Abstract: This volume contains letters sent to and from the East India Company Factory at Bussora [Basra] between 22 November 1792 and 11 January 1799, and includes material relating to:The negotiations between the Factor, Harford Jones, and the Bacha of Bagdad [Pāshā of Baghdad, also spelt Bagdat in the correspondence], over the punishment of ‘certain offending Jews’ in BussoraThe command of the Ottoman Emperor [Sultan Selim III] forbidding the appointment of Ottoman citizens as consuls or vice consuls to represent the interests of ‘foreign Christians', and likewise forbidding the latter from purchasing houses and landA consultation held by the Resident, Samuel Manesty and Jones, on relocating the Factory to the town of Grain [Kuwait], and the notification, given by Manesty, to Soliman Bacha of Bagdad [Büyük Sulaymān Pāshā]The declaration of war by the French Republic against Britain and Holland, and the need to take measures against the increasing number of French cruisers in the Persian GulfThe complaints of Manesty and Jones to the Governor-General of India, against Captain Guy Hamilton, Commander of the
Begum Shaw[Begum Shah], and its ostensible owner, Coja Moses Catcheek [Khwaja Moses Khachik] of Bengal, for proceeding to Bussora instead of carrying a packet to Bombay [Mumbai], and jeopardising the Company’s negotiations with the BachaThe proposals of the Governor-General of India, Sir Charles Cornwallis, and other counsellors at Fort William, toward resolving the dispute between the Resident and the BachaThe transactions between Manesty and Harford Jones and Captain Alexander Foggo, Commander of
The Laurel, to deliver a packet from the Court of Directors to the Government of BombayThe Governor of Bushire [Bushehr], Shaik Nesr Khan’s [Shaikh Naṣr Khān I Āl Madhkūr] non-compliance with the decrees of Akaw Mahomed Khan [Āghā Muḥammad Khān Qājār]The Bacha’s disapproval of the decision to relocate the English Factory to Grain, and demand that it be rectified by ‘immediately returning in compliance with my wishes to Bussora’The concerns of Manesty and Jones about the Bacha’s ‘false ideas’ being transmitted to the Ottoman Ministry and Sir Robert Ainslie, British Ambassador at Constantinople [Istanbul], and the departure of Jones from Grain on a mission to Aleppo and ConstantinopleThe reduction by British forces of ‘all the French Establishments in India’The Bacha of Bagdad’s expression of willingness to ‘fulfil the Articles of the Arrangement’ with Jones, and his invitation to Manesty to return the Factory to BussoraThe abscondment of John Southall, acting officer on
The Princess Royal,and Thomas Mascalls, gunner on
The Antelope, and their ‘abjuration of the Christian Religion to embrace that of Mahomed [Muḥammad]’The survey of Grain Harbour and its entrance by Lieutenant William Maughan, and the suggestion by Manesty that surveying the ‘western side’ of the Gulf would allow packet ships to avoid the areas patrolled by French cruisersThe delivery of two memorials by Jones to the Bacha, and his departure on not receiving an answerThe refusal of the Governor of Bombay to sanction Jones’s mission to ConstantinopleThe request of Soliman Bacha from the Grand Vizier and Reis Effendi to arrange the removal of Manesty and Jones from the Factory through the intervention of the British AmbassadorThe victory of Vice Admiral Richard Howe over the French at the Fourth Battle of UshantThe resignation of Jones as Joint Factor and his departure for Bagdad, Constantinople and LondonA request from the Bacha to the Presidency of Bombay for a consignment of gunpowder, the diversion of the consignment by the Resident to Grain, and the arrival of three of the Bacha’s vessels to take chargeThe arrest of Guglielmo Vicenzo Visetti, son of the Venetian Pro-Consul at AleppoThe communications of Jean-Francois Rousseau, the French Consul at Bagdad, with Pierre du Bruix, the French Resident at SuratThe conquest of Holland by France and conclusion of peace with Prussia, Italy and SpainThe outbreak of hostilities between Great Britain and the ‘late Republic of Holland’The return of Manesty on board a Turkish vessel and re-establishment of the Factory at BussoraThe embarkation of a French ‘Gentleman of Rank’, carrying packets from the French Commandant of the Mauritius or Tipoo Sultan [Tīpū Sulṭān, also written here as Tippoo Sahib], together with another Frenchman, Alexis Gain, on a dhow belonging to Shaik Ibrahim Ibn Abdu Rasac [Shaikh Ibrāhīm Ibn ‘Abd al-Razzāq] of Jubarra [Zubarah?]A meeting between John Lewis Reinaud and the Mussaleem [Mutasallim] of Bussora, Abdullah Aga [‘Abd Allāh Āqā], and consultation with Shaik Ahmed Ibn Salama [Shaikh Aḥmad Ibn Salāma] on a plan to seize the French party’s lettersThe briefing, by