shargah by the Sheikh of Al Bidda, whose actions are the responsibility of the Sheikh of Bahrain (folios 4a-5);2. The surrender of four slaves by Sheikh Sultan bin Suggar [Saqr] of Sharjah, a result of the efforts of Lieutenant Robinson and the British Agent at Sharjah, Hajee Yacoob (folios 10-29);3. The lack of success in the suppression of the slave trade during the 1857 season, due to there being no British vessels available to intercept boats returning from Zanzibar and the African coast (folios 33-36);4. Attempts to suppress the slave trade during the 1859 season (folios 40-110). This subject contains extensive correspondence back and forth between the Resident (Jones) and the Senior Naval Officer (Jenkins), which becomes heated as disagreements arise, over resources for the patrol of the Arab coast and the suppression of the slave trade. Commodore Jenkins thought it derogatory for his vessel ( Falkland), displaying his pendant, to be involved in the interception of slave-trading boats (folios 48-49). Jones refers the matter to the Governor in Council, who rules that any notion of slave suppression duties being derogatory is 'mistaken.' Jenkins reports the following year on his attempts to suppress the slave trade from Africa, reporting that his two cruizers liberated a single female slave (folio 59). In a letter to Jenkins, Jones calls the operation 'fruitless' (folio 69), prompting Jenkins to draw Jones' attention to the personal sacrifices made by his crews, including Lieutenant Robinson who is 'seriously ill' as a result of the 'sickly climate' (folio 71-72);5. Expenses related to the disposal of liberated slaves at Bassidore. The British Government retained a slave agent at Bassidore, where liberated slaves were retained prior to their despatch to Bushire. Correspondence in this subject relates to the expenses for the maintenance and passage to Bushire of these liberated slaves (folios 115-144);6. Batta [subsistence allowance] given to a British slave searcher, granted on his proceeding to the Residency (folios 152-55);7. Miscellaneous correspondence relating to the slave trade (folios 159-76).Physical description: Foliation: Foliation starts on the front cover of the volume and continues until the inside back cover, using circled pencil numbers in the top-right corner of each recto. The following foliation anomalies occur: 1a, 30a, 30b, 37a, 37b, 41a, 98a, 150a, 150b, 150c, 156a, 156b. Folio 68 is a fold-out.

3. 'Vol 282 Head IV, Volume 11 (eleven) Bahrein and Wahabee Complications'

Description:

