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1. ‘Proceedings connected with the concessions made by the Imaum of Muscat for the suppression of the Slave Trade with Europeans vol 2’
- Description:
- Abstract: This item consists of copies of correspondence, minutes, and consultations, cited in, or enclosed with, political letters from the Government of Bombay. It is the second in a series of three items on Muscat and the slave trade (the others are IOR/F/4/913/25777 and IOR/F/4/914/25779). The principal correspondents are the governments of Bombay and Bengal; Robert Farquhar, Governor of Mauritius; Fairfax Moresby, Commander of HMS Menai; the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat, [Sayyid Sa‘īd bin Sulṭān Āl Bū Sa‘īd].The item concerns:Moresby’s capture of the Industry, a ship engaged in the slave tradeAgreements with the Imaum of Muscat about the slave trade and port duesFrench attempts to establish a new base at MadagascarThe state of the slave trade at ZanzibarNegotiation of the Moresby Treaty with the Imaum of Muscat, including a map of the Moresby Line (f 214)Explanations of the Moresby Treaty and the differences between the English and Arabic versionsCaptain William Fitzwilliam Owen’s survey expedition in HMS Levenand his observations on the slave tradeLiberation of three Christian women from Bahrein, who had been kidnapped from Mangalore.Folios 151-257 of the item are duplicates of folios 86-187 of IOR/F/4/746/20306, with some minor insertions, omissions, and alteration of sequence. Folios 263-271 of the item are duplicates of folios 46-53 of IOR/F/4/785/21163.The item includes a contents page, and the title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Bombay Political No. 943, Draft 8, P.C. 423, [Season] 1827/28’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 148, and terminates at f 287, 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.
2. ‘Persian Gulf. Abolition of the Slave Trade in the Principal ports of-’
- Description:
- Abstract: The item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence, minutes and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, letters from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] to the East India Company Court of Directors. The item relates to attempts by the Government of Bombay to suppress the trade in enslaved people in the Gulf and on the coasts of Cutch, Kattywar and Karachi [Kachchh, Kāthiāwār and Karāchi]. In particular, the item relates to:A report in 1837 by Abdoola bin Awaz [Abdullah bin ‘Awaz] that 233 young women were abducted from the Burburra Coast [Berbera] by the crews of Joasmee [al-Qawāsim] boats to be sold at the principal ports on the Arabian side of the GulfConcerns expressed by Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf, in 1837-38 regarding the difficulty in persuading the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat and the principal Arabian chiefs to prohibit their subjects from participating in the trade in enslaved people and his fear that reducing this trade conducted by these rulers would simply result in the trade being carried on by others from the Ottoman Porte [Ottoman Empire] and Persia [Iran]Hennell’s success in obtaining agreements in 1838-39 with several rulers on the Arabian peninsula, the contents of which: extend the boundary line beyond which it is prohibited to carry enslaved people from between Cape Delgado and Diu Head to between Cape Delgado and Pussein [Pasni]; authorise the British Government to search any vessels belonging to the rulers’ subjects found eastward of this boundary line which may be suspected of carrying enslaved people and to liberate the enslaved people on board; confirm that Soomalee [Somali] people are to be considered as ‘hoor’ [ḥurr] or ‘free’, therefore the selling of them as enslaved people is to be considered an act of ‘piracy’.The above agreements being signed by: Seed Said bin Sultan, the Imaum of Muscat [Sayyid Sa‘īd bin Sulṭān Āl Bū Sa‘īd]; Shaik Sultan bin Suggur of Rasel Khymah [Shaikh Sulṭān I bin Ṣaqr al-Qāsimī of Ra’s al-Khaymah and Sharjah]; Shaik Mukhtoom bin Butye of Debaye [Shaikh Maktūm I bin Buṭṭī Āl Bū Falāseh of Dubai]; Shaik Abdoollah bin Rashed of Amulgaveen [Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Rāshid al-Mu’allā of Umm al-Qaywayn]; Shaik Rashid bin Humeed of Ejman [Shaikh Rāshid I bin Ḥumaid