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457. 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 22 of 1847, dated 16 February 1847. The enclosures are dated 2-4 February 1847.The item comprises two reports by Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Political Agent at Aden, to the Secretary to the Government, Bombay, on the state of affairs in Aden. The reports cover the following matters:The arrival of a French Corvette, the Voltigeurbark, on 1 February, bringing despatches for France from Bourbon [Réunion island] ‘in charge of a Capitaine de Vasseau “Boudet” who will proceed by the next mail steamer’, and on his departure the apparent intention of the Voltigeurto sail to Pondichery [Puducherry], including details of the vessel's tonnage and guns, and the reported total number of French vessels in the Indian OceanThe peaceful state of affairs between the local tribes and the consequent ‘unmolested’ inland trade with Aden and well supplied marketsReported peace between Sheik Ali Homeida [Shaikh ‘Alī Ḥumaydah] and the Sherriff [Sharif] of Hodeida [Al Hudaydah] and MochaReports, about which Haines is sceptical, that the Imam of Sana [Sana‘a] has retired to Taez [Taiz]Reports that the ‘Chief’ of Lahidge [Lahej] has not fully recovered from his illness and that government is in the hands of his eldest sonLosses in the 2nd European Regiment due to ‘old fever and liver cases’ (f 464).Physical description: 1 item (6 folios)
458. 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 6 of 1847, dated 15 January 1847. The enclosures are dated 26 September 1846-8 January 1847.The item chiefly comprises communications between Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Political Agent at Aden; the Secretary to the Government, Bombay; and the Under-Secretary to the Government of India. Also included is a minute of the President and Governor and the members in Council, Bombay, and a letter to the Government of Bombay from Charles Augustus Murray, HM Consul-General in Egypt.The papers cover the following matters:Haines’s report on Aden and the vicinity including: relations between the Abdali [‘Abdalī] and Foutheli [Faḍlī] chiefs; a battle between Sheriff Hussain ibn Ali Hyder [Sharif Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī Ḥaydar] and Sheik Ali Homeidah [Shaikh ‘Alī Ḥumaydah]; the Imam of Sana [Sana‘a], his force of 3000 men at Taez [Taiz] and his possible intentions with respect to either Hodeida [Al Hudaydah] or the treasury of the Sultan of Lahidge [Lahej]; and the reduction of scurvy and the number of sick in the 2nd European RegimentSubmission, to the authorities in India, of a bill for the expenses incurred on account of the recent visit to Aden of the ‘Princes of Johanna [Anjouan] with their followers’ (f 72) (including the approval of the Civil Auditor, Bombay, f 71), authorisation to Haines to furnish them with a passage to their country should they visit again, and report of their departureGuidance to be followed with regard to passengers by steamers to Suez landing at Aden during the prevalence of cholera or any other unusual epidemic there.The last two enclosures, the Bombay Timessummary of Intelligence and Bombay Overland Telegraph and Courier, are noted as ‘Missing 29.10.1906’.Physical description: 1 item (19 folios)
459. Aden Affairs
- Description:
- Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 61 of 1847, dated 19 June 1847. The enclosures are dated 29 May-12 June 1847, however the last two enclosures are noted as ‘Missing 30.10.1906’.The primary document is a letter from Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Captain in the Indian Navy and Political Agent at Aden, to Arthur Malet, Secretary to the Government, Bombay, reporting on the state of affairs in Aden, notably that the tribes in the vicinity are ‘at peace’ and the country is ‘tranquil’; and that the towns of Suakin and Mussowah [Massawa] are under the government of the Viceroy of Egypt who is paying the Ottoman Porte 20,000 German Crowns annually for them.Physical description: There is an abstract of contents of the despatch, numbered 1-6, on folio 220. These numbers are repeated for reference on the verso of the last folio of each enclosure. There is a note on the abstract stating that enclosures 5 and 6, extracts of Bombay intelligence and newspapers, are ‘Missing 30.10.1906’.
