Abstract: This item consists of copies of correspondence, consultations, and minutes cited in, or enclosed with, political letters from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai]. The main correspondents are: the Government of Bombay; Major Samuel Hennell, British Resident in the Persian Gulf; Haji Jassim [Ḥājī Jāsim], British Agent at Bahrain; and Moollah Houssein [Mullā Ḥusayn], British Agent at Sharjah. It is the second in a series of twenty items on the Persian Gulf (the others are IOR/F/4/2180/106055, IOR/F/4/2180/106057, IOR/F/4/2180/106058, IOR/F/4/2180/106059, IOR/F/4/2180/106060, IOR/F/4/2181/106061, IOR/F/4/2181/106062, IOR/F/4/2181/106063, IOR/F/4/2181/106064, IOR/F/4/2181/106065, IOR/F/4/2181/106066, IOR/F/4/2181/106067, IOR/F/4/2181/106068, IOR/F/4/2181/106069, IOR/F/4/2181/106070, IOR/F/4/2181/106071, IOR/F/4/2181/106072, IOR/F/4/2181/106073, and IOR/F/4/2181/106074).The item concerns:The hostilities between the Wahabee [Wahhābi] Governor of Kateef [Qatif], Saad bin Abdullah Moodawee [‘Abdullāh bin Sa‘d al-Mudāwī], and the Sheik of Bahrein [Shaikh Muḥammed bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah, Shaikh of Bahrain], including a brief description of two battles which took place near Tirhoot [Tarout], and a description of the blockade of Kateef enforced by the Sheik of Bahrein and Esa bin Tareef [Shaikh ‘Īsá bin Ḥamad bin Ṭarīf Āl Bin ‘Alī al-‘Utbī]Entry of Samaad Aga [Ṣamad Āghā] into Bushire [Bushehr], and relations between Sheik Nasir, Governor of Bushire [Shaikh Nāṣir II Āl Mazkūr] and the Governor of Fars [Muḥammad Ḥusayn Khān Muqaddam Marāgha'i]A dispute over a debtor from Debaye [Dubai] who was planning to take refuge at Shargah [Sharjah]Preparations for hostilities by the shaikhs of Aboothabee [Sa‘īd bin Ṭaḥnūn Āl Nahyān, Shaikh of Abu Dhabi] and Ras el Khyme [Shaikh Sulṭān I bin Ṣaqr al-Qāsimī, Shaikh of Ra’s al-Khaymah] against Debaye and Amulgavine [Umm al-Qaywayn]Naval assistance given by Commodore Hawkins to the Governor of Fars to exact compensation from the chiefs of Asseloo [Bandar-e Asaluyeh], Nukheeloo [Bandar-e Nakhilu], and Cheroo [Bandar-e Chiru’iyeh] for their subjects’ actions in multiple ‘piracies’.The item contains a contents page, and the title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Draft 282/47, P.C. [Previous Communication] 5573, Coll[ection]: 10, Collection No 2 of No 140’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with f 887, and terminates at f 927, 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: The volume’s correspondence covers three subjects, as follows:Affairs at Bahrain (folios 2-165): the hostilities between Shaikh Muḥammad bin Khalīfah, the Ruler of Bahrain, and Shaikh Muḥammad’s estranged relatives based at Dammām, in cohort with Fayṣal ibn Turki’s forces at Al-Qaṭīf; naval operations against the fugitive Humud bin Mujdell off the coast of Al-Qaṭīf;Arab Coast and Muscat (folios 166-298): including sporadic incidents of maritime hostility on the Arab coast; rumours of a tax on British subjects at Muscat; the shipwreck and plunder of a ship carrying coal off the coast at Ra’s al Ḥadd; the preparation of maps of the Arab coast with Arabic place names; reports on the people and places of the Persian Gulf, and in particular the Arab coast; allocation of the Persian Gulf squadron’s naval resources.Slave Trade (folios 299-388): the import of slaves into the ports of the Persian coast, in particular Charrack [Bandar-e Chārak], Kelat and Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh]; fines levied against the shaikhs of the ports of the Persian coast; measures to suppress the slave trade between Zanzibar and the Gulf.Physical description: Foliation: The letterbook, which is split into two volumes, is foliated from the first subject cover sheet to the last letter, using circle numbers in the top-right corner of each recto. There is an earlier pagination system, using numbers written in ink, running through both volumes. The first volume of the letterbook ends on folio 204. The second volume of the letterbook begins on folio 205. The front cover, front three flyleaves, rear flyleaf and inside back cover of the first volume of the letterbook are unfoliated. The front cover, front flyleaf, rear flyleaf and inside back cover of the second volume are unfoliated. The following foliation anomalies occur: 1A, 1B, 173A, 173B, no 173.
