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 37 of 1850, dated 25 July 1850. The enclosures are numbered 3-8, and are dated 16 June to 15 July 1850.The enclosures consist of a minute from the Government of Bombay, and correspondence. They relate to letters from the Political Agent at Aden, Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, to the Government of Bombay, reporting matters including:Daily communication and traffic from the ‘Arab tribes’ adjacent to Aden continuing to be ‘unmolested’, supplies at Aden being abundant, and the inhabitants continuing to be healthyThe ‘Arab’ who murdered the European seaman in the boat belonging to the
Aucklandon 29 May not having yet been secured, and having escaped to the Subeihi [Subaīhī] territory, but the efforts of Sultan Ali M’Houssain [‘Alī I bin Muḥsin al-‘Abdalī, Sulṭān of Lahej] to capture him being ‘strenuous’An enclosed report from Lieutenant Adams of affairs at Mussowa [Massawa] and Abyssinia [the Ethiopian Empire], Hodeida [Al Hudaydah] and Mocha, including the state of trade and duties levied on British Indian merchants, and the Pasha promising to give protection and assistance to all British subjects and those under British protection.The correspondence is between: the Government of Bombay; Haines; the Secretary to the Government of India with the Governor General, Sir Henry Miers Elliot; Lieutenant G N Adams, commanding the Honourable Company’s schooner of war
Constance; and HM Consul in Abyssinia [Ethiopia], Walter Plowden.Physical description: 1 item (14 folios)
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 6 of 1850, dated 4 February 1850.The enclosed papers, dated 15 January to 4 February 1850, concern affairs in the Aden Settlement and Protectorate. They comprise correspondence between Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Political Agent at Aden, the Government of Bombay, and the Government of India in Fort William. In his correspondence, Haines gives a general report on the state of affairs in Aden which covers the following matters:Political intrigue in Sana [Sanaa], involving the murder of the Imam [Imām]The closure of roads to Mocha and Hodeida [Al Hudaydah] from the interior due to local opposition to Turkish [Ottoman] ruleAffairs on the East African Coast.Enclosure Nos. 5-6, listed in the abstract of contents as copies of the
Bombay Overland Timesand the
Bombay Overland Telegraph and Courier, dated 4 February 1850, are recorded as missing in a note dated 31 October 1906.Physical description: 1 item (6 folios)
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 32 of 1842, dated 31 March 1842. The enclosures are dated 24 February to 31 March 1842. They consist of a general report by the Political Agent at Aden, and other correspondence, on the state of affairs in Aden and its hinterland, the Gulf of Aden, and the lower part of the Red Sea Coast.The enclosures discuss matters including:British relations with the tribes around Aden, including relations with the Sultan of Lahidge [Lahej]The reason why orders were issued deferring the transportation of fifty Irregular Horse to AdenThe recommendation of the Political Agent at Aden that two Arab prisoners, previously sent from Aden to one of the East India Company's jails in the Bombay Presidency, be sent back to Aden to be released with a warning regarding their future conductThe view of the Political Agent at Aden that it was inadvisable to send Mr Hatchatoor to again reside as an Agent at Tedjoura [Tadjoura]The Political Agent at Aden having despatched the HC [Honourable Company] schooner Constance to Mussowah [Massawa] for the purpose of obtaining information about the state of affairs in Northern Abyssinia [the Northern Ethiopian Empire] and Arabia, at the request of HM Agent and Consul General in EgyptMeasures undertaken by the Political Agent at Aden for the protection of trade on the coast of AbyssiniaThe request of the former Native Agent at Mocha, Hajee Abdool Russool [Haji Abdul Rasool], that a decision be made by the Government of Bombay regarding his case, and that he be granted an allowance until his property at Mocha is restored to himStatements of stipends granted to different Arab 'chiefs' in the interior of Aden.The primary correspondents are the Political Agent at Aden and the Secretary and Officiating Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay.Physical description: There is an abstract of contents of the despatch, numbered 1-28, on folios 365-371. These numbers are repeated for reference on the verso of the last folio of each enclosure.
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 10 of 1850, dated 16 February 1850.The enclosed papers, dated 19 December 1849 to 15 February 1850, concern affairs in Abyssinia [Ethiopia and Eritrea] and on the Red Sea coast. They consist of a letter from Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Political Agent in Aden, to the Government of Bombay, in which he forwards a report by Lieutenant Adams, Commander of the East India Company schooner,
Constance. The report concerns his visits to Mussawa [Massawa], Hodeida [Al Hudaydah] and Mocha, and relays news from these places. The report, or extracts from it, are then forwarded to the Government of India, Fort William, and the British Consul General in Egypt, Charles Augustus Murray.Adams’s report covers various matters, including:French relations with the ruler of Adwa and the Patriarch of AbyssiniaHeavy duties being levied at ports along the Red Sea coast, particularly MussawaThe poor financial state of the Ottoman officers and troops in the region, and their efforts to raise moneyPolitical affairs in YemenPostal routes in Yeman and surrounding region.Physical description: 1 item (10 folios)
Abstract: Enclosure no. 3 to dispatch no. 3 from the Secret Department, Bombay Castle, dated 12 February 1861. The enclosure is dated 1861. Received 8 March 1861.The enclosure consists of a letter from Captain Robert Lambert Playfair, Assistant Political Resident, Aden, concerning operations by King Theodore [Emperor Tewodros II] against rebels in Tigre [Tigray], Abyssinia [Ethiopia].Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: The volume contains papers relating to Articles 37 and 56 of the Abyssinia Order in Council 1913, which concern persons being sent for trial or imprisonment to Aden or Bombay.Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 479; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The volume consists of individual copies of the
Arab Bulletinproduced by the Arab Bureau at the Savoy Hotel, Cairo numbers 66-114. These publications contain wartime, and post-war intelligence obtained by British sources. They deal with economic, military, and political matters in Turkey, the Middle East, Arabia, and elsewhere, which – in the opinion of British officials – affect the ‘Arab movement’; the bulletins cover a wide range of topics and key personalities.The volume contains the following maps:A map of Central Arabia showing St John Philby's route from Uqair to Jidda 17 November to 31 December 1917: folio 103.Sketch map prepared from RNAS photographs and reconnaissance by HMS
City of Oxfordof Wadi Mur February to March 1918 : folio 170.Sketch map of Hejaz (1919): folio 317.Tribal sketch map of the Hadhramaut ‘showing only tribes of fighting value’: folios 333v.Towards the back of the volume is a small amount of correspondence respecting the distribution of
Notes on the Middle East; the
Arab Bulletinwas superseded by this publication. Copies of numbers 3-4 of this publication can also be found at the back of the volume.Tables of content can be found at the front of each issue. A small amount of content is in French.Physical description: Condition: the edges of some of the folios towards the back of the volume have suffered damage to their edges due to general wear and tear. The affected folios are 389-390, 407-409, and 412.Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 413; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The front cover and the leading flyleaf have not been foliated. A previous foliation sequence, which is present between ff 357-363 and ff 374-412 and is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.