Abstract: This item comprises enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee [Bombay Secret Letter], No. 1 dated 1 January 1857. The enclosures are dated 9 November-29 December 1856.The papers relate to the conclusion of a treaty with the Habr Awul tribe [Habr Awwal, also spelled Habr Awel and Habr al Awul in this item] and the removal of the British blockade of Berbera. The blockade had been implemented following an attack by members of the Habr Awul tribe, in April 1855 at the port of Berbera, on Lieutenant Richard Burton’s Somaliland Expedition, during which Lieutenant William Stroyan was murdered and the party’s property ‘plundered’.The papers notably include:A copy of the report to Brigadier William Marcus Coghlan, Political Resident, Aden, by Lieutenant Robert Lambert Playfair, Assistant Political Resident, Aden, describing his journey to Berbera on the HC [Honourable Company] Schooner
Mahi,and negotiation of a treaty of peace with the Habr Awal Elders (ff 7-12)A copy of the ‘Articles of Peace and Friendship concluded between the Habr Awaal tribe of Somalies on the one part and Brigadier William Marcus Coghlan Political Resident at Aden in behalf of the Hon’ble East India Company, on the other’, signed on 7 November 1856 and listing the names of ten members of the tribe who put their marks to the treaty (f 13). This is followed by a copy of the treaty in Arabic (f 14)The Bombay Government Minutes, Resolutions and summary of the events leading up to and resulting from the attack. These documents notably mention: the large sum of compensation originally demanded by Coghlan for Burton’s party (15,000 rupees); the apprehension of an individual allegedly associated with the attack and his imprisonment on board the
Mahi;particular approval of the Bombay Government of the treaty article requiring the Habr Awul to make all efforts to suppress the ‘slave trade’ in their country; and the alleged degree of Burton’s culpability for the attack.Physical description: 1 item (29 folios)
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 99 of 1847, dated 15 November 1847. The enclosures, numbered 3-31, consist of correspondence, and minutes of the Government of Bombay. Enclosure numbers 3-29 are dated 13 May to 13 November 1847.The enclosures concern matters including:The Political Agent at Aden, Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, reporting that the Arab tribes in the immediate neighbourhood of Aden are in a ‘tranquil’ stateHaines receiving an application from the Sultan of Lahedge [Lahej or Lahij], Sultan M’Houssain Fudthel [Muḥsin bin Faḍl al-‘Abdalī], for the restoration of his stipendAn outbreak of smallpox cases amongst the Somali (also spelled Soomallee in this item) community at Aden, and measures taken by the Political Agent at Aden to prevent it spreadingThe departure of the Assistant Political Agent at Aden, Lieutenant Charles John Cruttenden, to Berbera (also spelled Burberra in this item) on political duty, with Haines issuing him the following instructions: to assist in settling the feud between the Somali tribes, helping to ensure that the annual fair at Berbera is held, which is greatly beneficial to Indian and Aden trade; to make enquiries into the state of the country inland, and especially to ascertain whether a regular supply of meat to Aden over the next few years can be counted on; and to provide information on the proceedings of Ismail Effendi [Ismā‘īl Ḥaqqī Pāshā], the Governor of Mussowah [Massawa], who is reported to have laid claim in the name of Mahomet Ali Pasha [Muḥammad ‘Alī Pāshā al-Mas‘ūd bin Āghā] to the sea ports of Tajoura [Tadjoura], Zeyla [Zeila or Saylac] and BerberaThe circumstances surrounding the dismissal of Ibrahim Pittajee [Ibrāhīm Pitājī, also spelled Ibrahim Pettajee, and in various other ways in this item] from his employment as Town Surveyor at Aden by the Executive Engineer at Aden, Captain James KilnerLieutenant Cruttenden’s request for an increase to his pay and allowances as Assistant Political Agent at Aden.The correspondence is mainly between the following: the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, Arthur Malet; the Political Agent at Aden; the Assistant Political Agent at Aden; the Executive Engineer at Aden; Ibrahim Pittajee; Brigadier W Spiller, Commanding at Aden; the Secretary to the Government of India with the Governor-General; the Bombay Medical Board; and the Bombay Military Board.Enclosure Nos. 30-31, listed in the abstract of contents as copies of the
Bombay Times Overland Summaryand the
Bombay Overland Telegraph and Courier, dated 15 November 1847, are not included in this item (they are recorded as missing in a note dated 30 November 1906).Physical description: 1 item (53 folios)