al-Nu‘aymī of ‘Ajmān]; and Shaik Khuleefa bin Shakboot of Aboothabee [Shaikh Khalifa bin Shakhbūṭ Āl Nahyān of Abu Dhabi]Discussions of how these agreements differ from previous treaties, including the 1820 General Maritime Treaty [General Treaty with the Arab Tribes of the Persian Gulf] and the 1822 treaty signed between the Imaum and Captain Moresby of HMS ship Menai, and whether parts of the treaties are too ambiguousA complaint in 1840 by Captain A H Nott, Commanding the Company ship Tigris, that despite the new agreements he is unable to interfere with vessels found with enslaved people on board because he cannot prove that the people have been kidnapped directly by the crews of the vesselsMinutes by the Board of the Government of Bombay lamenting the apparent ineffectiveness of the new agreements and suggesting further measures to be taken.The item contains a copy of the Bombay Government Gazette (folios 1015-1022) from 21 May 1840, which, amongst other notifications, announces the new agreement with the Imaum of Muscat in English, Arabic, Persian, Gujarati and Marathi. In addition, Captain Nott’s reports (folios 1030-1031 and 1041-1044) provide details on the number of enslaved people being trafficked annually, how they come to be enslaved, and at which prices they are sold.There are numerous copies of the 1838-39 agreements at: ff 935-936; 943; 945-946; 991; 994-995; 999-1000; 1008-1009; and 1050.Principal correspondents include: Hennell; Nott; Thomas MacKenzie, Acting Assistant in charge of the [Persian Gulf] Residency; the governments of Bombay and India; and agents at Muscat and Shargah [Sharjah].The title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Bombay Political Department’, ‘P.C. [Previous Communication] 3075, Draft 431, 1841’, ‘Collection No. 5’ and ‘Examiner’s Office’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 929, and terminates at f 1078, 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 item also contains an original pagination sequence.
3. 'Slavery in the Persian Gulf'
- Description:
- Abstract: Memorandum providing an overview of the extent of slavery in the Persian Gulf, and the measures undertaken by his Majesty's Government to combat it.Covering:introduction outlining the legal status of slavery;treaty engagements of the Arab States of the Gulf, including Ibn Saud's [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd’s] cooperation in the suppression of the slave trade;treaty engagements of Persia - the Anglo-Persian Slavery Convention of 2 March 1882 for the suppression of the traffic of slaves;present position on the Arab Littoral of the Gulf – with proposals made by Sir Lionel Haworth, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf;resent position on the Persian Littoral;Persian representations regarding abrogation of Slavery Convention of 1882 with Great Britain, and the implications of the League of Nations' Slavery Convention of 1926;attitude to be adopted towards a Persian demand for abrogation, expressing views of the Foreign Office, India Office, and Admiralty.Written by John Gilbert Laithwaite of the India Office.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 65, and terminates at f 66, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
4. ‘Slave Trade – Volume 1’
- Description:
- Abstract: This item consists of copies of political letters from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai]. It is the first in a series of seven items on the trade in enslaved people (the others are IOR/F/4/2014/89997, 89998, 89999, 90000, 90001, and 90002).The item concerns:A possible mistranslation and misinterpretation of Article Three of the General Treaty with the Arab Tribes of the Persian Gulf of 1822An increase in the trade in enslaved people in ZanzibarIndividual cases of emancipationThe possibility of issuing a general proclamation to emancipate all enslaved people found on vessels that do not belong to nations which have a special arrangement about slavery.The papers which were enclosed in the letters are in the other volumes in the series. The item includes a contents page, and the title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Draft 666, P.C. [Previous Communication] 4079, [18]43’ and ‘Examiner’s Office’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 146, and terminates at f 164, 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.
