Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay, Secret Department, to the Secret Committee, Number 26 of 1850, dated 1 May 1850.The enclosed papers, dated 28 November 1849 to 14 April 1850, concern affairs in Aden and the Red Sea. They mostly comprise despatches from Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Political Agent in Aden, to the Government of Bombay. These despatches often contain enclosures consisting of correspondence from diplomatic and naval officers in the Red Sea region. Also included is correspondence between: the Secretary to the Government of Bombay; the Marine Board of the Government of Bombay; Commodore Stephen Lushington, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Navy; and the Government of India.Several matters are covered by the papers, including:The death of the Ottoman Governor of Hodeida [Al Hudaydah]The poor state of British trade at Red Sea ports under Turkish [Ottoman] rule and suspected reasons for itThe removal of Captain William Lowe as Senior Naval Officer, Aden, due to his refusal to grant Haines's request for the services of East India Company Ship
Elphinstone.Enclosure Nos. 15-16, listed in the abstract of contents as copies of the
Bombay Overland Timesand the
Bombay Overland Telegraph and Courierdated 1 May 1850, are recorded as missing in a note dated 31 October 1906.Physical description: 1 item (39 folios)
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay, Secret Department, to the Secret Committee, Number 18 of 1850, dated 3 April 1850.The enclosed papers, dated between 18 February and 30 March 1850, concern affairs in Aden and the Red Sea. They comprise correspondence between Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Political Agent, Aden; the Government of Bombay; Captain John Parke Sanders, Senior Naval Officer, Aden; Commodore Stephen Lushington, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Navy; and the Government of India. Also included are minutes by the Governor of Bombay, Lord Viscount Falkland [Lucius Bentinck Cary, 10th Viscount Falkland].The papers concern general updates on the state of affairs in Aden, Mocha, Hodeida [Al Hudaydah], and the Abyssinian [East African] coast, and Haines's request for the services of East India Company ships,
Constanceand
Elphinstonefor the purposes of delivering packets and protecting British trade.Enclosure Nos. 10-11, listed in the abstract of contents as copies of the
Bombay Overland Timesand the
Bombay Overland Telegraph and Courierdated 3 April 1850, are recorded as missing in a note dated 31 October 1906.Physical description: 1 item (13 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 20 of 1853, dated 14 March 1853. The enclosures are numbered 3-8. Enclosure numbers 3-5 are dated 28 February to 11 March 1853.Enclosure number 3 is a letter (with enclosures) from the Political Agent at Aden, Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, Arthur Malet, regarding the state of affairs at Aden and within its vicinity, including:Secret information Haines has received, corroborated by an enclosed translation of a letter from the Chief of Lahidge, Ali M Houssain Foudthel El Abdali [the Sultan of Lahej, ‘Alī I bin Muḥsin al-‘Abdalī], that the Foutheli [Fadhli] Sultan had instructed certain men to try to kill any men practising their guns on the Isthmus, or any of those who accompany the artillery unarmed to watch their practice; Haines states that the intention of the Foutheli Chief is ‘no doubt to annoy the Chief of Lahidge by if possible, involving him in difficulty with the English in Aden’News received in a letter from Hodeida [Al Hudaydah] of a ‘skirmish’ between ‘the Turks’ and Arabs of the Beni Yam [Banī Yām] tribe, resulting in the defeat of the latter, but leaving the inhabitants of Mocha and Hodeida still in fear of an attack from ‘the Arabs’, and their trade at a standstill due to the roads to the interior being closedThe arrival of the French man of war steamer the
Caimanat Aden, which is awaiting the arrival of the French Admiral ‘Jaines’ in the frigate
Jeanne D’Arc, who it is believed intends to visit Suez, Judda [Jeddah], Mussowa [Massawa], Hodeida, and Mocha.The arrival of the
Caimanat Aden is also reported in a letter from the Commander in Chief of the Indian Navy, Henry John Leeke, to the President and Governor in Council, Bombay, Lord Viscount Falkland (enclosure No. 4, which includes an extract of a letter from the Senior Indian Naval Officer at Aden).Enclosure number 5 is a letter from the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay to the Officiating Secretary to the Government of India, forwarding copies of the above letters from the Political Agent at Aden and the Commander in Chief of the Indian Navy, for submission to the Governor-General of India in Council.Numbers 6-8, listed in the abstract of contents as copies of the
Bombay Timesoverland newspaper, the
Bombay Telegraph and Courier,and the
Bombay Gazette, all dated 14 March 1853, are noted as missing.Physical description: There is an abstract of contents of the despatch, numbered 1-8, on folios 452-453. These numbers are repeated for reference on the verso of the last folio of each enclosure.
