Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 43 of 1856, dated 10 June 1856. The enclosures are dated 1 May-10 June 1856.The enclosures principally relate to the British blockade of Berbera as reported to the Government of Bombay by Brigadier William Marcus Coghlan, Political Resident in Aden. They specifically cover the following:Rumours that the Turkish [Ottoman] authorities plan to occupy Berbera when the blockade is withdrawn, Coghlan’s view that this could affect trade to Aden and other British places and lead to increased trade in enslaved persons, and Coghlan’s suggestion that the settlement with the Habr-Owel tribe [Habr Awwal] therefore include a clause on the independence of Berbera portProceedings conducted by Lieutenant Robert Lambert Playfair, Assistant Political Resident, Aden, regarding the recent evasion of the blockade of the Berbera coast by the nacoda [nakhuda] of the Aden bugaloo [baghlah, also spelled bugla in this item]
Mahmondich(ff 331-335)Coghlan’s suggestion that in order to end the blockade and avoid British humiliation, modified terms should be offered to the Habr Awal, which would take into account: Coghlan’s views that there is no point demanding the surrender of the murderer of Lieutenant Stroyan (during an attack on Richard Burton’s Somali Expedition) as the possibility of locating him is so remote and that the Habr Awal have been punished enough; that one of the ‘actors in the outrage’ (f 338) is already in British custody; and that the alleged murderer would be punished if he fell into British hands in future.Also included in this item is a letter from Stephen Page, HM Acting Vice-Consul and Officiating Honourable Company’s Agent at Juddah [Jeddah] to the Government of Bombay, reporting: the arrival of the HC [Honourable Company’s] ship
Elphinstone;the tranquility now prevailing at Juddah and Mecca; the continued presence of the insurgent Abu Montallib [‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib bin Ghālib bin Musā‘ad] (former Sharīf of Mecca) at Tayf [Taif] and his desertion by his followers.The principal correspondents are Coghlan, the Government of Bombay and Page.Physical description: 1 item (19 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee [Bombay Secret Letter], No. 3 dated 2 January 1856. The enclosures are dated 10-29 December 1855.Three letters from Brigadier William Marcus Coghlan, Acting Political Resident and Commandant in Aden, to the Secretary to the Government, Bombay, covering the following matters:A general report on the state of affairs in AdenIntelligence from Hodeida [Al Hudaydah] and Mocha describing a serious outbreak of fighting at Mecca, apparently resulting from the proclamation (firman) by the Ottoman Porte [Government of the Ottoman Empire] abolishing slavery at Mecca and Jeddah and the Resident's desire to send a steam vessel to Jeddah to ascertain the seriousness of the situationIntelligence received from the Vice-Consul at Suez and the Consul-General in Egypt, respectively relating to the recent firman of the Porte and the reported insurrection at Mecca, and what specific edicts the Egyptian Government has made with regard to abolishing slavery in its territories.Also included are: two Resolutions of the Board acknowledging Coghlan’s general report and the ‘urgent’ need to despatch a steamer for duty at Aden; and a letter by the Secretary to the Government of India authorising Coghlan to continue the blockade of Berbera until its objectives achieved.Physical description: 1 item (14 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee [Bombay Secret Letter], No. 7 dated 16 January 1856. The enclosures are dated 17 December 1855-14 January 1856.The papers chiefly comprise correspondence between Brigadier William Marcus Coghlan, Acting Political Resident and Commandant, Aden, and the Secretary to Government, Bombay, covering the following matters:Relations with and between the tribes in the vicinity of Aden, including the ‘Foutheli Chief’ [Aḥmad bin Abdullāh al-Faḍlī, also spelled Foudheli in this item]The continued British blockade of Berbera, including the Government of Bombay and Government of India's: scepticism regarding the alleged ‘solemn warning’ (f 50) given by the Elders of the Habur Owel Tribe [Habr Awwal, also spelled Habr Owel and Habr-Awel Tribe in this item] which was apparently disregarded by Lieutenant Richard Francis Burton leading to the ‘disastrous termination of the late Somali Expedition’ (f 54); and criticism of Coghlan for accusing Burton ‘in very positive terms, of culpable carelessness’ (f 55). Coghlan vigorously defends his position particularly referring to the depositions which indicate that warning was indeed given.Also included in this item is a letter from the Secretary to the Government of India to the Secretary to Government, Bombay, questioning the ‘professions to peace’ of the Foutheli Chief, whom they consider endangers the security of the trade of Aden.Physical description: 1 item (12 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee [Bombay Secret Letter], No. 1 dated 1 January 1857. The enclosures are dated 9 November-29 December 1856.The papers relate to the conclusion of a treaty with the Habr Awul tribe [Habr Awwal, also spelled Habr Awel and Habr al Awul in this item] and the removal of the British blockade of Berbera. The blockade had been implemented following an attack by members of the Habr Awul tribe, in April 1855 at the port of Berbera, on Lieutenant Richard Burton’s Somaliland Expedition, during which Lieutenant William Stroyan was murdered and the party’s property ‘plundered’.The papers notably include:A copy of the report to Brigadier William Marcus Coghlan, Political Resident, Aden, by Lieutenant Robert Lambert Playfair, Assistant Political Resident, Aden, describing his journey to Berbera on the HC [Honourable Company] Schooner
Mahi,and negotiation of a treaty of peace with the Habr Awal Elders (ff 7-12)A copy of the ‘Articles of Peace and Friendship concluded between the Habr Awaal tribe of Somalies on the one part and Brigadier William Marcus Coghlan Political Resident at Aden in behalf of the Hon’ble East India Company, on the other’, signed on 7 November 1856 and listing the names of ten members of the tribe who put their marks to the treaty (f 13). This is followed by a copy of the treaty in Arabic (f 14)The Bombay Government Minutes, Resolutions and summary of the events leading up to and resulting from the attack. These documents notably mention: the large sum of compensation originally demanded by Coghlan for Burton’s party (15,000 rupees); the apprehension of an individual allegedly associated with the attack and his imprisonment on board the
Mahi;particular approval of the Bombay Government of the treaty article requiring the Habr Awul to make all efforts to suppress the ‘slave trade’ in their country; and the alleged degree of Burton’s culpability for the attack.Physical description: 1 item (29 folios)
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 99 of 1847, dated 15 November 1847. The enclosures, numbered 3-31, consist of correspondence, and minutes of the Government of Bombay. Enclosure numbers 3-29 are dated 13 May to 13 November 1847.The enclosures concern matters including:The Political Agent at Aden, Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, reporting that the Arab tribes in the immediate neighbourhood of Aden are in a ‘tranquil’ stateHaines receiving an application from the Sultan of Lahedge [Lahej or Lahij], Sultan M’Houssain Fudthel [Muḥsin bin Faḍl al-‘Abdalī], for the restoration of his stipendAn outbreak of smallpox cases amongst the Somali (also spelled Soomallee in this item) community at Aden, and measures taken by the Political Agent at Aden to prevent it spreadingThe departure of the Assistant Political Agent at Aden, Lieutenant Charles John Cruttenden, to Berbera (also spelled Burberra in this item) on political duty, with Haines issuing him the following instructions: to assist in settling the feud between the Somali tribes, helping to ensure that the annual fair at Berbera is held, which is greatly beneficial to Indian and Aden trade; to make enquiries into the state of the country inland, and especially to ascertain whether a regular supply of meat to Aden over the next few years can be counted on; and to provide information on the proceedings of Ismail Effendi [Ismā‘īl Ḥaqqī Pāshā], the Governor of Mussowah [Massawa], who is reported to have laid claim in the name of Mahomet Ali Pasha [Muḥammad ‘Alī Pāshā al-Mas‘ūd bin Āghā] to the sea ports of Tajoura [Tadjoura], Zeyla [Zeila or Saylac] and BerberaThe circumstances surrounding the dismissal of Ibrahim Pittajee [Ibrāhīm Pitājī, also spelled Ibrahim Pettajee, and in various other ways in this item] from his employment as Town Surveyor at Aden by the Executive Engineer at Aden, Captain James KilnerLieutenant Cruttenden’s request for an increase to his pay and allowances as Assistant Political Agent at Aden.The correspondence is mainly between the following: the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, Arthur Malet; the Political Agent at Aden; the Assistant Political Agent at Aden; the Executive Engineer at Aden; Ibrahim Pittajee; Brigadier W Spiller, Commanding at Aden; the Secretary to the Government of India with the Governor-General; the Bombay Medical Board; and the Bombay Military Board.Enclosure Nos. 30-31, listed in the abstract of contents as copies of the
Bombay Times Overland Summaryand the
Bombay Overland Telegraph and Courier, dated 15 November 1847, are not included in this item (they are recorded as missing in a note dated 30 November 1906).Physical description: 1 item (53 folios)