5. ‘Slave Trade at Zanzibar the Mauritius etc’
- Description:
- Abstract: This item consists of copies of correspondence, consultations, minutes, and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, political letters from the Government of Bombay. The principal correspondents are the Government of Bombay; the Governor of Mauritius, Robert Farquhar; Captain Fairfax Moresby of HMS Menai.The item concerns the abolition of the slave trade and particularly the negotiations, treaties, and agreements about the slave trade with the following: Radama, the King of Madagascar; the Haukim [Hakim] of Zanzibar, Sueed Ukburee [Sa’īd Akbari]; the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat and Oman [Sayyid Sa‘īd bin Sulṭān Āl Bū Sa‘īd]; the Governor of Bourbon [Réunion], Pierre Bernard Milius.The item describes the treaty Farquhar concluded with Radama, the King of Madagascar, who signed it on 11 October 1820, agreeing to prohibit the sale and exportation of slaves from Madagascar, and stop the attacks on the King of Johanna [Anjouan].There is a discussion of the legal issues of the French and British capturing each other’s ships with slaves on board, including the British captures of LeSuccesand L’Eleanore, and the French captures of Espoirand Favorite, with a discussion of the Amediecase from 1810. The possibility of the French forming depots at Providence and St Marie, Madagascar is also mentioned, as is the accidental seizure of two of the Imaum’s ships by the Psyche.The main focus of the item is the treaty Moresby negotiated with the Imaum of Muscat in 1822, whereby the Imaum agreed that no slave should be sold to Christians from his territory, including Zanzibar, and that vessels carrying the Imam’s flag might be seized if they were carrying slaves east of the Moresby line (the line from Cape Delgado to Diu). The British were allowed to establish agents in the Imaum’s territory to enforce the treaty.The item includes a contents page, and the title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Political No. 12, Draft 496, P.C. 154, [Season] 1823/4’ and ‘Examiner’s Office 1823’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 18, and terminates at f 187, 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.
6. 'Memorandum on Expenses of Zanzibar Consulate, &c.'
- Description:
- Abstract: A memorandum explaining the deadlock between the India and Foreign Offices regarding the expenses of the Zanzibar Agency. With quotations from correspondence, the text gives an outline of the principal events since 1861 to document a historical disagreement between the departments over the principle of which department should pay for work carried out by the Zanzibar Agency relating to the abolition of the East Africa slave trade. Written by Arthur Naylor Wollaston, 16 December 1874.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 73, and terminates at f 79, as it is part of a larger 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 between ff 5-168; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
7. Persian Affairs
- Description:
- Abstract: This item comprises a copy of an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 24 of 1847, dated 12 March 1847. The enclosure is dated 14 January 1847.The item comprises copies of despatches forwarded, for the information of the Governor-General of India, by Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Sheil, HM Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Persia [Iran], to Viscount Palmerston, HM Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, with relevant enclosures.The papers cover a number of matters, notably including:1) Sheil’s advice to Major Samuel Hennell, Political Resident in Bushire [Bushehr], not to admit the claim of an Indian-Persian merchant to be considered a British subject, since his motive is likely to be the evasion of legal customs duties and because acquiescence would cause conflict with the Persian [Iranian] authorities.2) An arrangement concluded by Hennell with the Governor of Fars for the employment of British ships of war for the redress of grievances committed against British subjects in the Persian ports of the Persian Gulf, and the extension of similar protection to Persian subjects.3) Following instructions from Palmerston, Sheil’s attempt to offer the Ameer of Bokhara [Amir of Bukhara] a ransom of 15,000 tomans for the surrender of Colonel Stoddart, Captain Connolly and Lieutenant W H Wyburd [William Henry Wybard] at either Meshed [Mashhad] or Merve [Merv], including a copy of Sheil’s letter to the Ameer (ff 488-489) to be delivered via the ‘Khaleefa or Chief Priest’ at Merve and which is written to appear derived from the friends of the three men, not on behalf of the British Government4) An attempt made by Prince Dolgorukie [Prince Dimitri