Abstract: Extracts of letters from William Digges Latouche, the East India Company’s (EIC) Resident at Bussorah [Basra], to the Company’s Court of Directors reporting on French activities in the Persian Gulph [Gulf]. In particular, their capture of the Imaum [Imām] of Muscat’s ship bound at Catiffe [Qatif]; the loss the merchants of Catiffe, Jebarra [Zubarah], and Bussorah experienced due to the incidents; and the French declaring enmity towards the Arabs in general in the Gulph for their attachment to the English.The correspondence also includes information on the general situation at Bagdat [Baghdad], British-Dutch relations, and Latouche’s communication with the Resident at Bushire [Bushehr].Physical description: 1 item (10 folios)
Abstract: Copies of letters and enclosures from the East India Company’s (EIC) Residents at Bussorah [Basra], William Digges Latouche and then later, Samuel Manesty, respectively, to the Court of Directors of the Company. The correspondence covers the following matters:Latouche reporting on settling the Company’s accounts with the Bacha of Bagdat [Pāshā of Baghdad, also spelled as Pashaw]; the Basha’s request of musquets [muskets] and gunpowder; and the Company’s trade status in Bagdat and BussorahLatouche appointing Samuel Manesty to be in charge of the Company’s affairs at Bussorah, and his instructions on how to manage the Company’s affairs, its accounts, and wool tradeReports of the activities of the Monteficka Arabs [al-Muntafiq Arab tribal confederation, also spelled as Montificka]Correspondence with Soliman Bacha [Büyük Sulaymān Pāshā] of Bagdat regarding the debt the Turks had to pay to the CompanyA translation of imperial commands dated 1784, from the Sublime Porte to Soliman Bacha in relation to the debt (ff 184-187)Correspondence with local woollen goods contractors and merchants including Coja Yacoob Aron [Khwaja Hagop Aharon, also spelled as Aroon], Coja Petrus Mellick [Khwaja Petros Malik], and Coja Marcar [Khwaja Markar Aviyat] at Bagdat regarding the settling of their accountsThe arrival and departure of ships and trade activities in the region.Physical description: 1 item (47 folios)
Abstract: These two volumes contain letters sent to and from the East India Company Factory at Bussorah [Basra] between 19 March 1732 and 13 February 1753. The letters contain material relating to the overthrow of the Safavid Dynasty, and the rise of the Afshar Dynasty in Persia [Iran]; Nadir Shah Afshar's campaigns against the Ottoman and Mughal empires; and the relations of the Persian Empire with the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire, the Mughal Empire and the Imamate of Muscat.Physical description: This file consists of two physical volumes. The foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio of volume one with 1 and terminates at the last folio of volume two with 254. These numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
Abstract: This item contains correspondence sent to and received from the East India Company Factory at Bussora [Basra] from 17 January 1753 to 19 April 1765. It contains correspondence relating to the following:The Mussaleem of Bussora’s [Mutasallim of Basra] arrest of the Dutch Resident [Tiddo Frederik van] Kniphausen on the orders of Soliman Bashaw [Sulaymān Abū Laylā, Pāshā of Baghdad, also written here as Solyman Bashaw]The death of William Fytche and succession of Roger Drake as Governor of BengalThe order given by Soliman Bashaw for the execution of his brother-in-law, Achmed Aga [Aḥmad Āghā], for alleged ‘intrigues’ carried out against him at the Ottoman PorteThe appointment of William Shaw and Alexander Douglass to take charge of the East India Company agencies at Bussora and Gombroon [Bandar ‘Abbas] respectivelyThe delayed response to the ‘encouragement & invitations’ of Mir Nasir [Mīr Nāṣir bin Ḥamad al-Zu’ābī, also written here as Meir Nassir, Mir Nassir and Mir Nasser] to the East India Company to send a servant to Bunderick [Bandar-i Rig, also written here as Bundereeck]The departure of Soliman Bashaw from Bagdat [Baghdad] with an army of fifteen thousand against ‘a people situated northward of Mussaul [Mosul]’ and his ravaging of the countryThe withdrawal of the Dutch Factory at Bussora to Bushire [Bushehr], by order of their superiors at Gombroon, and the possible cost of the Factory’s relocation and re-establishmentThe grant of a Phirmaund [farmān] from the Grand Senor [Sulṭān Maḥmūd I] confirming Soliman Bashaw in ‘all the governments he formerly held’ together with a gift of a sword and sable coat of honourThe clashes between Careem Caun [Karīm Khān Zand, Vakīl of Persia] and Azat Caun an offgoon [Āzād Khān Ghiljā’ī, also known as Āzad Khān Afghān, self-declared Ruler of Azarbaijan], and the latter’s support for a claimant calling himself Shaw Sulṭan Hossein [Shāh Sulṭān Ḥusayn], a son of Shaw Thomas [Shāh Tahmāsb], who had recently returned from Muscovy [Russia]The Governor-General of Batavia’s [Jacob Mossel] dispatch of Kniphausen back to the Gulf, the latter’s arrival at Carrack [Kharg], ‘a small island contiguous to Bundereeck’, and the attempts of Mir Nasir to mediate between the Dutch and the MussaleemThe interception of a packet from the Agent at Bussora to the Consul at Aleppo, Alexander Drummond, by ‘one Mutti a Venetian Merchant’ and the Dutch Consul at AleppoThe threat from Soliman Bashaw against Mir Nasir, Governor of Bunderick and Shaik Nassir, Governor of Bushire [Shaikh Nāṣir Khān Abū Muhayrī], to ‘chastise them severely’ for continuing to harbour KniphausenThe execution of Mir Nasir, Governor of Bunderick, by his youngest son, Mir Mahanna [Mīr Muḥannā, also written here as Meer Mahanna], and the flight of the latter’s elder brother to the Dutch in the ‘adjacent Country’The victory of Careem Caun over Azat Caun near Shyrash [Shiraz], and the possibility that both might submit to Ahmed Shaw, King of the Offgoons [Aḥmad Shāh Durrānī], who has already taken part of Khorason [Khurasan]The surprise attack by Meer Husson [Mīr Ḥasan bin Nāṣir al-Zu’ābī], eldest son of Mir Nasir, on his brother Mir Mahanna, and the binding of the latter in chains, although it is believed he will not easily quit his ‘pretensions’The arrival of a French Commissary on the Coromandell Coast and his dismissal of Governor Duplex [Joseph François Dupleix] and three of his councillors for their ‘Imprudent Conduct’The Grand Senior’s [Sulṭān Osmān III] appointment of Ally Basha [Silāḥdār Bıyıklı ‘Alī Pāshā] as Grand Vizier, and the latter’s enmity towards Soliman BashawThe battle fought by Colonel [Eyre] Coote against Monsieur Laly [Thomas Arthur, Comte de Lally] and his Moratta [Maratha] allies commanded by Innis Cawn [Yūnūs Khān], the Chief Officer of Mororow [Murari Rao Ghorpade] at Wandiwash [Vandavasi]The raising of an army by the Mugull Sha Zada [Mughal Shāhzādah, or Crown Prince, ‘Alī Gawhar, the future Shāh ‘Ālam II] and rumours that he had taken PatnaThe death of Soliman Bashaw and the unanimous appointment of the ‘King’s Treasurer’ by Government officials and the ‘whole body’ of the Janissaries in BagdatThe attainment by Carim Caun of such a degree of power as to keep his rivals in the ‘utmost awe and submission’ and ensure his position as the ‘sovereign power’ in Persia [Iran]The terms of the agreement between Saddooc Caun [Sādiq Khān Zand], Governor of Shyrash, and William Andrew Price of the East India Company for the latter’s assistance against Mir MahannaThe plunder of the English factories at Patna, Dacca [Dhaka], and Cassimbuzar [Kasim Bazar] by Cossim Ally Caun the Nabob of Bengall [Mīr Qāsim ‘Alī Khān Najafī, the Nawwāb of Bengal], the proclamation of Jaffer Ally Caun [Mīr Ja‘far ‘Alī Khān Najafī] as Nabob, and the latter’s taking of the field against Cossim Ally Caun, together with the forces of the English East India CompanyThe Articles of Agreement made and concluded between William Andrew Price, Agent for the affairs of the British Nation in the Gulf of Persia, on behalf of the Honourable United English East India Company, and Shaik Saddoon of Bushire [Shaikh Sa‘dūn bin Madhkūr Abū Muhayrī of Bushehr], 12 April 1763 (f 97)The imprisonment of Hodgee Esoof Delal Bashee [Hājī Yūsuf Dallāl Bashī], his execution by strangulation, and the discovery of his body at the ‘Corn Market’ in BussoraThe