Abstract: The item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence, minutes and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, letters from the Government of Bombay regarding numerous issues attended to by the Resident at Bushire, Captain David Wilson. The following topics are covered:An incident in which Aga Hyder Ally [Shirazi, Mirza Haydar ‘Ali, Agha] sought refuge inside the Residency at Bushire, claiming that he was not a servant of the local Governor, Sheikh Nassir [Shaikh Nāsir Āl Mazkūr II], but the carrier of a message from the Prince of Fars [Ḥosayn-ʿAlī Mīrzā]The Prince of Fars’ request for the Resident at Bushire to help secure the return of the ex-Governor of Bushire, Sheikh Abdool Rassool [Shaikh ‘Abd al-Rasūl Khān], from Muscat; the release of Sheikh Abdool Rassool by Sayyid Seid, [Sayyid Saʿīd bin Sulṭān] the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat and the desire of the former to establish firm friendship with the British GovernmentThe recent disturbances at Bushire relating to the conduct of Sheikh Haussein, uncle of Sheikh Nassir and brother of Sheikh Abdool RassoolComments from the Resident at Bushire and the Envoy in Persia, Lieutenant-Colonel McDonald, regarding the feasibility of removing the Residency or strengthening its defences due to the unsettled state of the countryA request by the East India Company's President, William Fullerton Elphinstone, to the Superintendent of Marine, Captain Thomas Buchanan, to enquire about a rock which struck the ship of Captain Grice and has been omitted in a survey of the coast between Sharga [Sharjah] and Aboothabee [Abu Dhabi]Discussions between the Resident at Bushire and the Political Agent at Bussorah [Basra], Captain Robert Taylor, regarding the consequences of either endorsing or advising against the Imaum of Muscat's proposals to aid the Chaub Arabs against the people of BussorahAn incident between Captain Betham of the Honourable Company's Cruizer Clive and Sheikh Nassir, following Captain Betham's attempts to capture a deserter from the Honourable Company's ship Amherst who he believed to be on board a bugalow in Bushire harbour belonging to the Sheikh.Several extracts of correspondence relate to establishing the best procedures to follow in future with relation to people seeking asylum in Residencies and the discovery of deserters. Many of the extracts make reference to the Company's strong desire not to interfere, or to be seen to be interfering, in disputes between local leaders or to cause foreign powers to feel threatened or alarmed by actions of the Company.Correspondents: the Government of Bombay; William Newnham, Chief Secretary of the Government of Bombay; Captain David Wilson, Resident at Bushire; the Secretary to the Supreme Government; the Honourable Company’s Broker at Muscat; William Henry Wathen, Persian Secretary to Government; the General Paymaster; Thomas Buchanan, Superintendent of Marine; Captain Betham of the Honourable Company’s cruiser Clive; Captain Walker of the Honourable Company’s ship Benares; Sayyid Seid, the Imaum of Muscat; the Senior Officer of the Marine in the Persian Gulph [Gulf]; Essai Johannes and Malcolm Arrathoon, persons put in charge of the Residency at Bushire in the Resident’s absence; Captain Robert Taylor, Political Agent at Bussorah; the Prince of Fars; Sheikh Nassir; Sheikh Abdool Rassool Khan; Muiza Mahommed Ally, Wuzeer [Mushir al-Mulk, Mirza Muhammad ‘Ali Khafraki, Vizier of Fars].The item also contains notes of a conversation between Aga Mahomed Kazim, Messenger from the Prince of Fars, and the Resident at Bushire (ff 300 verso – 304 verso).The Resident at Bushire is alternatively referred to as the Resident in the Persian Gulph [Gulf].The title page of the item contains the following references: ‘P.C. 783, Draft 477, 1829/30’, ‘Collection No. 10’ and 'Examiner's Office 1830'.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 202, and terminates at f 327, 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.