Ivanovich Dolgorukov], Russian Minister in Tehran, to induce the Persian Government to issue a firman admitting Russian men of war vessels to the ‘back water of Enzellee [Bandar-e Anzali]’ (on the Caspian Sea), including copies of a letter from Dolgoroukie and the reply of Hajee Meerza Aghassee [Ḥājī Mīrzā Āqāsī, Prime Minister to the Shāh of Persia] which Sheil obtained from a ‘private source’ (ff 490-491).5) Sheil’s report of three incidents involving the use of torture – which had officially been abolished by a firman – and the protests made by both Sheil and Dolgoroukie and the actions taken in each case. The incidents relate to: a ‘barbarous act’ committed by Thamasp Meerza [Ṭahmāsp/Ṭahmāsb Mīrzā], a son of the late Shah and governor of a small district near Tabreez [Tabriz] named Binab, leading to his recall to Tehran; the apparent torture to death of a ‘Mahomedan’ [Muslim] servant of ‘a French adventurer named M. Ferrier’ suspected of robbing the latter’s house; and Sheil’s pecuniary punishment of two Mission staff for the methods they used to elicit confessions from persons suspected of robbing their houses.6) Intelligence from Meshed that Mahomed Akber Khan [Muḥammad Akbar Khān], son of Dost Mahomed Khan [Dūst Muḥammad Khān Bārakzāy, Amīr of Afghanistan], has laid siege to Candahar [Kandahar] and applied for aid from Yar Mahomed Khan [Yār Muḥammad Khān, ruler of Herat] (apparently because of the refusal of Kohendil Khan [Kuhandil Khān Muḥammadzā’ī, of Candahar] to join him in an attack on the English garrison at Shikarpore [Shikarpur]), and that their agents have arrived in Tehran apparently to seek Persian support against a supposed British invasion of Afghanistan.7) Following instructions from Palmerston, Sheil’s approach to the Government of Herat to ascertain its views on a closer relationship with England, including: a copy of a non-committal letter from Yar Mahomed Khan to Sheil (ff 500-501); a copy of Sheil’s letter to Yar Mahomed offering to send a member of the British Mission to Herat (ff 501-502); and Sheil’s report that the agent of Yar Mahomed claims the latter would not be averse to having an Englishman there, but that the anti-English feeling in Afghanistan currently makes this impossible.8) Sheil’s correspondence with Hajee Meerza Aghassee (ff 494-498) relating to his unsuccessful attempts to persuade the Persian ministers to agree to the suppression of the trade in enslaved persons in the Persian ports of the Persian Gulf, including the Shah’s refusal to commit to ‘a breach of the precepts of the Koran’ (f 494), and Aghassee’s claim that he himself supports abolition.9) Reports that five battalions (3000 men) have arrived in Tehran to form part of the force for the intended expedition to Khorassan [Khorasan], including: the planned objectives of the expedition in Asterabad [Gorgan], Boojnoord [Bojnord] and Kelat [Kalat]; and uncertainty regarding its command and the attendance of the Shah.10) A letter to Sheil from Meerza Kazim [Mīrzā Kāẓim], Agent of Hajee Meerza Aghassee at Meshed, regarding his investigations in Khorassan, Orgenjee [Urgench?], Bokhara, Herat, and Candahar, into the fate of the Englishman Mr Wyburd, ‘who gave himself the appellation and was known under the name of Hajee Ahmed’. Meerza Kazim encloses a letter from a merchant friend of his in Bokhara relating that ‘Hajee Ahmed’ arrived in Bokhara posing as an ‘Ottoman Turk’, stayed at the Court of the Ameer of Bokhara until the latter gave him to Naib Abdoos Semed Khan [Nā’ib ‘Abd al-Ṣamad Khān], and that at that man’s house he later hanged himself.Physical description: 1 item (23 folios)
8. Vol 26: Letters Inward
- Description:
- Abstract: The file consists of correspondence addressed to the Resident at Bushire, Captain William Bruce. However, much of the content has been weeded, and is no longer present in the file; this is indicated by gaps in the file's pagination sequence.The remaining content includes some instructions to the Resident, concerning a stop-off he made at Muscat during his return from Bombay to Bushire early in 1822, along with a dispatch from Henry Willock, HM Chargé d'affaires at the Court of Persia, concerning the deterioration of his situation at Tehran as a result of arrears in the Persian Subsidy. It also includes a letter from the Bombay Government removing William Bruce from his position as Resident at Bushire at the end of 1822, for negotiating an unauthorised treaty at Shiraz with the Persian authorities there.Physical description: Foliation: The main foliation sequence commences at the cover and terminates at the last folio; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: An incomplete pagination sequence is also present between ff 2-40v; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the top outermost corners of each page.