Company’s appeal to the Mussaleem not to dispose of Hodgee Esoof’s large estate, ‘particularly in Lands & Houses’, before his debts to them have been settledThe retreat of the Nabob Cossim Ally Caun beyond Patna and the massacre of the English gentlemen and soldiers by Sumroos [Walter Reinhardt Sombre] on 6 October 1763The victories of the King of Candia [Kirti Sri Rajasinha, King of Kandy] against the Dutch at Ceylon [Sri Lanka], despite their reinforcement with ‘ships and men from Batavia’The encampment of Carim Caun’s army at Havisa [Hoveyzeh] and their crossing of the river to attack Shaik Soliman, the latter being indebted to him ‘for a large Tribute’, and Mir Mahanna’s coordinated dispatch of his gallivats to prevent the Chaub [Banū Ka‘b] from escapingThe killing of Captain Herbert Sutherland and his officers by Arab lascars aboard
TheIslamabad, and the seizure of four lach [lakh] Rupees in pearls and treasure.Physical description: 1 item (180 folios)
Abstract: This item contains correspondence sent to and received from the East India Company Factory at Bussora [Basra] from 20 April 1765 to 24 August 1766. It contains correspondence relating to the following:The displeasure of Carim Caun [Karīm Khān Zand] with the Mussaleem [Mutasallim], Solliman Aga [Sulaymān Āghā], for the latter’s tardiness in joining his expedition against the Chaub [Banū Ka‘b], and Carim Caun’s ‘ungenteel reception’ of the envoys from Bussora and their dismissal without any presentsThe progress of the Mussaleem’s army, supported by the fleet of the Captain Bashaw [Kapūdān Pāshā] and the Company ship
The Fanny, down the Shatt al-Arab and their skirmishes with the ChaubThe complaints of Shaik Soliman Chaub [Shaikh Salmān bin Sulṭān al-Ka‘bī] against Mr Shaw for taking his date trees at Magyl [Al-Ma‘qil] and Silik [al-Sikk?] and keeping many of his subjects as ‘Hamalls’ [porters]The surrender of Souja Dowla [Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥaydar Khān Shujā‘ al-Dawlah Nishāpurī, Nawwāb of Awadh] to Lord [Robert] Clive [1st Baron Clive of Plassey] near AllahabadThe defeat of the fleet dispatched by Shaik Sadoon [Shaikh Sa‘dūn bin Madhkūr Abū Muhayrī of Bushehr] and the Dutch from Karreck [Kharg] by the men of Meer Mahanna [Mīr Muḥannā, also written as Meer Manna] ‘clothed with Coats of Mail’ on the Island of Corgo [Khargu]The negotiations conducted by Siad Mahomed [Sayyid Muḥammad] and Abdulla Beg [‘Abd Allāh Beg] with Shaik Soliman on behalf of the Bashaw of Bagdat [Pāshā of Baghdad]Carim Cawn’s ‘disgust’ with the Company’s lack of assistance against Meer Mahanna, and reversal of his ‘High Opinion’ of the English, as a result of the Chaub’s capture of several English vesselsThe siege and capture of the fortress of Karreck by Meer Mahanna, the escape of the Dutch Resident to Bushire [Bushehr], and his request for assistance from the East India CompanyThe threats of the Company against Shaik Soliman to persuade him to enter negotiations towards the release of the captured English vesselsThe demand of the Mussaleem and Shaik Dervis [Shaikh Darvīsh] that the Company join them in their war against Shaik Soliman, on account of his deceitfulness and potential for undermining the reputation of the English with the Grand Signor at ConstantinopleThe victory of Captain Lesley Baillie against the fleet of the Chaub, and Benjamin Hollamby’s request from Carem Caun not to offer asylum to Shaik SolymanThe arrival of Zakey Caun [Zakī Khān Zand], brother of Carem Caun, with an army at Ginova [Bandar-i Ganaveh, also written as Ginouva], on a mission aimed at the ‘destruction’ of Meer MahannaThe proposal of Shaik Sadoon to the Company for a joint naval attack against Shaik Soliman, the success of Zaki Caun’s campaign against Meer Mahanna at Ginova, and the suggestion that Shaik Sadoon and the Company assist in transporting Carim Caun’s troops to KarrackA parley between Shaik Anum [Shaikh Ghānim bin Salmān al-Ka‘bī] and Captain Andrew Nesbitt, during which the latter, suspecting an ambush, decided to attack first, ‘dangerously’ wounding the Shaik, and killing three of his ‘Most Principal Men’.Physical description: 1 item (178 folios)