Abstract: This file relates to the heirs of Shaikh Khaz‘al [Khaz‘al bin Jabir bin Merdaw Āl Ka‘bī], the late Arab Shaikh of Mohommerah [Khorramshahr], and their requests for British assistance.The first few items of correspondence concern Shaikh Khaz‘al's eldest son, Shaikh Chassib bin Khaz‘al [Shaikh Chassib bin Khaz‘al Āl Ka‘bī], who is now living in Iraq and who is reported to have requested permission from the British Embassy at Baghdad to enter Iran (most of the correspondence in this file refers to Iran as Persia), for the purpose of personally pressing his claims to property belonging to his father, which had been sequestered by the late Shah [Reza Shah Pahlavi].The remainder of the file relates to Shaikh Chassib's brother, Shaikh Abdullah bin Khaz‘al [Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Khaz‘al Āl Ka‘bī], and his wish to return to live in Persia, apparently peacefully, which is treated with suspicion by British officials. Much of the correspondence discusses whether Shaikh Abdullah, who has taken refuge in Kuwait after an unsuccessful attempt to return to live in Persia, should be given a British pension or an allowance, in order to prevent him from attempting to return to Persia, since it is deemed unlikely that he will receive any compensation from the Persian Government for the loss of his father's property.Also included in the file are a copy of a document from the Combined Intelligence Centre, Iraq, entitled 'The Sheikhdom of Mohammerah A Short History' and a Foreign Office report entitled 'British Relations with Khazal, Sheikh of Mohammerah'.The principal correspondents are the following: the Political Agent, Kuwait; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the British Consul, Khorramshahr; the India Office; the Secretary of State for India; the Foreign Office; His Majesty's Ambassador, Tehran; His Majesty's Ambassador, Baghdad; the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Ahmed al Jabir As-Subah [Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ]; Shaikh Abdullah bin Khaz‘al.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 254; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Additional foliation sequences, one of which is written in pencil and not circled (between ff 3-131 and ff 143-224), and one of which is written in pencil and circled (between ff 1-253), have been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 40 of 1856, dated 27 May 1856. The enclosures are dated 19 April-24 May 1856.The enclosures relate to affairs in Aden, Berbera, Juddah [Jeddah] and Mecca, as reported to the Government of Bombay by Brigadier William Marcus Coghlan, Political Resident in Aden, and Stephen Page, HM Acting Vice-Consul and Officiating Honourable Company’s Agent at Juddah. They specifically cover and include the following:The consent of ‘Sheik’ Shermarki [Ḥājjī Sharmārkī ‘Alī Ṣāliḥ, also spelled Shurmarkey in this item], the deposed Governor of Zailah [Saylac, or Zeila, Somalia] to the terms on which Coghlan states he can reside in Aden, and Shermarki’s arrival at that placeDiscussions between Coghlan, the Government of Bombay and the Government of India regarding the possible terms to be demanded from the Habr Awal [Habr Awwal] tribe for the removal of the British blockade of Berbera, including: the amount of monetary compensation to be paid by the Habr Awal; the probability of the murderer of Lieutenant Stroyan (during an attack on Lieutenant Richard Burton’s Somali Expedition) not being found or brought to justice; the possibility of stationing a vessel of war at Berbera harbour and a government agent during the commercial season; and the demand for the cessation of the export of enslaved persons from Berbera and the coastal vicinityPage’s reports from Juddah, covering: the unsuccessful attack on Mecca by the former Scerriff Abu Montallib [Sharīf ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib bin Ghālib bin Musā‘ad, also spelled Mutallib in this item] and his withdrawal to Tayf [Taif]; Page’s relief at the arrival at Juddah of the HC [Honourable Company’s] ships
Elphinstoneand
Queen; the arrival of the new Scerriff of Mecca, Ebu Aonan [Muḥammad bin ‘Abd al-Mu‘īn bin ‘Awn] on the HC frigate
Feroozfrom Suez; Page’s concern that Abu Montallib may make another attempt on Mecca and then proceed to Juddah on hearing of the arrival at Mecca of his successor; and the abatement of the threat to Juddah.The principal correspondents are Coghlan, Page and the Government of Bombay.Physical description: 1 item (18 folios)
Abstract: Correspondence stemming from an enquiry made on 2 August 1935 by the Acting Consul at Kermanshah, Charles Alexander Gault, to HM Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary at Tehran, Hughe Montgomery Knatchbull-Hugesson, as to whether traders and
ulemain the town could take bast (asylum) in the Consulate. Other papers in the file include a circular despatch from the Counsellor at the British Legation in Tehran, Nevile Montagu Butler, dated 14 April 1936, containing instructions to consular officers on how to handle asylum requests in Persia [Iran], and a note from the Iranian delegation to the League of Nations dated 28 January 1937, stating that the ancient right of bast in Persia has ‘not for a long time past existed in Iran.’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 13; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Note that folios 5 and 6 appear in incorrect order.