Abstract: This item consists primarily of copies of correspondence, minutes and consultations cited in, or enclosed with, a letter from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] to the East India Company Court of Directors.The item relates to the efforts of the Government of Bombay to suppress the slave trade on the coasts of Cutch [Kachchh] and Kattywar [Kathiawar Peninsula, also referred to in the item as Katteewar], and in particular to prevent enslaved people from Africa being imported into these places by vessels from the Arabian Peninsula. It specifically addresses:Attempts to persuade local rulers in Cutch and Kattywar to adopt measures to prevent enslaved people being traded at their ports. Included are copies of communications from the Jam of Noanuggur [Jam Saheb of Nawanagar], the Rana of Porebunder [Porbandar] the Guicowar [Maharaja Gaekwad] of Baroda, the chief [Shaikh] of Mangrolle [Mangrol], and the Rao of Cutch.The arrival of three vessels at Porebunder [Porbandar] carrying enslaved children; the release of the children and their removal to Bombay; and the arrangements made for their accommodation and support. A register of the children is includedThe seizure of a merchant vessel from Porebunder at the port of Kisseen [Qishn, also referred to in the item as Kisheen and Cusson] on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and the efforts made to retrieve the vessel and its cargo. Those alleged to be responsible are members of the Maharah tribe [al-Mahrah, referred to in the item by a number of variant spellings] who are said to have seized the vessel in retaliation for the earlier release of the enslaved children in PorebunderThe arrival of two more vessels carrying enslaved children into ports in Kattywar; the removal of the children to Bombay; and the arrangements made for their future supportProposals for further measures that might be taken, both in Cutch and Kattywar as well as in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula.The primary correspondents are: Robert Grant, Governor of Bombay; William Lang, Acting Political Agent, Kattywar; Charles Malcolm, Superintendent Indian Navy; Jewan Oodhowjee [Jivan Udhoji], Manager of the firm Dhurumsey Luckmeedass [Dharmse Lakhmidas]; Captain A P Reid, Officer Commanding Detachment at Porebunder; Rana Wikmathjee [Vikramatji Khimojiraj], Rana of Porebunder; John Warden, Senior Magistrate of Police, Bombay; and John Pollard Willoughby, Secretary to Government, Bombay.The item contains contents pages (ff 5-20), and the title page (f 4) of the item contains the following references: ‘P C [Previous Communication] 2196, No. 1, Draft 573-1838’ and ‘Examiner’s Office’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with f 4 and terminates at f 254, 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 volume also contains an original pagination sequence.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence relating to trading restrictions being placed upon the inhabitants of Al-Mahra [incorrectly written in some parts of the file as Manris; Al-Mahra is in present-day Yemen] and Socotra, in response to the authorities of Qishn refusing the British Government permission to construct an aircraft landing ground in their territory. A telegram (f 3) followed by a letter (ff 5-7) from the (Officiating) Chief Commissioner at Aden, Lieutenant-Colonel Morice Challoner Lake, both dated 4 February 1933, announce the imposition of the trading restrictions. The letter gives further details of the efforts of Royal Air Force representatives to establish a landing ground at Qishn, the resistance met from authorities, and the threats made against trading facilities for the inhabitants of Mahra and Socotra.A further telegram (f 9) from Lake to the Political Resident announces that the Qishn authorities have withdrawn opposition to the landing ground, resulting in the lifting of trade restrictions. There is a truncated note at the end of the file (f 11) which notes that the Political Agent discussed the matter of trade between Al-Mahra/Socrata and Bahrain with the Adviser [to the Government of Bahrain, Charles Dalrymple Belgrave], who notes that a number of Bahrain merchants trade at Socotra and that poor men from the Mahri coast and Socotra come to Bahrain for the pearling season.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover on folio 1 and terminates at the back cover on folio 12; 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 also present in parallel between ff 2-11; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
Abstract: This file consists of copies of extracts from (approximately) monthly reports of the proceedings of His Majesty's ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden during the years 1931-1945, which have been forwarded by the Admiralty to the Under-Secretary of State, India Office.Most of the extracts are attributed to the Senior Officer of the Red Sea Sloops, the Commander-in-Chief of Mediterranean Station, or commanding officers of particular British ships. Prominently featured ships include the following: HMS
Lupin, HMS
Penzance, HMS
Londonderry, and HMS
Weston.The extracts vary in their range of subject matter. Some of the extracts are largely concerned with local affairs along the Yemeni coast; others report on matters relating to the region as a whole, such as Saudi-Yemeni relations.Matters discussed in the extracts include the following:The slave trade.The transportation of a British medical mission to Yemen in December 1931, headed by a female doctor named P W R Petrie, for the purpose of treating the Imam of Yemen's [Yaḥyá Muḥammad Ḥamīd al-Dīn's] granddaughter.The passage of pilgrims through Kamaran.A visit by the Chief Commissioner of Aden [Bernard Rawdon Reilly] to Abd el Kuri [Abd al Kuri] and Socotra, on board HMS
Penzance, in 1933.The presence of Saudi forces in Asir.Relations between Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and the Imam of Yemen.The Saudi-Yemeni conflict of 1934, including details of the evacuation of Yemeni troops from Hodeida [Al Ḩudaydah] and the subsequent entry of Saudi troops.Italian naval posts in the Red Sea.Yemeni concerns that Italy, following on from events in Abyssinia, might also become aggressive towards Yemen.The importance of Kamaran as a Red Sea trading port.Details of a special arms patrol carried out by HMS
Westonin the Gulf of Akaba [Aqaba] in 1938.The correspondence concludes with a copy of an intelligence report of the Red Sea area, dated 17 October 1945 and produced by the Naval Intelligence Centre, Levant and East Mediterranean.In addition to report extracts, the file includes a small sketch map of the Aden Protectorate and the surrounding area.The file includes two 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 for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 246; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An external leather cover wraps around the documents, the front inside of which has been foliated as folio 1. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-245; these numbers are also written in pencil but are not circled.