460. Aden Affairs
- 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 102 of 1847, dated 15 December 1847. The enclosures are numbered 3-9 and are dated 29 November to 15 December 1847.Enclosure Nos. 3-4 consist of two letters from the Political Agent at Aden, Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, Arthur Malet, reporting news from Aden, including:The neighbourhood of Aden remaining ‘tranquil’, due to Sultan Hamed ibn Abdulla Foutheli [Aḥmad bin Abdullāh al-Faḍlī] declining to ratify an agreement made between his brother and Hydra ibn Maidee [Shaikh Ḥaydarah bin Mahdī] of Bir Ahmed [Bi’r Aḥmad] for assistance in plundering the Abdali kafilas [caravans] entering AdenSheil writing to Hydra ibn Maidee and cautioning him against any such ‘outrage and breach of faith’ which would interfere with the commerce of AdenNo new cases of smallpox occurring since Haines’s last letterThe cool weather during the month of NovemberThe death Sultan M Houssain Fudthel [Muḥsin bin Faḍl al-'Abdalī] on 29 November.Enclosure No. 4 includes enclosed copies of translated letters from Ahmed M’Houssain Fudthel [Aḥmad bin Muḥsin al-‘Abdalī] and his brothers, and from their father Sultan M’Houssain Fudthel to Haines, regarding the Sultan delegating to his sons responsibility for securing the roads, and the sons requesting the restoration of the stipend formerly paid to their father. This enclosure also includes a letter in reply from Haines to Sultan Ahmed Fudthel (following the death of his father), expressing his pleasure at the brothers commencing to secure the roads, stating that he has written to the Government of Bombay regarding the stipend, and offering his condolences on the death of Sultan M’Houssain Fudthel.Enclosures 5-6 consist of a minute of the Government of Bombay and a letter from Malet to Haines, regarding the approval of the Government of Bombay of Haines’s actions following the death of the late Sultan of Lahedge, requesting Haines to express the regret of Government to the family of the deceased, and informing Haines that the question of the restoration of the pension of the Sultan of Lahedge has been referred to the Governor-General, but he has not yet replied.Enclosure No. 7 is a letter from Malet to the Secretary to the Government of India with the Governor-General, Henry Miers Elliot, forwarding copies of the correspondence with Haines relating to the death of the Sultan of Lahedge.Numbers 8-9, listed in the abstract of contents as copies of the Bombay Overland Timesand the Bombay Overland Telegraph and Courier, dated 15 December 1847, are not included in this item (a note dated 30 October 1906 states that they are missing).Physical description: 1 item (13 folios)
461. Aden Affairs
- Description:
- Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 31 of 1850, dated 25 May 1850. Enclosure Nos. 3-29, dated 27 December 1849 to 24 May 1850, consist of correspondence, and minutes of the Government of Bombay.The enclosures cover matters including:The Political Agent at Aden, Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, reporting that the ‘tranquillity’ of the neighbourhood of Aden had been threatened by a serious quarrel between the Sultan of Lahedge [Lahej or Lahij, also spelled Lahidge in this item], Sultan Ali M’Houssain [‘Alī I bin Muḥsin al-‘Abdalī], and his brother Abdullah, but that it has been settledHaines requesting the sanction of the Government of Bombay for a bill for 156 Rupees one Anna and ten Pies for the pay of an Interpreter employed at the request of the Senior Naval Officer at Aden, Captain John Parke Sanders, commanding the Honourable Company’s sloop of war Elphinstone, to accompany him to Judda [Jeddah], Hodeida [Al Hudaydah] and MochaHaines reporting the return to Aden from Mussowah [Massawa, also spelled Mussowa in this item] of the Honourable Company’s schooner Constance; his immediately sending to Egypt and England the despatches of HM Consul for Abyssinia [the Ethiopian Empire] at Mussowah, Walter Plowden; and Haines stating that he intends to send the vessel back to Mussowah for the protection of British interests thereThe Governor of Bombay in Council confirming that as the ‘Arab Contractor’ Ali Boo Bucker [Alī Abū Bakr, also spelled Ali Boo Bukur in this item] is willing to carry out repairs to the bridge over the Khore Muksa [Khawr Maksar] creek at Aden at his own expense, the superintendence of the Executive Engineer may be dispensed with, and it is not necessary to erect another bridge while that one lasts. The correspondence on this subject includes a letter from the Executive Engineer at Aden to the Commanding Engineer at Aden, with an enclosed ‘PLAN ELEVATION & SECTION of the Old Arab Bridge across the “Khore Maksa”’ (folio 54)Haines submitting an audit to the Government of Bombay on the stipends paid by him in German Crowns to the Sultan of Lahidge and other ‘Arab Chieftains’, and questions raised about whether these stipends should be paid in Company’s Rupees or German Crowns in future, and the rate of exchange of Rupees to German Crowns which should be used.The correspondence (including enclosed correspondence) is between the following: the Government of Bombay; the Political Agent at Aden; the Civil Auditor, Bombay, William Simson; the Military Board, Bombay; the Secretary to the Government of India with the Governor-General; Lieutenant G N Adams commanding the Honourable Company’s schooner Constance; HM Consul for Abyssinia; the Executive Engineer at Aden, Captain William Swainson Suart; the Commanding Engineer at Aden; and the Senior Naval Officer at Aden.Enclosure Nos. 30-31, listed in the abstract of contents as copies of the Bombay Overland Timesand the Bombay Overland Telegraph and Courierdated 25 May 1850, are recorded as missing in a note dated 31 October 1906.Physical description: 1 item (53 folios)