9. Persian Gulf Affairs
- Description:
- 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)
10. Persian Gulf Affairs
- Description:
- Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 84 of 1847, dated 30 September 1847. The enclosures are dated 9 June-11 September 1847.The primary documents are despatches of Major Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf, to the Chief Secretary to the Government, Bombay, and for the information of the President and Governor in Council, chiefly forwarding copies of reports and letters received, and his correspondence with various officials, notably: Colonel Justin Sheil, HM Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary at the Court of Persia [Iran]; Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, Political Agent, Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq]; and Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Acting Political Agent, Turkish Arabia. The correspondence of the latter two notably include letters addressed to them by Lord Cowley [Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley], HM Minister Plenipotentiary at Constantinople [Istanbul].The despatches cover numerous matters, including the following:1) The apparent designs of the Ottoman Empire to extend its authority and influence over the Island of Bahrein [Bahrain], including: a report from Commodore John Croft Hawkins, on the HC [Honourable Company] Steam Frigate Queen, describing a visit on board the ship by the Sheik of Bahrein [Shaikh Muḥammad bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah, Shaikh of Bahrain] and confirming the non-appearance of either the Turkish vessel or Turkish agent said to have been proceeding towards the island; and the emphatic refusal, by Nejib Pasha, Governor of Bagdad [Muḥammad Najīb Pāshā, Governor of Baghdad], to recognize a letter apparently addressed to the Sheik of Bahrein by the Mootesellim [Mutasallim] of Bussorah [Governor of Basra], inviting the former to put himself under the protection of the Ottoman flag.2) The temporary detention at Shiraz, by an informant of Sheil, of a messenger said to be carrying a letter addressed to the Shah [Muḥammad Shāh Qājār, Shāh of Persia] from an ‘influential Prince of India’ inviting him to ‘invade Hindoostan by the way of Affghanistan [Afghanistan], and assuring him of every support and cooperation’ (f 139), and Sheil’s dismissal of its seriousness.3) British measures in relation to effecting the abolition of the ‘African Slave Trade’, notably:The announcement to the Ottoman Porte that Hennell has obtained the consent of the ‘Independent Maritime Chiefs of the Arabian Coast’ (f 142) to the total abolition of the trade in enslaved persons from Africa (the agreement to come into effect at the end of the next year)Arrangements to be made by the Ottoman authorities regarding registration of crews of all vessels belonging to Bussorah and Koweit [Kuwait]Hennell’s desire, following reports that large numbers of ‘Hubshees or Abyssinian [Ethiopian] slaves’ (f 147) have been imported from the coast of Berbera, to bring the measures agreed with the Ottoman Sultan, Independent Maritime Chiefs of the Arabian Coast and the Imam of Muscat into full effect immediately, and his suggestions to strengthen the British naval presence and powers of inspection in the vicinity of Zanzibar, Berbera and Zelah [Zeila] and in the Gulf, and to make seizures of ‘contraband cargo’ to deter Persians from further trade in enslaved personsThe concerns of Hennell and Kemball regarding amended instructions issued by the Turkish [Ottoman] Government to Nejib Pasha, for the disposal of enslaved persons who are liberated under the recent convention, specifically the option that ‘rescued’ Africans may remain in Ottoman territory if they choose to rather than being conveyed on board a British vessel. Included is a translated copy of the Turkish Government’s instructions to the Governor of Bagdad directing that the ‘liberated... [ones] must be allowed to stay where they please’ (ff 155-156)Hennell’s advice to the senior