Persian Gulf Affairs
- Holding institution:
- British Library. India Office Records and Private Papers
- Data provider:
- Qatar National Library
- Title:
- Persian Gulf Affairs
- Date:
- 1847/1847
- Description:
- Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 84 of 1847, dated 30 September 1847. The enclosures are dated 9 June-11 September 1847.The primary documents are despatches of Major Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf, to the Chief Secretary to the Government, Bombay, and for the information of the President and Governor in Council, chiefly forwarding copies of reports and letters received, and his correspondence with various officials, notably: Colonel Justin Sheil, HM Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary at the Court of Persia [Iran]; Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, Political Agent, Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq]; and Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Acting Political Agent, Turkish Arabia. The correspondence of the latter two notably include letters addressed to them by Lord Cowley [Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley], HM Minister Plenipotentiary at Constantinople [Istanbul].The despatches cover numerous matters, including the following:1) The apparent designs of the Ottoman Empire to extend its authority and influence over the Island of Bahrein [Bahrain], including: a report from Commodore John Croft Hawkins, on the HC [Honourable Company] Steam Frigate Queen, describing a visit on board the ship by the Sheik of Bahrein [Shaikh Muḥammad bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah, Shaikh of Bahrain] and confirming the non-appearance of either the Turkish vessel or Turkish agent said to have been proceeding towards the island; and the emphatic refusal, by Nejib Pasha, Governor of Bagdad [Muḥammad Najīb Pāshā, Governor of Baghdad], to recognize a letter apparently addressed to the Sheik of Bahrein by the Mootesellim [Mutasallim] of Bussorah [Governor of Basra], inviting the former to put himself under the protection of the Ottoman flag.2) The temporary detention at Shiraz, by an informant of Sheil, of a messenger said to be carrying a letter addressed to the Shah [Muḥammad Shāh Qājār, Shāh of Persia] from an ‘influential Prince of India’ inviting him to ‘invade Hindoostan by the way of Affghanistan [Afghanistan], and assuring him of every support and cooperation’ (f 139), and Sheil’s dismissal of its seriousness.3) British measures in relation to effecting the abolition of the ‘African Slave Trade’, notably:The announcement to the Ottoman Porte that Hennell has obtained the consent of the ‘Independent Maritime Chiefs of the Arabian Coast’ (f 142) to the total abolition of the trade in enslaved persons from Africa (the agreement to come into effect at the end of the next year)Arrangements to be made by the Ottoman authorities regarding registration of crews of all vessels belonging to Bussorah and Koweit [Kuwait]Hennell’s desire, following reports that large numbers of ‘Hubshees or Abyssinian [Ethiopian] slaves’ (f 147) have been imported from the coast of Berbera, to bring the measures agreed with the Ottoman Sultan, Independent Maritime Chiefs of the Arabian Coast and the Imam of Muscat into full effect immediately, and his suggestions to strengthen the British naval presence and powers of inspection in the vicinity of Zanzibar, Berbera and Zelah [Zeila] and in the Gulf, and to make seizures of ‘contraband cargo’ to deter Persians from further trade in enslaved personsThe concerns of Hennell and Kemball regarding amended instructions issued by the Turkish [Ottoman] Government to Nejib Pasha, for the disposal of enslaved persons who are liberated under the recent convention, specifically the option that ‘rescued’ Africans may remain in Ottoman territory if they choose to rather than being conveyed on board a British vessel. Included is a translated copy of the Turkish Government’s instructions to the Governor of Bagdad directing that the ‘liberated... [ones] must be allowed to stay where they please’ (ff 155-156)Hennell’s advice to the senior naval officer at Bushire [Bushehr] to only take measures against a vessel belonging to a subject of the Imam of Muscat, lately arrived with ‘a cargo of 30-40 negro [Black African] and Abyssinian slaves from Muscat for sale’ (f 160), once it has left Bushire Harbour, as it is a foreign (Persian) portHennell’s and Kemball’s desire to ensure the swift implementation of instructions issued by Nejib Pasha to the Mootsellim of Bussorah (ff 204-205) regarding the measures to be taken against Turkish vessels and Turkish merchants involved in the exportation of enslaved persons from Africa, and for the speedy removal of manumitted persons from Bussorah temporarily to Bushire and Bassidore [Basaidu], and subsequently to India.4) Hennell’s mediatory involvement in the affair of the ‘plunder’ in 1846 of the wreck of the large bugla [buggalow] Akab, belonging to the Sheik of Kishm [Shaik of Qeshm], near Bushire Harbour, including: the complaint by the Sheik that the boatmen of Bushire plundered the boat’s rigging and stores; and the return in 1847 of plundered articles, via Sheik Nassir of Bushire [Shaikh Nāṣir of Bushehr], including a list of plundered articles (f 171) and a list of items handed in to Sheik Nassir by each Nakoda [Nakhuda, a boat captain or master] (f 175).5) Rumours that the officers of a Turkish vessel visiting ports of the Arabian coast are claiming they are going to replace British with Turkish influence in the Gulf, notably: the alarm of Shaik Muctoom (Debay) [Maktūm bin Butti bin Suhail, of Dubai]; the apparent exultation of Sultan ben Sugger (chief of the Joasmee [al-Qāsimī] tribe) [Shaikh Sulṭān I bin Ṣaqr al-Qāsimī, Ruler of Sharjah and Ra’s al-Khaymah, al-Jazirah al-Hamra and Ar Rams, variously]; the general concern of the independent Arab rulers on the coast of the Gulf; and Hennell’s dismissal of the story, insisting that the Turkish functionaries are only protecting their trade and preventing the importation of enslaved persons.Physical description: 1 item (75 folios)
- Language:
- English
- Type:
- Archival item
- Type (Narrower):
- Other Texts
- Type (Broader):
- Text
- Subject:
- Conventions
Abolition of slavery
Slave trade
Government of the Ottoman Empire
King of Bahrain - Geographic region:
- Bussorah
Persian Gulf
Bahrein - Rights:
- غير معروف
- Identifier:
- 81055/vdc_100153828290.0x000003_ar
81055/vdc_100153828290.0x000003_en
IOR/L/PS/5/451, ff 133-207
IOR/L/PS/5/451, ff 133-207