462. Aden Affairs
- Description:
- Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 48 of 1850, dated 17 September 1850. The enclosures are numbered 3-8 and are dated 27 August-10 September 1850. A note in red ink, dated 1 November 1906, states that enclosures numbered 7-8 detailed in this abstract are missing.The enclosures contain correspondence from the Political Agent at Aden (Stafford Bettesworth Haines), to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay and replies to these letters from the Secret Committee concerning affairs in Aden and its vicinity including tribal disputes.Physical description: 1 item (7 folios)
463. Aden Affairs
- Description:
- Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 42 of 1850, dated 5 August 1850. The enclosures are numbered 3-4 and are dated 16-27 July 1850.They consist of correspondence relating to Aden affairs including: the arrival of the new French Consul in Judda [Jeddah].Correspondents include the Political Agent, Aden (Stafford Bettesworth Haines).Physical description: 1 item (6 folios)
464. Aden Affairs
- Description:
- Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 123 of 1846, dated 15 October 1846. The enclosures are numbered 3-20.Enclosure Nos. 3-16 and 18 are dated 21 September to 10 October 1846, and consist of correspondence, and minutes and resolutions of the Government of Bombay, relating to affairs at Aden and within its vicinity, mostly in relation to a recent attempted attack on Aden by a body of ‘Arabs’ under ‘the fanatic’ Syed Ismael [Sayyid Ismā‘īl, also spelled Sayud Ismail in this item].The enclosures cover matters including:The Political Agent at Aden, Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, reporting on when the roads into Aden have been ‘unmolested’ and supplies have entered Aden market, and when this has been prevented, such as: on 19 September 1846, when he states a party of the Foutheli [al-Faḍlī] tribe, under the direction of their ‘Chief’, Ahmed [Sulṭān Aḥmad bin ‘Abdullāh al-Faḍlī], and Sayud Ismail, attacked and plundered the kafila [caravan] from Lahidge [Lahij or Lahej] and the adjacent villages, with the roads being closed from 19 to 24 September, and on 28 September when there was another attack on a kafila by fifteen mounted men of the Foutheli tribeHaines reporting that Sayud Ismail still remains a guest of the Foutheli Chief; Haines’s prediction that the ‘almost daily murders’ on the roads will cause ‘ill feeling and a blood feud between tribes’; and his stated doubts that Sayud Ismail will receive reinforcements from northwardsAn increase in scurvy among the soldiers of the 47th Madras [Chennai] Native Infantry at Aden, as well as among the labourers and convicts, reported by HainesThe Government of Bombay instructing Haines to report on whether he can suggest any means by which the Foutheli Chief could ‘without any inordinate risk, be made to feel the power of the British Government’ (folio 340r), as in their view it is mainly due to his influence that that the peace of Aden continues to be disturbedThe Adjutant General of the Army, Lieutenant-Colonel C Hagart, forwarding a letter from the officer commanding the troops at Aden, Lieutenant-Colonel H R Milner, reporting: that on 28 September a force of ‘Arabs’ numbering from 200 to 250 were in front of the Turkish Wall advancing, it was assumed, for the purpose of attacking Aden, however when they came within 400 yards of the Right Field Work the guns of the Fort opened fire, resulting in several of the Arabs being killed and wounded; that he was subsequently informed by the Political Agent at Aden that the force had no intention of attacking Aden; Milner’s opinion that the force which had originally gathered for attacking Aden has almost entirely disappeared from the neighbourhood and there is no fear of Aden being attacked; and that supplies from the interior continue to come into Aden very irregularly and high prices are demanded for themThe Superintendent of the Indian Navy, Sir Robert Oliver, stating in response to the Government of Bombay’s enquiry about whether a small iron steam vessel could be appropriated for service at Aden, that the only vessel available for this purpose is the Medusa, but that vessel is undergoing serious repairs and he does not expect it to be ready for two months or longer, and that there would also be great difficulty in this vessel returning from Aden, due to its limited capacity for storing coal, its ‘imperfect’ sailing qualities, and it being unsafe for the weather conditions of South West MonsoonThe Government of India