Abstract: The item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence and minutes cited in, or enclosed with, a Political Letter from the Government of Bombay to the East India Company Court of Directors, 2 October 1852, and found at IOR/F/4/2504/142185. It is the third in a series of sixteen items about the Persian Gulf.The item relates to investigations into the plunder of the
Centaur, a merchant vessel under British protection, at Al Khabba [Ra’s al Khabbah, also rendered in text as Alkhabba]. As the vessel was carrying the entire season's worth of indigo, particular attention is given to the location and retrieval of this stolen material. The Government of Bombay receives reports:From Captain Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Resident in the Persian Gulf, regarding ports where indigo has been imported and the actions he has taken to retrieve the cargoFrom Captain Atkins Hamerton, HM Consul and Company Agent in the dominions of the Imaum of Maskat [Imām of Muscat], regarding the actions taken by himself and the Imaum, Saeid Saeid [Sayyid Sa‘īd bin Sulṭān Āl Bū Sa‘īd], amid reports that the principal perpetrators were people of the Beni boo Ali [Banī Bū ‘Alī] of JalanFrom Kojah Heskial bin Eusoph [Khawājah Ḥizqīl bin Yūsuf], Native Agent at Muscat, regarding the results of his enquiries at Soor [Sur] where he was assisted by the Imaum's nephew, Saied Hamed bin Salem bin Sultan [Sayyid Ḥamad bin Sālim Āl Bū Sa‘īd].All reports contain details of the numerous rumoured perpetrators. Hamerton's report also contains details of political sensitivities surrounding the investigations, including an agreement drawn up between himself and the Imaum (folios 1122-1123).Additionally, the item includes correspondence from parties invested in the retrieval of the cargo: W[illiam?] F[rederick?] Fergusson, Secretary, Insurance General Committee of Calcutta; and Hajee Mahomed Hashim Namajee [Ḥājjī Muḥammad Hāshim Namājī] and Hajee Mahomed Kurrim Namajee [Ḥājjī Muḥammad Karīm Namājī], Persian [Iranian] merchants based in Bombay [Mumbai].The title page of the item contains the following references: 'Bombay Political Department', 'Draft No. 350 of 1853', 'Collection No. 1 of No. 92', 'Vol: 3', and 'Examiner's Office'.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 1103, and terminates at f 1130, 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 item also contains an original pagination sequence.