Jones, of the British Ambassador at Constantinople, Sir Robert Liston, on the dispute between the Bacha and the ResidentThe determination of the Ottoman Government to restrict the trading privileges granted to the Christian powers of Europe ‘by the ignorance of former times’ within the narrowest possible boundsThe arrival of a French Mauritian vessel of ‘considerable size and force’ at MuscatThe preparation of an expedition against Trincamallee [Trincomalee] under Colonel James Stuart, and another against Malacca under Major Roberts, following the outbreak of war between Britain and HollandThe flight of the eldest son of the Nizam of HyderabadThe British expeditions launched from Bengal against Batavia and from Bombay against Cochin [Kochi]The agreement made between Manesty and Shaik Ibrahim Ibn Gaunam [Shaikh Ibrāhim Ibn Ghānim] for Reinaud to board Shaikh Ibrāhim's dhow to search and seize the papers of Monsieur GuirardThe cultivation, by Manesty, of Shaik Abdullah Ibn Subbah [Shaikh ‘Abd Allāh Ibn Ṣabāh] of Grain to ‘cause obstruction to the Transmission’ of the public dispatches of the enemies of Great BritainThe confiscation, by Reinaud, of a packet from Monsieur Guirard, containing a letter from the French Ambassador at Constantinople, [Claude-] Emile Gaudin, to Pierre du BruixThe replacement of Manesty and Jones by Nathan Crow and Peter Le MessurierThe arrival of a squadron of French frigates under Commodore Renaud at the ‘Mouth of the Gulph’The proposal from Crow and Le Mesurier to institute a regular service of cruisers to BussoraThe mission of Bruyere [Jean Guillaume Bruguière] and Olivier [Guillaume-Antoine Olivier] to Persia [Iran]The appointment of Abbé Beauchamp [Pierre-Joseph de Beauchamp] as French Consul General at MuscatA warning from the Governor of Bombay, Jonathan Duncan, to the Imaum [Imam of Muscat, Sulṭān bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd] and the Calphaun [Sayyid Khalfān bin Muḥammad Āl Bū Sa‘īd, Walī of Muscat] ‘against giving shelter or preference’ to any European nation at war with Britain, and the need to prevent the French from establishing a presence at Muscat and reaching India and the MauritiusThe return of one of the envoys of Tipoo Sultan from FranceThe re-instalment of Manesty as Resident and departure of Crow and Le MessurierThe declaration of war by Spain on Great Britain, and departure of a Dutch fleet for the ‘East Indies’The capture, by Admiral George Elphinstone, of a Dutch squadron under Admiral Engelbertus LucasThe replacement of the French Commander-in-Chief Villaret [Rear-Admiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse] with ‘Monsieur Morard de Galls’ [Rear-Admiral Justin Bonaventure Morard de Galles]The ‘vast and dangerous’ French projects in the Mediterranean, and the active involvement of ‘Muradja the Swedish Minister at Constantinople’ [Ignatius Mouradgea d'Ohsson, Minister Plenipotentiary], in extending those projects to the Red Sea and the GulfA plan by Monsieur Ohier [Louis Marie Joseph Ohier de Grandpre] to surprise the East India fleetThe reported march of Akaw Mahomed Khan’s army from Corrasoon [Khurasan] to Tarum [Tarom]The mission of Beauchamp to build alliances with ‘native princes’ of Arabia, Persia, and India to disrupt British communications by ‘land and sea’, and to drive them completely out of their territoriesThe plans of Monsieur Leger to engage Tippoo Sultan to commence hostilities against the CompanyThe plan for Shaik Sultan of Muscat to obtain Bandar Bassi [Bandar ‘Abbas] from Aga Mahomed Khan of Persia to furnish the islands of Mauritius and Bourbon [Reunion] with provisionsThe war between Shaik Sultan and Shaik Suggir Ibn Raschid il Mutter of Raz il Khaima [Shaikh Ṣaqr bin Rāshid al-Maṭar of Ra’s al-Khaymah], Shaik of the Jausomee [Qāsīmī] Arabs and the danger to British vesselsThe capture by the French, under General Napoleon Bonaparte, of Malta and AlexandriaThe procurement of arms by Tipoo Sultan and the Mahrattas [Marathas] at BagdadThe victory of Admiral Horatio Nelson over the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile [Abu Qir Bay]The firman to Eusuf Pasha [Yūsūf Pāshā], Governor of Medina, to allow British ships to cruise the Red SeaThe reluctance of Jazzar Pashaw of Acra [Jazzār Aḥmad Pāshā of Acre], to march against Napoleon Bonaparte in Egypt, following the dismissal of Aptullah [‘Abd Allāh al-Azm] of Damascus.Physical description: The foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 745; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is present in parallel between 261-745 and is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out. The foliation sequence does not include the front cover. The sequence contains one foliation anomaly, f 215a.