forwarding to the Government of Bombay a copy of a memorandum by the Governor-General, Viscount Hardinge, containing his remarks and instructions regarding the state of affairs at Aden and within its vicinityThe Government of Bombay sending the Political Agent at Aden extracts of the Governor-General’s memorandum containing remarks on the caution which should be observed whenever the state of affairs of Aden may induce the Government of Bombay to authorise an advance into the interior in order to dislodge an ‘enemy’ who may have cut off supplies to Aden, and requesting him to state whether he has adopted any measures to make sure that every head of a family in the town has a store of provisions, and if not, to state what measures he proposes to ensure thisThe Government of Bombay informing the Government of India, in response to the Governor-General’s memorandum, that: as the force which gathered before Aden under Syud Ismail had dispersed, and the relief of the troops at Aden has already been ordered as a matter of routine, the Governor-in-Council has resolved not to act on the portions of the Governor-General’s memorandum which sanction measures contingent on different circumstances, but that the Government of Bombay may possibly be induced to act on the discretionary authority granted by the Governor-General, dependent on the information received in the next mail from Aden; and that the Government of Bombay has requested full information from the Home authorities on arrangements made at Gibraltar which may be applicable to the situation at AdenThe Government of Bombay resolving that instructions should be issued for carrying into effect the Governor-General’s orders for the periodical issue of salted meat to the European troops at Aden.The main correspondents are the following: the Secretary to the Government of Bombay, Arthur Malet; the Political Agent at Aden; the Secretary to the Government of India with the Governor-General, Frederick Currie; the Adjutant General of the Army; the officer commanding the troops at Aden; and the Superintendent of the Indian Navy.Enclosure No. 17, stated in the abstract to contents to be a supplement to the Bombay Government Gazetteof 6 October 1846, publishing for general information extracts of a letter from the officer commanding the troops at Aden, is not included in this item.Enclosure Nos. 19 and 20, listed in the abstract of contents respectively as copies of the Bombay Timessummary of intelligence and the Bombay Overland Courierof 15 October 1846, are recorded as missing in a note dated 29 October 1906.Physical description: 1 item (28 folios)
465. Aden Affairs
- Description:
- Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 130 of 1846, dated 2 November 1846. The enclosures, numbered 3-17 and dated 7 October to 2 November 1846, relate to affairs at Aden and within its vicinity.The enclosures consist of correspondence, and minutes of the Government of Bombay, covering matters including:The Political Agent at Aden, Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, reporting that the blockade of Shugra [Shuqra] and the bay around Gibul Hassan [Jabal Hassan?] has been ‘manifestly successful’, dissuading those ‘Chieftains’ who intended to unite their tribes at Sheik Othman [Ash Shaikh Outhman] from doing so, and leading Sultan Hamed Foutheli [Sulṭān Aḥmad bin ‘Abdullāh al-Faḍlī] to retire to Shugra to protect his territory, leaving the roads open for kafilas [caravans] to reach AdenHaines pointing out the advantages of a small vessel with a long gun being sent to Aden for serviceThe Imam of Sana [Sanaa] reportedly intending to march to Lahidge [Lahij or Lahej] to subjugate it and the surrounding area; Haines’s belief that the Imam may wish to confer with him about the ‘agitated’ state of the tribes inland; his view that the Imam may easily regain Taaes [Taʿizz] and Ebb [Ibb]; and that if this is the Imam’s intention then the coffee producing area will be open to the Aden market, and Haines requesting the opinion of Government on this possibilityThe French Consul at Mussowah [Massawa] having written to Haines regarding a ‘Banian’ merchant named ‘Woobee’ being (in the Consul’s opinion unjustly) imprisoned and ‘ill-treated’ by the Turkish [Ottoman] Governor for a debt of seventy years standing, and Haines writing to the Governor to request kindness to be shown towards a British subject and that no punishment may be inflicted until the justice of the claim has been enquired into in the presence of a commander of a vessel of war, which Haines will send to Mussowah as soon as practicableThe arrival of the Honourable Company’s schooner Constanceat Aden, Haines reporting having despatched the vessel to blockade the port of Shugra, and the arrangements made by him to supply the vessel with water and provisionsHaines requesting sanction from the Government of Bombay for having obtained supplies from Maccalla [Mukalla, also spelled Maculla in this item] for the Commissariat at Aden, costing 279 German CrownsHaines reporting on the supply of provisions for the garrison at Aden, and his expectation that there will not be any scarcityMeasures taken to relieve the wing of HM 94th Regiment at Aden.The majority of