Abstract: This item consists of copies of correspondence, consultations, memoranda, and minutes cited in, or enclosed with, political and secret letters from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai]. The main correspondents are: the Government of Bombay; Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Political Agent at Aden; Reuben Aslan, the Native Agent at Muscat; Captain Atkins Hamerton, Agent at Muscat on a mission to Zanzibar; Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Robertson, Officiating Resident in the Persian Gulf. It is the first in a series of two items on the trade in enslaved people (the other is IOR/F/4/1990/88113).The item concerns primarily concerns information about the mechanisms of the trade in enslaved people across the whole of the Gulf, including Persia, detailing:The routes travelledNumbers of enslaved people transportedThe nationalities of tradersThe value of the tradeThe nationalities, prices, gender ratio, ages, and treatment of the enslaved people.The item also discusses:The specific role of boats from Scinde [Sindh] exporting enslaved people from Muscat to ScindeThe possibility of persuading the Ameer of Scinde [Mir Nasir Khan Talpur] to issue a proclamation prohibiting the trade in enslaved peopleThe possibility of the Imam of Muscat [Sayyid Sa’id bin Sultan Al Bu Sa’id] forbidding Joasmee [al-Qawasim] boats from visiting his African possessions to try to curb the trade in enslaved peopleThe case of the Kallah Kassaim [Qal’ah Qasim], which imported enslaved people into Muscat and changed her flag from the British flag to the Imam of Muscat’s depending on her circumstancesProposed measures to prevent export of kidnapped children from the territory of the Nizam of Hyderabad [Mir Farqunda Ali Khan]The rescue of enslaved Somali men and women from Rasul Khyma [Ra's al-Khaymah]The rescue of enslaved Indian women from MuscatReports of a delegation sent by the Imam of Muscat to London to object to the East India Company’s insistence on ending the trade in enslaved peopleExtent of the trade in kidnapped children at Hyderabad, and the enforcement of the laws concerning the tradeDepositions of those connected with the cases of alleged slavery, including the case of Hajee Mahomed [Haji Muhammed], who was found to have multiple Abyssinian children in his house.The item includes a contents page and the title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Draft 227, P.C. [Previous Communication] 3822A, [Season 18]43’, ‘Collection No 11’.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with f 4 and terminates at f 251, 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: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of India Secret Department (Camp at Meerut) to the East India Company Secret Committee, Number 1 of 1838, dated 8 February 1838. The enclosures are dated 18 September 1837-7 February 1838.The primary correspondents are: Captain Claude Martine Wade, Political Agent at Loodeana [Ludhiana, also spelled Loodiana, Lodhiana and other variations in this item]; William Hay Macnaghten, Secretary to the Government of India; and Captain Alexander Burnes, on a Mission to Cabool [Kabul, this spelling and other variations also used in this item].Enclosures 3-120 and 126-128 (ff 49-505 and ff 525-532) comprise despatches between Wade and Macnaghten and between Burnes and Macnaghten. The despatches concern British policy towards and relations with the ruling parties in Afghanistan and with the Sikh Ruler Maharajah Runjeet Singh [Maharaja Ranjit Singh, this spelling and variations of ‘Ranjit’ also used in this item]; the latter two’s relations with each other, notably over Peshawar [also spelled Peshwar and Peshawur in this item]; Afghan relations with Persia [Iran] and Russia; and other political, economic and military affairs in Afghanistan and the Punjab. Burnes’s despatches are forwarded to Macnaghten by Wade and often include Wade’s critical remarks on Burnes’s situation assessments and actions, in addition to Wade’s own political analyses. The correspondence takes place amid a rumoured then an actual Persian expedition to conquer Herat.The papers cover the following matters in detail:British relations with Maharajah Runjeet Singh, including: the issue of the return of Mazari territory to the Ameers of Sinde [Amīrs of Sindh] by Runjeet Singh; intelligence reports by Wade’s munshi [secretary] (ff 52-56, ff 110-115); correspondence regarding a potential meeting between Runjeet Singh and the Governor-General of India; and reports of Lieutenant Frederick Mackeson on affairs on the Peshawar frontier (ff 265-268, ff 272-274, ff 277-289)Relations of Herat with Persia and British policy regarding them, including: news of the arrival in Tehran of an envoy from Shah Kamran [Shāhzādah Kāmrān Durrānī], Ruler of Herat; and views of Burnes and Wade on the ‘designs’ of Persia on Herat (ff 297-301)British policy towards Dost Mahomed Khan [Dūst Muḥammad Khān Bārakzāy], Ruler of Cabool, including: Burnes’s reports from Cabool on his meetings with Dost Mahomed (ff 134-141, ff 360-369); Burnes’s and Wade’s views on the ambitions of Dost Mahomed regarding branches of his family in Candahar [Kandahar; this spelling is