Abstract: This volume consists of contemporaneous copies of outward letters from the Bushire Residency. Most of the letters are written by the Resident in the Persian Gulf, Ephraim Gerrish Stannus. A small number of letters are written by the Assistant Surgeon at Bushire, James Pringle Riach, who was temporarily in charge of the Residency during Stannus's absence. Most of the letters are addressed to East India Company officials at Bombay, of which the most prominent recipients are the following: William Newnham, Chief Secretary to Government, Bombay; John Wedderburn, Accountant General, Bombay; and Mountstuart Elphinstone, President and Governor in Council, Bombay. Many of the letters to William Newnham contain copies of the Resident's correspondence with a number of local rulers, including: Sulṭān bin Saqr Āl Qāsimī, ruler of Sharjah and Ra's al-Khaymah; Shaikh ‘Abd al-Rasūl Khān, Governor of Bushire; His Royal Highness Ḥusayn ‘Alī Mīrzā, Prince of Shiraz; and the Imam of Muscat, Sa‘īd bin Sulṭān Āl Sa‘īd. Other recipients include a number of commanders of East India Company ships as well as Henry Willock, His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires at the Court of Persia, and his brother, George Willock, Secretary in Charge of the British Mission, Tabrīz. The letters in this volume cover a range of topics, including the following: the accounts and expenses of the Bushire Residency; trade, both at Bushire and at other Persian ports; relations between Rahma bin Jabir and the ruler of Bahrain; the estate of the former Governor of Bushire, Muhammad Nabi Khan; a dispute between Tahnun bin Shakhbut, Shaikh of Abu Dhabi, and his brother, Muhammad bin Shakhbut Al Nahayan, former Shaikh of Abu Dhabi; speculations on the intentions of Sulṭān bin Saqr Āl Qāsimī; the Resident's concerns about the reduced scale of the marine establishment; the costs involved in carrying out alterations and repairs on the Residency building; updates from Stannus regarding an act of piracy, which is reported to have been committed to the south of Muscat by two boats from Sharjah.Physical description: Pagination: There is a pagination sequence, which is written in pencil, in the top right corners of the rectos and the top left corners of the versos. Not every verso has been numbered, but the sequence is consistent. The sequence begins with the first item of correspondence, on number 1, and ends on the last page of writing, on number 144.Foliation: The foliation sequence is circled 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 2, and ends on the inside of the back cover, on number 76. This is the sequence which has been used by this catalogue to reference items within the volume.Condition: The folios in this volume have suffered from insect damage. Parts of the bottom edges of the front cover are missing, as are parts of the bottom edges of the first dozen or so folios within the volume.
Abstract: The file consists of letters drafted from the British Residency in the Persian Gulf:Draft letter to Abdullah bin Ahmed, acknowledging that properties of Adeed's merchants were plundered by the Bani Yas, not considering this as a good enough reason for British intervention, but promising to write to Shaikh Khulleefa ben Shackboot of Aboothabee [Khalīfah bin Shakhbūṭ, Chief of Abu Dhabi], asking him to return the goods (folios 2v-3);Draft letters to Shaikh Khulleefa ben Shackboot of Aboothabee, requesting the recovery of the goods plundered from the merchants of Adeed (folio 4 and 6v);Draft letters to Shaikh Sultan bin Suggur [Sulṭān bin Saqr, Chief of Ra's al-Khaymah] regarding his piracy acts (folios 5 and 5v-6).As a result of the volume having been weeded in the past, there are truncated letters throughout the volume, some of which are identifiable by their having been crossed out in blue pencil.Physical description: 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. Foliation: The foliation sequence 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 6.
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay's Secret Department to the East India Company's Secret Committee, Number 7 of 1841, dated 31 January 1841. The enclosures are dated 26 May 1840 to 30 January 1841, and relate to the Persian Gulf.The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence sent and received by the Government of Bombay, as well as copies of memoranda, minutes and resolutions of the Government of Bombay.The main correspondents are as follows: the Political Secretary to the Government of Bombay; the Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Secretary to the Government of India; the British Agent at Muscat; and the Superintendent of the Indian Navy.The enclosures discuss matters including:The concerns expressed by the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat that the French nation intended to take over the Imam’s possessions in the neighbourhood of ZanzibarThe response of the Governor General of India in Council to the request made by Colonel Taylor, Political Agent in Turkish Arabia, Baghdad, for a vessel of war to transport the Lieutenant of the Pasha of Baghdad to Bombay for the purpose of arranging his plans for the recovery of the Porte’s [Ottoman Empire’s] influence in ArabiaThe question of the relative positions of authority of the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and the Commodore or officer commanding the Indian Naval Squadron stationed in the Persian Gulf, in relation to the SquadronThe disputes between the Chiefs of Debaye [Dubai, also spelled Debay and Debye in the item] and Aboothabee [Abu Dhabi, also spelled Aboothabie in the item]The policy which should be pursued in the event of Ameer Khaled (also spelled Ameer Khalid) attempting to extend his authority over the province of OmanThe Resident in the Persian Gulf giving a pledge to the Imaum of Muscat to aid him in resisting the invasion of Oman or any of his other territoriesThe visit of the Chief of Sohar [Ṣuḥār] to Bombay.This part of the volume also includes other enclosures relating to places including Shargah [Sharjah], Persia [Iran], and Bahrein [Bahrain].Physical description: There is an abstract of contents of the despatch, numbered 1-68, on folios 163-176. These numbers are repeated for reference on the verso of the last folio of each enclosure.