Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 83 of 1847, dated 30 September 1847. The enclosure is dated 7 August 1847.The primary document is a letter from Lieutenant Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Acting Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq], to the Secretary to the Government, Bombay, for the information of the Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department. Kemball reports that, according to a letter from Lord Cowley, HM Minister Plenipotentiary at Constantinople [Istanbul], to Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, HM Consul and the Honourable Company’s Political Agent in Turkish Arabia, the Ottoman Porte [Government of the Ottoman Empire] has issued instructions to the Governor of Baghdad to suspend the operation of the new passport code regulations, as far as British subjects are concerned, for one year. An extract of Lord Cowley’s letter is enclosed.Physical description: 1 item (4 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 87 of 1847, dated 13 October 1847. The enclosure is dated 26 August 1847.The primary document is a despatch from Lieutenant Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Acting Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq] (acting for Henry Creswicke Rawlinson who had taken a leave of absence), forwarding for the information of the Secretary to the Government of India and the Secretary to the Government, Bombay, copies of his despatches to Lord Cowley, HM Minister Plenipotentiary at Constantinople [Istanbul], with relevant enclosures, on the ‘affairs of the Baghdad Pachalic [Pashalik]’.The documents notably cover the following matters:British attempts to verify the authenticity of the communication from the Mootsellim [Mutasallim] of Bussorah [Governor of Basra] to Sheikh Mahomed ben Khaleefa [Shaikh Muḥammad bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah, Shaikh of Bahrain] inviting him to place himself under the protection of the Turkish [Ottoman] flag, including a corroborative document forwarded to Rawlinson by Major Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian GulfReactions of the independent Arab rulers of the Gulf regarding the appearance of an Ottoman brig of war [in the Gulf] and the alleged the claims by the Turkish officers on board of the intention to replace British influence in the Gulf with Turkish influence. Included are reports by John Croft Hawkins, Commodore Commandant Indian Navy, Squadron in the Persian Gulf, on the HC [Honourable Company] steam frigate
Queen, and the Agent at Shargah [Sharjah], regarding: the brig’s movements; the concerns expressed by Shaikh Mucktoom [Maktūm I bin Buṭṭī Āl Bū Falāsah of Dubai]; and the alleged ‘exultation’ of Sultan Ben Suggur [Shaikh Sulṭān I bin Ṣaqr al-Qāsimī, Ruler of Sharjah and Ra’s al-Khaymah, Al Jazirah Al Hamra and Ar Rams, variously] at the potential loss of British influence (ff 263-268)Reports that Nejib Pasha [Muḥammad Najīb Pāshā, Governor of Baghdad] plans to survey ‘the old and ruined canals’ of Abooghraib [Abu Ghraib], Scindreeah [Sindria?] and Mahmoodiah [Mahmudiyah?], in order to repair them and bring the adjoining land back into cultivation and improve irrigationThe disturbed state of the country in Moosul [Mosul] due ‘principally to the internal dissensions in the large tribe of the Shammar [Šammar] Arabs’ (f 269)The question of whether British and Russian subjects travelling in the Turkish [Ottoman] dominions will be subject to new passport regulation fees, and Kemball’s scepticism, in communications with Colonel Justin Sheil, HM Minister at Tehran, regarding Nejib Pasha’s intention to exempt ‘native Englishmen’, taking into consideration the passport fees recently levied on Rawlinson and his party for the latter’s leave of absenceKemball’s scepticism, communicated to Sheil, regarding Nejib Pasha’s intentions of fulfilling instructions from the Turkish Government for the removal of a Turkish guard vessel from her anchorage off the mouth of the Haffer [Haffar] Canal to a station higher up the stream, and intention to escalate his dissatisfaction to the Porte via HM Minister at Constantinople (ff 272-273).Physical description: 1 item (20 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 89 of 1847, dated 28 October 1847. The enclosures are dated 9 September-25 October 1847.The item chiefly comprises communications of the Chief Secretary to the Government, Bombay, to: Major Samuel Hennell, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; Lieutenant Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Officiating Political Agent, Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq]; the Secretary to the Government of India; and Commodore Sir Robert Oliver, Superintendent of the Indian Navy. Also included are: single communications from the Secretary to the Government of India and Hennell to the Chief Secretary to the Government, Bombay; two minutes of the President and Governor in Council and the members in Council, Bombay; and a copy (as published in the