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.
Abstract: Covers El Katiff [Al Qatif, Saudi Arabia], the surrounding Arabian Peninsula coastline and waters of the Persian Gulf to a radius of up to fifteen miles. Portrays hydrology, including depths by soundings, sands and rocks, relief by hachures, vegetation, settlements, forts and place names, and includes topographical and hydrographic notes.Surveyed by Lieutenants George Barnes Brucks and William Eales Rogers, 1825. Engraved by Bateman and Son. Published by James Horsburgh, Hydrographer to the Honourable East India Company.Physical description: Materials: Printed on paperDimensions: 346 x 270mm, on sheet 501 x 321mm
Abstract: Imprint:Published by James Horsburgh, Hydrographer to the East India Company.Distinctive Features:Relief shown by hachures. Depth shown by soundings.Nautical chart of the western shores of the Persian Gulf compiled from the surveys carried out by the Bombay Marine’s officers between 1820 and 1829, showing the coast around Katiff [Al Qatif] with Ras Tannora [Ras Tanura] and Island of Tirhoot [Tarut Island].Includes note on Ras Tannora with remarks on the anchorage and coordinates.Physical description: Dimensions:350 x 273 mm, on sheet 500 x 346 mm
Abstract: Part 1 of a Persian Gulf gazetteer of historical and political materials, a précis of Turkish expansion on the Arab littoral of the Persian Gulf, and Hasa [Al-Hasa] and Katif [Al-Qaṭīf] affairs. The précis was prepared by Jerome Antony Saldanha, whose preface (under which his surname is erroneously spelt Saldana) is dated 25 November 1904, and published by the Government of India Foreign Deptartment, Simla, India.The preface is an historical outline of the struggle for political dominance in the Persian Gulf, including Portuguese, British, Wahabi [Wahhābī] and Turkish expansion. The chapters (titles shown in italics) deal with the subject in an roughly chronological fashion:1.
Early history of Hasa and Katif, including: references to the area in Arabic writing; the first known Arab colonists; and early references to the area in British (East India Company) records;2.
Conquest of Hasa by the Wahabis and Turkish expeditions into Nejd[Najd]
and Hasa, and their results 1800-1865, including: conquest of the area by the Wahabis; Turkish expeditions to the area, 1811-19 and 1836-40; Amir Feysal’s [Fayṣal ibn Turki Āl Sa‘ūd] nominal dependence on Turkey, 1855; troubles in Katif, 1859-62; Turkish protest against British proceedings at Damaum [Dammām], 1862; the British war against Amir Feysal, 1865-66; obsolete title of award of Arabia by an Abbasid caliph to the Ottoman Porte; Ottoman ambitions in Arabia (Holy Ottoman Empire);3.
Turkish expedition to Nejd and Hasa, 1871-72, including: origins of the expedition; intelligence from the Political Resident, Colonel Lewis Pelly; British policy in the Persian Gulf, and effects of the Turkish expedition on that policy; Turkish assurances to Britain, communicated to Bahrain (spelt Bahrein throughout) by Pelly; Turkish promise of non-interference with the rulers of the Trucial coast; narrative of the events leading up to and including the landing of the expeditionary force in Nejd; Turkish designs on Katar [Qatar], and their hoisting of the Turkish flag at Budaa [Al-Bidda]; Turkish naval activity in the Gulf, and Britain’s naval response; murder of a suspected Turkish messenger at Bahrain; reasons for the non-interference of the British Government in operations on land; further narrative of the expedition and affairs in Nejd; evidence of Turkish designs on Bahrain; Turkish assurances; relations between Turkey and Abuthabi [Abu Dhabi]; close of the Turkish expedition;4.
Internal affairs of Hasa and Katif, 1872-1904, including: administration and internal organisation; and a list of governors at Hasa, including events of significance occurring during their rule;5.
Survey of the Katif coast, 1873-74, including: British intentions and permission gained from the Ottoman Porte; complaints of British survey officers landing on the Nejd coast; written permission to land to undertake surveying.6.
Increase of Turkish military and naval forces in the Persian Gulf, and Turkish policy, including: a memorandum by Captain T Doughty on the state of affairs in the Persian Gulf;7.
(1)Trade Relations of Hindu and other traders of Bahrain with Katif, and their disabilities, and
(2) Proposal appointment of a consular officer at Katif;8.
Piracies, including: piracies in Katif and Bahrain waters, 1878; ; revolt in Hasa and piracies in Katif and Bahrain waters, 1878-81; Turkish responsibilities and jurisdiction for the purpose of suppressing piracies in Katif waters, 1878-81; piracies in Katif and Bahrain waters in 1883; piracies in Katif and Bahrain waters in 1886; piracies in 1887-88; piracies in 1891-92; piracies in 1899-1900; piracies in 1902 and the proposal of the Chief of Bahrain to maintain an armed dhow for the pursuit of pirates, 1902-03;9.