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay, Secret Department, to the Secret Committee, Number 10 of 1850, dated 16 February 1850.The enclosed papers, dated 19 December 1849 to 15 February 1850, concern affairs in Abyssinia [Ethiopia and Eritrea] and on the Red Sea coast. They consist of a letter from Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Political Agent in Aden, to the Government of Bombay, in which he forwards a report by Lieutenant Adams, Commander of the East India Company schooner,
Constance. The report concerns his visits to Mussawa [Massawa], Hodeida [Al Hudaydah] and Mocha, and relays news from these places. The report, or extracts from it, are then forwarded to the Government of India, Fort William, and the British Consul General in Egypt, Charles Augustus Murray.Adams’s report covers various matters, including:French relations with the ruler of Adwa and the Patriarch of AbyssiniaHeavy duties being levied at ports along the Red Sea coast, particularly MussawaThe poor financial state of the Ottoman officers and troops in the region, and their efforts to raise moneyPolitical affairs in YemenPostal routes in Yeman and surrounding region.Physical description: 1 item (10 folios)
Abstract: This item consists of copies of a General Despatch from the Government of India Foreign Department to the Secretary of State for India, dated 15 May 1874 and received via Brindisi on 8 June 1874, forwarding a copy of a letter from the Government of Bombay reporting the proceedings of the Commander of HMS
Kwangtungin connection with the wreck of the steam ship
Woosungin the Red Sea.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with f 48 and terminates at f 55a, 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 48a, f 50a, f 52a, f 53a, and f 55a.
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.
Abstract: Correspondence, memoranda, and minutes relating to anti-slavery measures in the Red Sea. The correspondence is interdepartmental in nature, principally between officials at the India Office, Foreign Office, Colonial Office, Air Ministry, Admiralty, and the Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India. Further correspondence, mostly as enclosures, is between officials at the Residency in Aden, Embassy in Rome, British Legation in Addis Ababa, Political Department of the Government of Bombay, and the Imam of Yemen, Yehia bin Mohamed Hamid Uddin [Yaḥyā Muḥammad Ḥamīd al-Dīn].Matters discussed within the file include:The proposal of float-plane patrols along parts of the Red Sea, based on the island of KamaranThe need for an expansion of the intelligence service in the regionQuestion of the involvement of the French and Italian authoritiesQuestion of costs.The file contains extracts from intelligence reports by senior officers aboard sloops on patrol in the Red Sea, such as HMS
Lupin, HMS
Penzance, HMS
Hastings, and HMS
Dahlia. These extracts focus on slavery and the traffic of slaves in the area, with details on departure and landing points, overland routes, slave brokers and dealers, and specific cases of seizure or interception.Parliamentary notices are also included in the file, with extracts from Parliamentary sessions in which the Red Sea slave traffic was discussed.The file also contains correspondence that discusses a lecture (folios 60-69) given by Eldon Rutter of the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protection Society and a memorandum (folios 22-36) by Sir George Maxwell, British Representative on the Slavery Committee of the League of Nations. Both items concern slavery in the region.The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is 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 184; 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 contains four documents:1. A copy of a letter from Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad [Baghdad], to Jonathan Duncan, Governor of Bombay, sent from Bagdad and dated 12 December 1799. In response to Duncan’s letter of 16 October (see IOR/L/PS/9/76/100), Jones discusses routes of communication between Bussora [Basra] and Constantinople [Istanbul], recommending the route via Bagdad. The letter includes tables displaying the estimated travel time from Bussora to Constantinople via Bagdad and the rulers of the territory on this route.2. A list of presents sent by Tipoo Sultan [Tīpū Sulṭān of Mysore] to the Grand Signior [Selim III, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire] and the Grand Vizier [Yūsuf Ẓīa al-Dīn Pāshā] which arrived in Bagdad on 24 December 1799.The list was compiled by Jones on 26 December 1799.3. A copy of a letter from Harford Jones to Rear-Admiral John Blankett, Commander of the British naval squadron in the Red Sea, sent from Bagdad and dated 13 November 1799. The letter forwards dispatches and an intelligence report from Aleppo (not enclosed).Another copy of the same letter is catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/76/96.4. A copy of a letter from Rear-Admiral Blankett to Jones, sent from HMS