Bombay Gazette21 October 1847) of the engagement entered into with the British Government by the ‘six Maritime Arab Chiefs…binding themselves to prevent, from and after the 10th December next, the exportation of slaves [enslaved persons] from the African Coast or Elsewhere on board of their vessels and those of their subjects’ (ff 288-289).The communications are brief and largely administrative. They cover the following matters:Approval of Hennell’s negotiations with the Maritime Arab Chiefs and authorisation of the publication of the agreement in English, Arabic and Persian in the government
GazetteThe request, subsequent to a letter by Hennell, for the opinion of Commodore Oliver as to the best measures to follow up the treaties already in force for the suppression of the trade in enslaved persons from the east coast of AfricaConcurrence in concern regarding the amended instructions issued by the Turkish [Ottoman] Government to the Pasha [Governor] of Baghdad regarding the disposal of enslaved persons liberated under the convention recently signed by the [Ottoman] PorteApproval of Hennell’s intention to quickly remove ‘rescued slaves’ from Bussorah [Basra] who do not wish to remain in Ottoman territoryA translated extract of the report by the Agent at Shargah [Sharjah] on the recent ‘number of Abyssinian [Ethiopian] slaves imported into Oman’ (f 300) and approval of Hennell’s intention to rigorously enforce the terms of the convention when it comes into force ‘with equal strictures in the case of the importation of Abyssinians as in that of Negroes [Black Africans] and Soomalees [Somalis]’ (f 299).Physical description: 1 item (27 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 55 of 1847, dated 16 June 1847. The enclosures are dated 26 April-8 June 1847 (although some internal copy documents date back to 1 February 1847).The primary documents are letters from Major Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, Political Agent in Turkish Arabia and British Consul in Baghdad, to Henry Wellesley, HM Minister Plenipotentiary at Constantinople [Istanbul, Ottoman Empire], including his correspondence with Colonel Justin Sheil, HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Tehran and Major Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire [Būshehr].The subjects covered notably include:Duties payable by Persian [Iranian] merchants to Turkish (Ottoman) authorities in relation to imports and their onward exportTribal ‘unrest’ on the Turco-Persian frontier and delays in the arrival of a (Persian) Kermanshah Commissioner to adjudicate on disputesRawlinson’s concerns about a potential increase in Turkish-Persian tensions resulting from an Ottoman Special Commission sent to Bussorah [Basra] to assess and allegedly increase the values and revenues of the ports of Bussorah and Mohamerah [Khorramshahr, formerly Mohammerah] and strengthen Turkish maritime power at the mouth of the Shat el-Arab [Shatt al-Arab] and in the Persian GulfThe possible return to Turkey of Kurdish refugees, notably the Meer of Rowanduz [Mir of Rawandiz]Tension between Turkey and Persia over how to deal with ‘piracy’ in the Persian Gulf, including prevention of Turkish interference with the commerce of Mohamerah; Hennell’s agreement with the Governor of Fars for dealing with ‘piracy’ and proposal that Nejib Pasha [Mehmed Necib Pasha also known as Muhammad Najib Pasha], Governor of Baghdad, could seize Persian or Arabian ‘pirate’ boats in Turkish waters and the Euphrates River and involve British vessels of war; Rawlinson’s annoyance with Hennell for offering the assistance of British vessels of war; Nejib Pasha’s refusal to agree to a suggestion he considered an infringement of international laws and which would need referral to the Porte (Government of the Ottoman Empire)Turkish passport regulations for the subjects of the European powers entering or travelling in the Ottoman dominions, including the implications for Indian pilgrims travelling to Mecca, Kerbela [Karbala] and Nejef [Najaf] (English translation, ff 27-32).Physical description: There is an abstract of contents of the despatch, numbered 1-4, on folio 2. These numbers are repeated for reference on the verso of the last folio of each enclosure.