naval officer at Bushire [Bushehr] to only take measures against a vessel belonging to a subject of the Imam of Muscat, lately arrived with ‘a cargo of 30-40 negro [Black African] and Abyssinian slaves from Muscat for sale’ (f 160), once it has left Bushire Harbour, as it is a foreign (Persian) portHennell’s and Kemball’s desire to ensure the swift implementation of instructions issued by Nejib Pasha to the Mootsellim of Bussorah (ff 204-205) regarding the measures to be taken against Turkish vessels and Turkish merchants involved in the exportation of enslaved persons from Africa, and for the speedy removal of manumitted persons from Bussorah temporarily to Bushire and Bassidore [Basaidu], and subsequently to India.4) Hennell’s mediatory involvement in the affair of the ‘plunder’ in 1846 of the wreck of the large bugla [buggalow] Akab, belonging to the Sheik of Kishm [Shaik of Qeshm], near Bushire Harbour, including: the complaint by the Sheik that the boatmen of Bushire plundered the boat’s rigging and stores; and the return in 1847 of plundered articles, via Sheik Nassir of Bushire [Shaikh Nāṣir of Bushehr], including a list of plundered articles (f 171) and a list of items handed in to Sheik Nassir by each Nakoda [Nakhuda, a boat captain or master] (f 175).5) Rumours that the officers of a Turkish vessel visiting ports of the Arabian coast are claiming they are going to replace British with Turkish influence in the Gulf, notably: the alarm of Shaik Muctoom (Debay) [Maktūm bin Butti bin Suhail, of Dubai]; the apparent exultation of Sultan ben Sugger (chief of the Joasmee [al-Qāsimī] tribe) [Shaikh Sulṭān I bin Ṣaqr al-Qāsimī, Ruler of Sharjah and Ra’s al-Khaymah, al-Jazirah al-Hamra and Ar Rams, variously]; the general concern of the independent Arab rulers on the coast of the Gulf; and Hennell’s dismissal of the story, insisting that the Turkish functionaries are only protecting their trade and preventing the importation of enslaved persons.Physical description: 1 item (75 folios)
11. Aden Affairs
- Description:
- Abstract: This item comprises enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee [Bombay Secret Letter], No. 17 dated 16 February 1856. The enclosures are dated 5 December 1855-16 Feburary 1856.The primary correspondents are Brigadier William Marcus Coghlan, Acting Political Resident and Commandant, Aden; the Secretary to the Government, Bombay; and Stephen Page, HM Acting Vice-Consul and the HC [Honourable Company] Officiating Agent at Juddah[Jeddah, also spelled Judda and Jiddah in this item]. The item also includes three related Resolutions of the Board.The papers cover the following matters:The ‘tranquil’ state of affairs in Aden, including relations between the Oulaki [Awlaki] and Abdali [‘Abdali] ‘chiefs’ and the gathering of supporters by the Foudheli ‘chief’ [Aḥmad bin Abdullāh al-Faḍlī] regarding his stipend (from the British authorities)News from Mocha and Hodeida [Al Hudaydah] relating to the serious state of affairs in Yemen, notably with regard to a force of the Aseer [‘Asir] tribe, rumoured to be 30,000-40,000 strong, allegedly advancing to take the sea ports of Yemen, including copies of: a letter from the principal merchants of Mocha appealing for British protection; Coghlan’s instructions to the Commander of the HC [Honourable Company] steam frigate Queen, to proceed to Mocha and Hodeida and if necessary assist the ‘subjects of the allied powers living there’, or proceed to Juddah as previously ordered; and Coghlan’s report to Bombay regarding the strength of Ottoman defences at Mocha and HodeidaThe prevalence of smallpox in Aden, including: the possible origins of its introduction to the peninsula by commercial steamships from Calcutta [Kolkata], most probably the Hindustan; a ‘Daily statement of smallpox prevailing amongst the several corps and departments at Aden’, 1 February 1856, by the Medical Department Superintendent, Aden (f 252); and measures taken to stop further spread including the use of the island of Seerah [Sirah] as a quarantine station and the commencement of a