Leopardat Mocca [Mocha] and dated 31 July 1799. It covers subjects including:The retreat of the French forces led by General Napoleon Bonaparte from Accre [Acre]Planned Turkish [Ottoman] and Mameluke attacks on the French occupation forces from Suez and Upper EgyptThe French capture of Cossire [Al Qusayr]Relations and trade between the Government of Mecca and the French forcesThe supplies of the French forces in CairoReports from Maltese defectors that the French forces intend to offer peace termsThe disruption of the coffee trade by Bedouin tribesThe state of the British-occupied island of Perim.Physical description: 1 item (10 folios)
Abstract: The volume, which bears the alternative title ‘Turco-Italian War: Italian action in the Red Sea’ on its first page (f 3), contains correspondence relating to the blockade by the Italian navy of ports on the Red Sea, including Hodeida [Al-Ḥudaydah], from 25 January 1912. This action was part of the broader Italo-Turkish War of 1911/1912.The seizures specifically dealt with in the volume include:SS
Tuna, seized by the Italian destroyer
Artigliereon 26 January 1912;the SS
Woodcock,seized by the Italian warship
Calabriaon 2 February 1912, and again by the Italian warship
Elba, on 27 March 1912;numerous native dhows and sambuks, including the
Fath-el-Khair,the
Atiat-el-Ramanand the
Muft-el-Khair.Correspondents in the file include: the British Ambassador to Rome (James Rennell Rodd); the Italian Foreign Minister (Antonio di San Guiliano); the Secretary to the Government of Bombay (Charles Augustus Kincaid); representatives of the merchants Cowasjee [also spelt Cowasji] Dinshaw & Brothers of Aden, owners of the vessel SS
Woodcock; Foreign Office officials (primarily Sir Eyre Alexander Barby Wichart Crowe); India Office officials (Thomas William Holderness; Arthur Hirtzel).Papers include:British Government correspondence relating to the state of affairs in Yemen and Hejaz, namely Italian support for Sayyid Muhammad ibn Ali Al-Idrisi, and Turkish action against Ali Al-Idrisi;copies of resolutions and correspondence from representatives of the All-India Muslim League and Anjuman-i-Islam, raising concerns that the Italian blockade of Jeddah would prevent Muslims travelling to Mecca on Hajj;correspondence between British Indian traders and vessel owners operating on the Yemen coast, and Government representatives at Aden, relating to blockade actions, including the boarding of vessels by Italian naval officers, and confiscation of goods;correspondence between British officials and British and Italian Government officials (with some letters in Italian), relating to the seizure of vessels, confiscation of goods by the Italian naval officials, the subsequent referral of seizures to the Italian Prize Court [Commissione Delle Prede], and the settlement of individual cases.The file contains copies (in Italian, in addition to English translations) of the Commissione Delle Prede’s orders and regulations (f 17, ff 99-100, f 139, ff 145-146, ff 186-187), and a translation of the Commission’s hearing over the case of SS
Tuna(spelt
Thuna) (ff 69-70).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 315; 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 between ff 3-313; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: Papers concerning the impact of war between Britain and Turkey upon shipping, food supplies and travellers on Hajj pilgrimage, along the Red Sea coast of Arabia (including the Hedjaz [Hejaz] and Yemen), and the wider Arab region. Subjects covered include:Reports of food shortages in the Hedjaz region (including at Jeddah and Mecca), prompted by the Government of India’s prohibition of exports to the region from India in March 1914, the subsequent reinstatement of exports (announced in a communiqué from the Viceroy in May 1915, folios 90-91), and reports of the seizure of foodstuffs by the Turkish authorities at Mecca and Jeddah (ff 44-48).Arrangements for the shipment of foodstuffs to the Hedjaz from Egypt.Italian shipping in the Red Sea, including reports of Italian ships stopping at Turkish-controlled ports, and articles banned from being shipped by Italian vessels (ff 167-168).A reported incident in February 1915, in which Turkish military authorities requisitioned 30,000 sacks of barley from an Italian vessel, reported as being intended for Egyptian pilgrims (ff 153-162).The role of the Italian authorities in the Hedjaz in the distribution of supplies, and the implications on this role of Italy’s entry into the war (ff 85-89).Famine in Yemen, reported by British officials as being the result of locust outbreaks in the region, and shipping restrictions from India (ff 122-124).Discussion of whether British subjects from India should be prohibited, or only discouraged from, travelling to Arabia on pilgrimage in 1915 (ff 69-77).The High Commissioner in Egypt, Arthur Henry McMahon’s 1915 proclamation ‘to the people of Arabia’ (English text, folio 64), including responses to the proclamation, and discussion of its implications, amongst Foreign and India Office staff (ff 54-64).Copies of correspondence from McMahon, dated March to June 1916, regarding his negotiations with Shereef [Hussein ibn Ali al-Hashimi] (ff 18-32).In May 1916, a further blockade on foodstuffs to Jeddah (ff 5-17).The volume’s principal correspondents include: the British High Commissioner in Egypt (Arthur Henry McMahon); the India Office (Arthur Hirtzel, Thomas William Holderness); the British Political Resident at Aden (Charles Henry Uvedale Price); the Viceroy and Governor-General of India (Charles Hardinge).The file contains a single item of correspondence in French, a copy of a letter from the Banque Imperiale Ottomane at Djeddah [Jeddah], dated 27 November 1914 (ff 180-183).