Abstract: Correspondence regarding relations between the people of Bahrein [Bahrain] and the Wahabees [Wahhabis] and the involvement of the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Captain (James) Felix Jones, in affairs.The correspondence consists of letters and reports sent by Captain Jones to the Secretary to Government at Bombay (Henry Lacon Anderson, Alexander Kinloch Forbes) describing the situation in Bahrein in which an atmosphere of anxiety and alarm had arisen over reports that Mahomed ben Abdullah, Chief of Demaum [Dammam] was amassing men and boats for an attack on Bahrein, and detailing the response by Captain Jones to these reports, including the decision to send British vessels of war to help boost morale and assist in the defence of Bahrein; investigations made by these vessels into the forces massing to attack Bahrein; and the seizing of boats and vessels belonging to the Chief of Demaum and his supports. Also included is a copy of the Government resolution permitting Captain Jones to have Mahomed ben Abdullah and his supporters forcibly removed from Demaum.Enclosed with them are copies of correspondence and reports on affairs at Bahrein including accounts of the forces massing at ports including Demaum and Katiff [Al Qaţīf], which were sent to and from the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf by Hajee Jassem [Haji Jasim], British Agent at Bahrain; Shaikh Mahomed ben Khalifah (also written bin Khuleefa) [Muḥammed bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah], Chief of Bahrein; Sheikh Alee bin Khuleefa [‘Alī bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah]; [Sheikh Mahomed ben Abdullah [Muḥammed bin‘Abdullāh], Chief of Demaum; Ameer Fysul ben Torkee [Faisal ibn Turki], Ruler of Nedjd [Najd]; The Senior Naval Officer Commanding the Persian Gulf Squadron (Charles Golding Constable, Charles John Cruttenden) ; Commander Philip William Fendell of HMS Falkland; Commander Richard William Whish of HM Schooner Mahi; and Commander William Balfour of HM Steam Frigate Semiramis.Also included in the file is correspondence with Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson and Charles Alison, Her British Majesty's Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary at the Court of Persia, and Lewis Pelly, Charge d'Affaires at the Court of Persia, regarding Mirza Mehdi, Persian Agent for Foreign Affairs at Bushire, who is sent by the Prince Governor of Farsistan [Fārs] on a special mission to meet Ameer Fysul, Ruler of Nedjd [Najd] to discuss safe passage for Persian Pilgrims to Mecca, which the Political Resident believes is also being used as an opportunity to discuss Bahrein, which the Persians and the Wahabees have both laid claim to. Further correspondence on the matter includes intelligence reports from the British Agent at Bahrein, Hajee Jassem, including the arrival of Turkish emissaries at Bahrein and the decision by the Shaikh of Bahrein to hoist the Persian Flag at his forts.Later correspondence includes letters to and from Richard Rogers, Officiating Political Agent at Basreh [Basra], John McAdam Hyslop, Officiating Political Agent in Turkish Arabia, and Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, HBM's Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire regarding Turkish functionaries who had been sent on a mission from Basreh to Bahrein; and the raising of the Turkish flag at Bahrein. This correspondence also includes letters written in both English and Ottoman Turkish to the Governor-General of Baghdad, and copies of letters in Arabic from the Shaikh of Bahrein to the Pasha of Baghdad.The file concludes with correspondence relating to Mahomed ben Khuleefa's attempts at retaliation, including blockading the Wahabee ports of Demaum and Katiff; and the decision in May 1861 to sign a convention and bond with the British Government:Terms of a friendly convention entered into between Sheikh Mahomed ben Khuleefa, independent ruler of Bahrein on the part of himself and successors, and Captain Felix Jones, Her Majesty's Indian Navy, Political Resident of Her Britanic Majesty in the Gulf of Persia on the part of the British Government, 1 May 1861, in Arabic and English (ff 321-326).Translation of a bond sealed by Sheikh Mahomed ben Khuleefa of Bahrein and entered into by him with Captain Felix Jones, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, 31 May 1861, in Arabic and English (ff 327-328).Physical description: Foliation: The foliation sequence runs across the two volumes, and is therefore split into two ranges ff. 1-182 & ff. 183-341. It commences at the first folio of writing in volume one and terminates at the last folio of writing in volume two. These numbers are written in pencil, and can be found in the top right hand corner of the recto side of each folio. Foliation errors: 1, 1A.

4. Vol 246: Squadron, Persian Gulf

Description:

Abstract: This volume consists almost entirely of letters received by the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Navy from the senior Indian Navy officer in command of the Persian Gulf Squadron (acting or otherwise). Most of the letters are addressed to a named recipient and the bulk of these are addressed to Rear Admiral Sir Henry John Leeke; the remaining letters are addressed to Leeke's successor, George Greville Wellesley. The first correspondent stated as being in command of the Persian Gulf Squadron is Commodore Richard Ethersey; the second correspondent to appear in this role is Acting Commodore John William Young. Ethersey and Young are succeeded in this role by James Rennie, who is credited initially as Acting Commodore and later as Senior Naval Officer in command of the Persian Gulf Squadron. Most of the letters in this volume are from James Rennie.Some of the letters contain enclosures from other correspondents including: Major William Henry Rhodes Green; Gordon Asher, Assistant Surgeon in Medical Charge of the Honourable Company steam frigate, the Feerooz; Commander William Beaumont Selby, Indian Navy, Commander of the Euphrates flotilla.Only one of James Rennie's letters is addressed to a recipient other than the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Navy. The letter in question is addressed to Robert Barclay Chapman, Officiating Under-Secretary to the Government of India.The letters primarily discuss the movements of vessels belonging to the Persian Gulf Squadron. A couple of letters include lists of vessels which have arrived and/or sailed from Bushire, along with details of their cargo. Several of the letters concern the Persian Gulf Squadron's involvement in the Anglo-Persian War and in the Battle of Mahomerah [Khorramshahr, Iran] in particular. Other subjects covered include: matters relating to naval officers, including appointments, examinations, resignations and deaths; the states of repair of some of the Squadron's ships; the discovery of two shoals in the Persian Gulf which do not appear in existing charts; accounts of coal reserves at Bushire, Bassadore [Bāsaʻīdū] and Muscat; the state of the pier at Bassadore.Physical description: Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which is written in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. It begins on the first folio after the front cover, on number 1, and ends on the inside of the back cover, on number 169. This is the sequence which has been used by this catalogue to reference items within the volume.