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: The file contains correspondence (mainly copies) regarding irregularities in connection with the administration and command of the Muscat State Levy Corps by Captain A R Walker, 11th Sikh Regiment.It includes:copies of correspondence between S E Hedgcock, Muscat, and the Political Agent, Muscatcopies of demi-official letters from the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and the Political Agent, Muscatcopies of correspondence between the Political Agent, Muscat, and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulfcopy of memorandum from the Adjutant General in India, Army Headquarters, Delhi, to the Headquarters, Western Command, Quetta, and enclosurescopy of memorandum from the General Officer, Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, to the Adjutant General in India, with enclosures including a memorandum from Captain Walker to the Adjutant, 2nd Battalion, 11th Sikh Regiment, answering allegations made against him by S E HedgcockPhysical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 20; these numbers are written in pencil, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence regarding the level of direct influence held by the British Government and the Government of India over the administration of Muscat and other Persian Gulf states, and proposals for a reduction in this influence in favour of local rulers. The primary correspondents are the India Office and the Government of India.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 54, and terminates at f 65, as it is part of a larger physical volume; 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 file comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, and notes, relating to the monitoring by British officials of the activities of Count Byron Khun de Prorok and his expeditions in Yemen and the Persian Gulf. This included attempts to search for the ancient lost city of Ubar in the Rubʻ al Khālī and the fabled capital city of the Queen of Sheba.The discussion in the file relates to the correspondence with scientific institutes (Royal Geographical Society; Royal Anthropological Institute) concerning de Prorok's scientific credentials, nationality, name and title. Also discussed is the refusal of the Sultan of Muscat to allow an expedition to proceed from Muscat and the British refusal to allow a start from Sharjah. Also discussed are British concerns about motivations for the expedition and connections with Italian oil interests.Included in the file is a handwritten letter from Prorok to the India Office (folio 32) and an advertisement for an evening lecture at the Pump House, Bath (folio 10).The file contains correspondence between: the Passport Control Department, Foreign Office, London; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; and the India Office, London.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 7, and terminates at f 68, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence regarding relations between the Sultan of Muscat and followers of the Aga Khan (Sultan Muhammed Shah) in Muscat territory. In the letters, the Aga Khan requests the intervention of the India Office in settling the differences between the two parties. The letters are sent between the Aga Khan and various officials including individuals from the India Office, the Political Agents in Muscat and Bushire, the Political Resident in Bushire [Persian Gulf], and the Government of India.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 23; 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 file contains correspondence, notes, supply notes, and an air consignment note, relating to the supply of maps to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf.It includes correspondence between Trenchard Craven William Fowle, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, and John Gilbert Laithwaite, India Office, and between Laithwaite and Arthur Robert Hinks and others at the Royal Geographical Society, regarding Fowle’s requests to be sent copies of the map in Bertram Thomas’s ‘Arabia Felix’, and the map in Philby’s ‘Rub al Khali’. It also includes correspondence between Fowle and M J Clauson, India Office, and between Clauson and Hinks, concerning Fowle’s request for three additional copies of Bertram Thomas’s map to be sent to himself at the Residency, Bushire, and to the Political Agents at Bahrain and Muscat. This correspondence is dated 27 November 1934 to 28 December 1936.Correspondence and other papers dated 27 May 1940 to 9 May 1946, relate to the supply of a complete set of the charts of the Persian Gulf, up to and including the Shatt al Arab, and copies of replacements of charts which may be issued from time to time, to Charles Geoffrey Prior, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf. These papers include a telegram from Prior to the Secretary of State for India, and correspondence between J P Gibson, India Office, and the Superintendent of the Admiralty Charts Supplies Division.The file does not contain any papers for the period between 29 December 1936 to 26 May 1940.