Murder of Sheikh Selman-bin-Diaij-el-Khalifa[Shaikh Salman bin Diaj Āl Khalīfah]
, a cousin of the Chief of Bahrain and his party about 40 miles south of Katif. Question of satisfaction and compensation for it;10.
Turkish designs on Oman and the rest of the East Arabian Littoral, 1888-1899;11.
Summary of British declarations against Turkish encroachments in the Persian Gulf and of the Porte’s assurances, 1871-1904.The cover of volume, on which the title is printed, also has a number of different pencil and pen annotations, marking former external references or numbering systems (‘P.2557/29’, ‘No.5’, ‘C238’).Physical description: Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right hand corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: The volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence, with page numbers located top and centre of each page.
Abstract: The volume is
Persian Gulf Gazetteer, Part I Historical and Political Materials, Precis of Turkish Expansion on the Arab Littoral of the Persian Gulf and Hasa and Katif Affairs(Simla: G C Press, 1904).The volume charts the history and internal affairs of Hasa and Katif [al-Qaṭīf] from early times up to the present, and has sections dedicated to a survey of the Katif coast, Turkish policy, trade, piracy, and Turkish designs on Oman.Physical description: Pagination: the volume contains an original pagination sequence, which commences at 1 on the title page, and terminates at 146 on the last page before the back cover. These numbers are printed, with additions and corrections in pencil, and can be found in the top centre of each page. Pagination anomalies: pp. 1, 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 1G, 1H.
Abstract: The file comprises letters and their enclosures, sent under the heading of ‘Secret Department’, to the Resident in the Persian Gulf (Captain Samuel Hennell). The letters are sent by LR Reid, Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay.The file’s contents include correspondence relating to:the Imam of Muscat’s desire to return the yacht
Prince Regent, given to him by King William the Fourth, and arrangements for its repairs at Bombay (folios 2-13, 76-77);praise for and costs associated with Captain Hamerton’s journey to Brymee [Al Buraymī] (folio 14);the ratification of the Convention of Commerce agreed between the British Government and the Imam of Muscat at Zanzibar on 31 May 1839 (folios 14-39), including a copy of a letter (in English and Arabic) from Lord Palmerston (Henry John Temple) to Sultan Said Syeed bin Sultan [Sa‘id bin Sulṭān] the Imam of Muscat, dated 2 April 1840 (folios 18-22);Egyptian designs on Arabia and Muscat, with details of a discussion between Colonel Hodges, Her Majesty’s Consul in Alexandria, and Mahomed Alli Pasha [Muḥammad ‘Alī Bāshā] (folios 40-43, 52-55);Commander Brucks’s orders for the prohibition of gun salutes in the Gulf, and regulations for the use of gun salutes (folios 44-51);disapproval of the East India Company Board of Directors of Hennell’s pledge to the Sultan of Muscat to protect his territory from invasion (folios 56-57);the granting of permission by Government for the British Agent at Muscat ‘to remove at the unhealthy season from that place’ (folios 61-62);British response to the blockade at Kateef [Al-Qaṭīf], Sohat [Sayhat] and Ajeer (folios 63, 78);British policy to not interfere in differences between the Maritime Arab Chiefs (folios 64-66);a letter sent by Lord Palmerston to the Imam of Muscat, dated 4 October 1840, on French designs on Oman (folios 67-68);the Imam of Muscat’s proposed trip to Zanzibar (folios 69-72);the Imam of Muscat’s designs on Bahrain (folios 73-75).Physical description: Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. It begins on the front cover, on number 1, and ends on the last folio before the back cover, on number 80. Foliation anomalies: no ff 21-22.Pagination: There is an incomplete pagination sequence, which is written in ink, in the top-right corners of the rectos and in the top-left corners of the versos.
Abstract: Memorandum providing an overview of the considerations of British representation in El Hasa [Al Hasa] and Qatif from 1904, with suggestions put forward by the Government of India and Sir Lionel Haworth, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf. It includes the reasons behind the need for representation, and the implications of relations with Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd].Written by John Gilbert Laithwaite of the India Office.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences and terminates at f 64, as it is part of a larger physical volume; this number is written in pencil, and is located in the top right corner of the recto side of the folio.