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 228; 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 volume is the first of three successive volumes of correspondence (IOR/L/PS/10/32-34), relating to the British prohibition and suppression of arms traffic between ports in Aden, the Red Sea and the coast of East Africa. The several correspondents include officials at the Foreign Office, the India Office and the Admiralty in London, as well as officials in the Government of India Foreign and Political Department and in the Government of Bombay Political Department. Other notable correspondents are the Commander-in-Chief for the East Indies Station and the Senior Naval Officer for the Aden Division, the Political Resident and the First Assistant Resident at Aden, and the British Commissioner for the Somaliland Protectorate. Included in the correspondence between officials are: a petition from the people of Zeyla [Zeila] to the Deputy Commissioner of British Somaliland in 1905, representations made by British Indian merchants to the Political Agent at Muscat in 1903, a witness statement made by an Arab boat captain to the Harbour Police at Aden in 1905, and an arms traffic intelligence report received from a Reuter’s agent in about 1903. There are a few nineteenth century enclosures to the correspondence between officials, including two letters written in 1891, from Ras Makunan [Makonnen] the Governor of Harrar [Harar, Ethiopia], to the Political Agent and Consul for the Somali Coast.The volume contains a small amount of correspondence in French, in the form of an exchange of notes between the French Minister and the British and Italian Ambassadors in Paris and London, 1905-1906, as well as a copy in French of the Arms Traffic Agreement between France, Italy and Great Britain that was signed in London on 13 December 1906. The diplomatic correspondence also includes an English translation of a document entitled ‘Instructions for the Suppression of the Traffic in Arms in Somaliland’, compiled in about 1904 by the Italian Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs and the Italian Minister of Marine.The file includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 288; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Two additional foliation sequences are also present in parallel between ff 67-85, and ff 97-169; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This volume is the second of three successive volumes of correspondence (IOR/L/PS/10/32-34), relating to the British prohibition and suppression of arms traffic between ports in Aden, the Red Sea and the coast of East Africa. The volume contains copies of ‘The Somaliland Registration of Vessels Regulations, 1904’ and the ‘Aden Sea-traffic in Arms Regulation, 1902’. There is substantial correspondence about amending the 1902 regulation, together with revised drafts made in 1907 and 1908. Correspondents are officials at the Foreign Office, the India Office and the Admiralty in London and the British Ambassador at Paris, as well as officials in the Government of India Foreign and Political Department and in the Government of Bombay Political Department. Other notable correspondents are the Commander-in-Chief for the East Indies Station, the Commander and Senior Naval Officer for the Persian Gulf Division, the Senior Naval Officer for the Aden Division, the Political Resident and the First Assistant Resident at Aden, the Political Agent at Muscat and the British Commissioner for the Somaliland Protectorate. Included in the correspondence are English translations of several letters sent and received by Sultan Ahmed Fadthl, The Abdali of Yemen (also referred to as the Abdali Sultan) in 1905 and 1907, and also by Said Faisal the Sultan of Oman in 1907.The volume contains a small amount of correspondence in French, in the form of a letter from the Italian Consul at Aden to the First Assistant Resident at Aden in 1906 and a letter from the French Consul at Muscat to the Political Agent at Muscat in 1907. The diplomatic correspondence also includes several English translations of notes from the Italian Ambassador and the Italian Chargé d’Affaires at London, to the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in 1907 and 1908.The file includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 264; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The front and back covers, along with the leading and ending flyleaves have not been foliated. A previous foliation sequence, which is present between ff 145-264 and is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.