the correspondence is between the Secretary to the Government of Bombay, Arthur Malet, and the Political Agent at Aden. The enclosures also include: letters from Malet to the Secretary to the Governor-General of India, Frederick Currie; a letter from Malet to the Superintendent of the Indian Navy, Captain Sir Robert Oliver; enclosed letters from Haines to the Secretary to the Secret Committee, and to the officer commanding the Honourable Company’s schooner Queenand Senior Naval Officer at Aden, Lieutenant John Glen Johnstone, Indian Navy; and an extract from the proceedings of the Government of Bombay in the Military Department, consisting of a copy of a letter to Haines from the Secretary to Government in the Military Department, Peter Melvill Melvill.Physical description: 1 item (30 folios)
466. 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 12 of 1847, dated 30 January 1847. The enclosures are dated 1 December 1846-28 January 1847.The correspondents are: Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Political Agent at Aden; the Secretary to the Government, Bombay; and the Secretary to the Government of India.The papers cover the following matters:Haines’s requisition of the HC [Honourable Company’s] schooner of war Constanceto enquire into the claim made by the Government of Mussawa [Massawa, also spelled Mussowah in this item] against a Banian, enclosing a copy of his instructions to the Senior Naval Officer Aden to urge the commander of the Constanceto settle the matter to the satisfaction of all parties if possible. Later correspondence confirms the settlement of the disputeThe peaceful state of the country and the well supplied marketsThe agreement of the Abdali [‘Abdalī] and Foutheli [Faḍlī] chiefs to a six month truce, and the salaries given to various other ‘chiefs’The serious illness of Sultan M’Houssain Fudthel of Lahidge [Sultan Muḥsin bin Faḍl al-'Abdalī], his apparent improvement, and his enquiry regarding the prospective payment of his salaryNews that the Imaum of Sanâ [Imam of Sana‘a] has reached [‘Raynat Guszab’?] near Zebeid [Zabid] with a force of several thousand men with the possible intention of seizing Zebeid, Mocha and Hodeida [Al Hudaydah], and the Governor-General’s opinion that there is no reason to interfere in the Imaum’s proceedings so long as they do not threaten British interestsConfirmation that the Constancefound no change in the depth of water around the Zebayr [Zubayr] Islands (subsequent to the recent volcanic eruption there)Progress on the construction of defences at the entrance of Aden harbourThe stalemate between the Sherriff [Sharif] of Mocha and Hodeida’s forces and those of Shiek Alli Homeida [Shaikh ‘Alī Ḥumaydah]Political discord on the Abyssinian [Eritrea] coast and the possible future disruption to trade.Physical description: 1 item (13 folios)
467. 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 2 of 1847, dated 2 January 1847. The enclosures are dated 10 December 1846-2 January 1847.The correspondents are: Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Political Agent at Aden; the Secretary to the Government, Bombay; and the Under-Secretary to the Government of India. The item also contains a minute of the President and Governor and the members in Council, Bombay.The papers notably cover the following matters:The reported ‘tranquility’ among the Arab tribes in the neighbourhood of Aden and consequent open roads and flourishing marketsThe attitude of rapprochement between the recently ‘quarrelling’ Abdali [‘Abdalī] and Foutheli [Faḍlī] chiefsThe report that the ships Larkinsand Elizawith the wing of HM’s 94th Regiment on board have been detained by strong currents to the westward of Aden, and report of the return of the ship Recoveryto Aden HarbourHaines’s report that he has sent the HC [Honourable Company’s] schooner of war Constancefrom Aden to the Zebayr [Zubayr] Islands in the Red Sea to observe any changes since the volcanic eruption on one of the islands and the results of the earthquake felt at Mocha and Hodeida [Al Hudaydah] for many miles distant at the time; the ship is then to go to Mussowah [Massawa] to investigate a ‘misunderstanding’ between a British Indian merchant and the Turkish [Ottoman] authoritiesThe view of the Government of India that it would be inexpedient to use coercive measures against the Foutheli tribe for their ‘continued acts of aggression towards Aden’ (f 27).Physical description: 1 item (14 folios)
468. Aden Affairs
- Description:
- Abstract: This item comprises copies of an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 75 of 1847, dated 31 August 1847. The enclosure is dated 16 August 1847 and consists of a letter from Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Political Agent at Aden, to Arthur Malet, Secretary to the Government, Bombay, reporting on the state of affairs at Aden and the vicinity, notably the reinstatement of the salary of Sultan Mahomed Houssein Fudthel of Lahidge [Sultan Muḥsin bin Faḍl al-'Abdalī , Sultan of Lahej].Physical description: There is an abstract of contents of the despatch, numbered 1-3, on folio 421. These numbers are repeated for reference on the verso of the last folio of each enclosure.