Abstract: A translation of a rukum [raqm, chancery letter] from the Prince Royal [‘Abbās Mīrzā, Crown Prince] of Persia [Iran], to the Agent of the Prince Royal at the Court of Tehran [Mīrzā Ismā’īl], dated 5 February 1824.The letter discusses:Negotiations with the Porte [Ottoman Empire], including a visit from a Turkish minister and reports from Bagdad [Baghdad]The proposed transfer of responsibility for diplomatic relations between Persia and Britain to the British Government in India, which is opposed by both the Prince and the Shah [Fath-‘Ali Shāh Qājār]The issue of delayed subsidy payments from Britain to PersiaEvents in the Caucasus, including a fire in the bazaar at Shusha and Russian setbacks in Daghestan [Dagestan]Issues concerning Russian representatives in Persia, in particular the treatment of a Russian veterinary surgeon.The translation was enclosed in the letter of Henry Willock, HM Chargé d’Affaires in Persia, to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 12 February 1824 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/159).Physical description: 1 item (4 folios)
Abstract: A translation of a letter from Henry Willock, HM Chargé d’Affaires in Persia [Iran], to Abbas Mirza [‘Abbās Mīrzā, Crown Prince of Persia], undated.In response to a rukum [chancery letter] from Abbas Mirza (IOR/L/PS/9/69/92), Willock affirms his planned departure from Tabreez [Tabrīz] to Britain, and states that his brother Major George Willock will take up his duties during his absence.The letter was enclosed in Willock’s letter to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 4 May 1822 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/88).Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: A memorandum of a meeting between Abbas Meerza [‘Abbās Mīrzā, Crown Prince of Persia] and Henry Willock, HM Chargé d’Affaires in Persia [Iran] in Tabreez [Tabrīz] on 26 April 1822, with an attached note dated 27 April.Issues covered in the meeting include Willock’s planned departure from Persia, opposed by the Prince; and frontier clashes with Turkey [Ottoman Empire] in which Britain had offered to mediate.The memorandum was enclosed in Willock’s letter to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 4 May 1822 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/88).Physical description: 1 item (4 folios)
Abstract: A translation of a letter from Mirza Abdul Wahab [Mīrzā Abdul Wahāb Nishāt Isfahānī], Foreign Minister of Persia [Iran], to HM Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs [Viscount Castlereagh] dated Rujjub [Rajab] 1237/April 1822.The letter protests arrears in subsidy payments to Persia, requests British help in negotiating frontier issues with Turkey [Ottoman Empire], and grants permission for Henry Willock, HM Chargé d’Affaires in Persia, to leave for Britain.The letter was enclosed in Willock’s letter to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 4 May 1822 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/88).Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: A translation of a firman [edict] from the King [Shah] of Persia [Iran] [Fath-‘Ali Shāh Qājār] to Abbas Mirza [‘Abbās Mīrzā, Crown Prince of Persia] presented by Henry Willock, HM Chargé d’Affaires, and dated Rujjub [Rajab] 1237/March-April 1822.The firman concerns arrears in subsidy payments to Persia and frontier disputes with Turkey [Ottoman Empire]. Abbas Mirza is ordered to allow Willock to return to Britain to discuss the issue of subsidies, and to await the arrival of Willock’s brother George to mediate between Persia and Turkey on the frontier issue.The letter was enclosed in Willock’s letter to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 4 May 1822 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/88).Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: A translation of a rukum [letter] from Abbas Mirza [‘Abbās Mīrzā], Crown Prince of Persia [Iran], to Henry Willock, HM Chargé d’Affaires in Persia, dated 7 Shahban [Sha’bān] 1237/29 April 1822.In response to a firman [edict] from the Shah (IOR/L/PS/9/69/90) the letter protests Willock’s planned departure from Tabreez [Tabrīz] to Britain to discuss arrears in subsidy payments to Persia, instead asking him to remain in order to negotiate frontier issues with Turkey [Ottoman Empire].The letter was enclosed in Willock’s letter to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 4 May 1822 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/88).Physical description: 1 item (4 folios)
Abstract: A copy of a letter from Henry Willock, HM Chargé d’Affaires in Persia [Iran], to George Canning, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, sent from Tabriz and dated 26 December 1823.The letter concerns treaty negotiations between Persia and the Ottoman Empire (Treaty of Erzurum) following the 1821-1823 war between the two countries. Subjects covered include: an attempt by the Prince Royal [‘Abbās Mīrzā, Crown Prince] of Persia to renegotiate the Ottoman-Persian border; the dispatch of a Persian envoy to the Ottoman Sultan; and a proposed alliance against Russia.The letter was enclosed in Willock’s letter to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company dated 8 January 1824 (IOR/L/PS/9/69/140).Physical description: 1 item (4 folios)
Abstract: The volume mostly contains copies of Weekly Letters and enclosures from the Political Resident at Aden, which were sent to the India Office for information.The volume consists of two parts: Part 1, dated 26 June 1916 to 19 January 1917, and Part 2, dated 22 December 1916 to 12 December 1918.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 first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 484; 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.A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.