vaccination programmeIntelligence, conveyed by the commander of the Queen, regarding the successful suppression by Ottoman authorities and forces of the rebellion in Mecca and Juddah, but their subsequent defeat ‘by Bedouins’ in their attempt to capture Taif [Ta’if] to where the rebel leader Sheriff Abdul Min Tulab [Sharif ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib bin Ghālib bin Musā‘ad, also spelled abd-el Mutalib and Abn Mootallib in this item] had fledThe political situation in Mussowah [Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa] following the rebellion against the Governor of Massawa, including a copy of a letter to Coghlan from Raffaello Barroni, Agent to Mr Plowden [Walter Chichele Plowden], HM Consul in Abyssinia [now Ethiopia], reporting that the Governor has left in order to summon the support of Egyptian troops; and Coghlan’s later report to Bombay that since the situation is less critical than that in Yemen the commander of the Queenhas left that place for HodeidaTwo letters from Stephen Page, HM Acting Vice-Consul and HC [Honourable Company] Officiating Agent at Juddah, relating to the ‘disturbance in Mecca’: citing the Firman of the Sultan [ruler of the Ottoman Empire] prohibiting slavery as the cause of the rebellion; reporting that the route between Juddah and Mecca is closed; requesting a HC vessel to protect British and British Indian property which is at risk; and reporting that rebel leader Abn Mootallib has fled to Tayf [Ta’if] with 4-5,000 followers.Physical description: 1 item (20 folios)
12. Aden Affairs
- Description:
- Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 33 of 1856, dated 28 April 1856. The enclosures are dated 14-26 April 1856.The enclosures comprise copies of reports and correspondence relating to the deployment of the HC [Honourable Company’s] sloop of war Elphinstoneand steamship Queento the Arabian and African Red Sea coasts, targeted at intimidating insurgent forces and quelling disturbances in: Mecca and Juddah [Jeddah, also spelled Jedda and in this item]; Hodeida [Al Hudaydah, also spelled Hodeidah in this item]; Mussowa [Massawa, also spelled Massowah and Massowa in this item]; and Zeylah [Saylac, or Zeila, Somalia].The papers notably include:Letters and reports by Captain John James Frushard, Indian Navy, Senior Naval Officer, Aden, on the Elphinstoneto: Stephen Page, HM Acting Vice-Consul and Officiating Agent at Judda, requesting Page to forward any proclamation made by the British Government and the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire abolishing the trade in enslaved persons in the Hedjaz [Hejaz]; Camil Pacha [Muḥammad Kāmil Pāshā, also written Mehmed Kiamil Pacha in this item] Governor of the Hejaz, announcing his arrival at Juddah to assist in quelling the disturbances in Mecca; William Marcus Coghlan, Political Resident, Aden, describing proceedings of the Elphinstoneand Queenat Hodeida and with Mahmud Pasha, Governor of Hodeida, against the Assyr [‘Asīr tribe], and reporting the small French presence in the Red Sea portsLetters and reports by Lieutenant G N Adams, Indian Navy, Commanding the Queen, to Coghlan and Rear Admiral Sir Henry John Leeke, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Navy, reporting his proceedings at Mocha and Hodeida, Juddah, and Mussowa, including conditions on board ship and running aground on the way to AdenLeeke’s commendation of Frushard and Adams, notably for their ‘zeal and energy’ which saved Hodeida from being ‘cruelly murdered and robbed’ (f 146) by the AssyrCoghlan’s instructions that the Queenconvey the Assistant Political Resident, Lieutenant Robert Lambert Playfair, to Zeylah to investigate reports that Haj Shermarkay [Ḥājjī Sharmārkī ‘Alī Ṣāliḥ], former Ruler of Zeylah, has blockaded the port and committed acts of ‘piracy’ in the vicinity, and to take any necessary action to prevent the interruption of supplies.The principal correspondents are: Coghlan, Frushard, Adams and Leeke.Physical description: 1 item (19 folios)
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