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 38; these numbers are written in pencil, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence relating to the celebrations to be held in Portugal in 1939 and 1940 of the eighth centenary of the foundation of the Portuguese Nation and the third centenary of the re-establishment of Portuguese independence.It mainly consists of copies sent to the India Office of correspondence between the Foreign Office and the following: the Ministry of Information, the British Council, the Universities Bureau of the British Council, and Dr Armindo R Monteiro, Portuguese Embassy; regarding the Congress of the Portuguese World to be held in Portugal in 1940.It also includes correspondence between the following: the Foreign Office and the Under Secretary of State for India; the India Office and the Government of India, External Affairs Department; and the Political Resident in Persian Gulf and the Government of India, External Affairs Department; concerning the request by the Portuguese Ambassador for assistance in securing from the authorities at Muscat the loan of suitable objects for inclusion in an exhibition to be organised in connection with the celebrations.The file includes a copy of a memorandum in French from the Portuguese Ambassador to London, dated 23 May 1938 (folio 24-25).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 53; 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 file contains correspondence relating to the regular dispatch overseas of Foreign Office secret and confidential documents in sealed packets, by arrangement with the India Office in London. These are sent by sea mail to India, for onward transmission to the following Consular and Political Officers in the Persian Gulf at Bahrain, Kuwait and Muscat; Pondicherry in French India; Kabul, Kandahar, Jalabad [Jaalalabad] in Afghanistan; Panjim and Marmagao in Portuguese India; Kashgar and Tengyueh [Tengchong] in China; Katmandu [Kathmandu]; and Seistan [Sistan] in Iran.The file does not contain the Foreign Office documents included in dispatches, only the covering letters that accompany them on their journey. These are largely from the Under-Secretary of State for India, London, to the Secretary to the Government of India in the External Affairs Department, New Delhi, who is asked to confirm safe receipt and onward transmission to the addressees.The file includes five dividers, which give a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are 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 457; 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 file contains correspondence relating to the regular dispatch overseas of Foreign Office secret and confidential documents in sealed packets, by arrangement with the India Office in London. These are sent by sea mail to India, for onward transmission to Consular and Political Officers in the Persian Gulf at Bahrain, Kuwait and Muscat; Pondicherry in French India; Kabul, Kandahar, Jalabad [Jalalabad] in Afghanistan; Panjim, Marmagao and Nova Goa in Portuguese India; Kashgar in China; and Katmandu [Kathmandu].The file does not contain the Foreign Office documents included in dispatches, only the covering letters that accompany them on their journey. These are largely from the Under-Secretary of State for India, London, to the Secretary to the Government of India in the External Affairs Department, New Delhi, who is asked to confirm safe receipt and onward transmission to the addressees.The file also contains numerous Foreign Office circulars issued to consular officers between 1943 and 1945. These include extracts from Parliamentary debates in 1943 about Foreign Service reform, and reports of Anglo-American discussions in Washington in 1943, by the British delegate and economist John Maynard Keynes, regarding the proposal for an International Monetary Fund.The file includes four dividers, which give a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 417, these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: This item consists of a copy of a Political Despatch from the Government of India Foreign Department to the Secretary of State for India, dated 17 January 1873, forwarding papers relating to Muscat affairs, in continuation of despatch No. 232[Political?]. of 18 November 1872.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 100, and terminates at f 112a, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The sequence contains five foliation anomalies: f 100a, f 101a, f 106a, f 107a, and f 112a.
Abstract: This item consists of a Political Despatch from the Government of India Foreign Department to the Secretary of State for India, dated 9 October 1873, forwarding, under cover of a letter from the Acting Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, a copy of an agreement (English translation) obtained from His Highness the Sultan of Muscat recognizing the jurisdiction of the Political Agent and Consul at Muscat over subjects of the Native States of India residing in the Muscat Dominions. The despatch is in reference to paragraph 14 of Secret No. 58 of 16 June 1873.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 239, and terminates at f 241, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The sequence contains one foliation anomaly: f 239a.