also used in this item] and Peshawar, and his relations with Persia and Russia; British encouragement of Dost Mahomed to seek a reconciliation with their ally Runjeet Singh; Burnes’s and Wade’s assessment of the geo-political situation on the western frontier of British dominions in India and the aim of maintaining a balance of power advantageous to Britain between Cabool, Candahar, Herat, Persia, the Punjab and Sinde and which might avert any alliances with Russia (ff 78-82, ff 345-358)Burnes’s activities with regard to Candahar, and Candahar’s relations with Cabool and Persia, including: Burnes’s efforts to prevent Sirdar Kohin Dil Khan [Sirdār Kuhandīl Khān Muḥammadzay] sending his son Mahomed Omar Khan [Muḥammad Umar Khān] with an envoy, to conciliate Persia (ff 235-237); Kohin Dil Khan’s and his chief advisor’s letters to Dost Mahomed expressing obedience to the Ameer of Cabool, fear of Persia and the desire to depose the Ruler of Herat who repeatedly threatens to attack Candahar (ff 379-383); and Burnes’s instructions to Lieutenant Robert Leech, whom he deputes to Candahar with an offer of monetary and military support in the event of Persia conquering Herat (ff 471-477)Dost Mahomed Khan’ s relations with Russia and Persia, and British policy regarding them, including: Burnes’s alarm at the arrival in Cabool of a Russian agent, Captain Waitcawitch [Jan Prosper Witkiewicz] (ff 444-449); Wade’s detailed views on the positions of Persia and Russia in connection with Dost Mahomed and Afghanistan and the policy of discouraging the latter’s ‘ambitions’ (ff 415-421); and Macnaghten’s disapproval of Burnes’s promise of troops and pecuniary aid to the rulers of Candahar in the event of the Russian-supported Persian capture of Herat (ff 451-457)The Persian expedition against Herat, including: news of the defeat of Ghurian [Ghuryan, also spelled Ghoorian in this item] and siege of Herat; and Wade’s suggestion that Lieutenant Eldred Pottinger, detained by the Herat authorities, act as a mediator (albeit without authority from the Government of India), provide intelligence, and ensure that Kamran Shah resists Persia.The following matters and documents are also included:Wade’s response to overtures of friendship made to him by Mir Alam Khan [Mīr ‘Ālim Khān], Ruler of Bajour, and Fatah Khan Panjtari, [Fatḥ Khān, Ruler of Panjtar] (ff 124-125)Disruption to the indigo trade in Cabool caused by differences between the Governor of Mooltan [Multan] and the Ruler of Bhawalpoor (ff 132-133, ff 152-153)A report by Lieutenant Leech, Bombay Engineers, entitled ‘Description of the Khyber Pass and of the Tribes inhabiting it’ (ff 143-150)Praise by Wade and Burnes of intelligence provided by Charles Masson in Cabool (ff 180-183)Burnes’s emphasis on conciliating the Lohani [a Pashtun tribe] ‘chiefs’, described by Wade as ‘meritorious merchants’ (f 184)Burnes’s report on the ‘commercial views and prospects of Russia in Central Asia’ (f 203), notably Russia’s relations with the rulers of Bokhara, Khiva [also referred to as ‘Orgunge’] and Kokan (ff 199-207)Burnes’s deputation of Dr Percival Lord and Lieutenant John Wood to Meer Moorad Beg [Mīr Murād Beg] Uzbeck ruler of Koondooz [Uzbek ruler of Kunduz], to treat the eye ailment of Moorad Beg’s brother (ff 251-263), and Macnaghten’s approbation for Burnes’s improvement of British relations with Koondooz.Enclosures 121-125 (ff 506-524) comprise despatches between Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Pottinger, Agent to the Governor-General for Sinde, and Macnaghten, notably regarding the apparent procrastination of the Ameers of Sinde over the establishment of a British Resident in their territory. Also covered is the progress made by Lieutenant Thomas Greer Carless in his survey of the Indus and Kurachee [Karachi] Harbour.Physical description: 1 item (505 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 29 of 1844, dated 31 March 1844. The enclosures are dated 24 Feburary-29 March 1844.The papers relate to arrangements for the removal, from Sassoon [Sassoon Docks] to Panwell [Panvel] (for onward sea transporation on the steamer
Tenasserimto Calcutta [Kolkata]), of the Ex-Ameers [Amirs] of Scinde [Sindh, also spelled Sinde in this item], who were prisoners of the British Government in India following the capture of parts of Scinde by the Bombay Army of the British East India Company in 1843. The item includes reports by the Doctor in Medical Charge of the Ex-Ameers on the probable effect of a sea journey on the health of the Ameers, particularly Meer Nusseer Khan [Mīr Naṣīr Khān Tālpūr], Meer Roostum Khan [Mīr Rustam Khān Tālpūr] and Meer Sobdar Khan [Mīr Ṣūbdār Khān Tālpūr] (ff 583-584, 586-588), and lists of the Ameers and their followers and servants due to embark for Calcutta (ff 578-581, 615-616). Arrangements regarding Meer Shadad Khan [Mīr Shahdād Khān Tālpūr], in the care of the Agent for the Honourable Governor of Surat, are also referred to, including the decision to continue his confinement in the castle at Surat.Physical description: There is an abstract of contents of the despatch, numbered 1-34, on folios 570-576. These numbers are repeated for reference on the verso of the last folio of each enclosure.