Abstract: The file contains an exchange of confidential correspondence, following a formal protest made by Ibn Sa’ud (King Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia) to the Minister at the British Legation in Jeddah, about publication of an article in the newspaper
Al Bahrainon 26 November 1942.The correspondence is between His Britannic Majesty’s Minister, Jeddah; Edward Birkbeck Wakefield and Major Tom Hickinbotham (Political Agents, Bahrain); Bertram Thomas (Public Relations Officer in the Persian Gulf, Public Relations office, Bahrain); Charles Geoffrey Prior (Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire); Hugh Weightman (Joint Secretary to the Government of India, External Affairs Department, New Delhi) and Charles Dalrymple Belgrave (Adviser to the Bahrain Government, Bahrain).The correspondence discusses the reaction of Ibn Sa’ud to the newspaper article, which urged the establishment of a Shia religious school in Qatif, Saudi Arabia. The file includes an English translation of the newspaper article entitled ‘An appeal to found an institute at Qatif’. The article was signed by ‘Ali al Shaikh Mansur al Marhoon al Qatifi’ (Sheikh Mansur al Marhoon), but was later found to have been written by his son, Ali Bin Mansur.The file cover appears to have been re-used. An earlier file title ‘Facilities – Port of Bahrain’ is visible and has been crossed out.Physical description: Foliation: numbered 1 to 21 in pencil in the top right hand corner and encircled. The numbering starts at the front of the file, on the file cover (f.1) and ends on the inside cover at the back of the file (f.21).
Abstract: The volume contains telegrams, letters, and reports relating to affairs between Najd, Kuwait, and Iraq. Most of the correspondence is between Lionel Haworth, the Political Resident in Bushire, Henry Dobbs, the High Commissioner in Baghdad, Ibn Sa'ud, the King of the Hejaz and Najd, Leo Amery, the Secretary of State for the Colonies in London, James More, the Political Agent in Kuwait, Cyril Barrett, the Political Agent in Bahrain, Edward Ellington, the Air Officer Commanding in Iraq, and the Government of India.The majority of the volume covers the British response to the crisis following the Ikhwan rebellion and the threat of attack on Kuwaiti and Iraqi territory. The volume contains telegrams, letters, and reports relating to affairs between Najd, Kuwait, and Iraq. The documents reflect the differences in opinion and policy between the High Commissioner in Baghdad, the Colonial Office, the Political Residency in Bushire, and the Government of India; Iraq taking a more warlike approach towards Ibn Sa'ud, while the Political Resident is more cautious and conciliatory.Matters covered by the documents include:the military response to the crisis, including the sending of ships HMS
Emerald,
Crocus, and
Lupinto Kuwait, and air operations in Iraq, Kuwait, and Najd, including a bombing raid on Safah;Ibn Sa'ud's complaints about bombing raids on his territory as breaches of the treaties and agreements the British are bound by;the posting of an Intelligence Officer in Kuwait;the protection of Americans and other Europeans in the area;King Faisal of Iraq's proposal of counter raids against the Ikhwan;the expulsion of Hindu merchants from Qatif and the possible religious reasons for it.Physical description: Foliation: the sequence begins on the first folio and ends on the inside back cover. The numbers are written in pencil, circled, and found in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. There are the following irregularities: 1A and 1B; 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, and 2E.
Abstract: Reports, submitted by the Political Agent (Captain Charles Geoffrey Prior) or the Indian Assistant at the Political Agency in the Political Agent’s absence, detailing proceedings at Bahrain and elsewhere. The reports are organised under various headings, as follows:arrivals and departures of ships at Bahrain (with details of cargoes and their origins), and of the arrivals and departures of flying boats;the movements of British Government representatives (the Political Agent, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf);news from elsewhere in the region (Nejd, including updates of Ibn Saud’s [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] movements; Qatar, including Shaikh Abdullah’s [‘Abdullāh bin Jāsim Āl Thānī] actions and movements; and events at Qatif [Al-Qaṭīf]);news in Bahrain, including the activities of members of the Āl Khalīfah ruling family, economic news, including reports of bankruptcies, and updates on the year’s poor pearling season, including diminished pearl yields, and pearl trading activity;meteorological reports, including details of the minimum and maximum temperatures for each fortnight, and rainfall figures;miscellaneous news, including the visits of foreigners to Bahrain, activities of the American Mission’s representatives, a visit by geologists from Eastern General & Syndicate Limited.Specific events of note include:disturbances at two Sunni schools in Bahrain, in which schoolmasters went on strike. Contributing causes to the disaffection, suggested by the Political Agent, include staff salaries, the school inspector’s preference for a schooling system ‘based on Beirut’, the rumoured curtailment of religious teaching, and an expansion of English teaching to the detriment of Arabic (ff 10-12);the opening by Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah of a new electric power station in Bahrain (f 24).Physical description: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 63; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 1-19; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.