Abstract: The item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence, minutes, and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, a Political Letter from the Government of Bombay to the East India Company Court of Directors, dated 30 August 1853, and found at IOR/F/4/2536/147461. It is the third in a series of seven items about the 'slave trade' [trade in enslaved people].The item concerns a recent visit to Bombay [Mumbai], Muscat and Bahrein [Bahrain] by Bihjut Effendi [Bahjat Āghā Effendī], an agent of Abbas Pasha [‘Abbās Ḥilmī Pāshā I], Viceroy of Egypt. In particular, the item relates to:Arrangements made for the transport of Bihjut Effendi from Aden to BombayAssistance provided to Bihjut Effendi by the Government of Bombay, including the chartering of a ship, the
Bombay, from the Bombay Steam Navigation Company, and a loan of 25,000 dollarsArrangements for the payments to the Bombay Steam Navigation Company and for the repayment of the loan by Bihjut EffendiAssistance provided to Murad Bey [Murād Beg] during his visit to Bombay to purchase horsesReports by Khoja Hiskel bin Yusoof [Khawājah Ḥizqīl bin Yūsuf], Acting Native Agent at Muscat, and by Hajee Jassem [Ḥājjī Jāsim], Native Agent at Bahrein, on Bihjut Effendi's activities during his visits to those places, including the purchase of horsesReports that the women described in passenger lists as being part of Bihjut Effendi's entourage were actually enslaved women offered to Sheikh Mahomed ben Khuleefa [Shaikh Muḥammad bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah], Sheikh of Bahrein, as 'gifts'Concern expressed by Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Resident in the Persian Gulf, that this activity may be seen to have been condoned by the British and the potential political implications of this given their public stance against the 'slave trade'Further concern expressed by Kemball that Sheikh Mahomed ben Khuleefa is attempting to approach Abbas Pasha for assistance against Ben Saood [Amīr Fayṣal bin Turkī bin ‘Abdullāh Āl Sa‘ūd, also rendered in text as Ameer Fysul] and the implications of Turkish [Ottoman] intervention in Bahrein affairsGeneral updates from Khoja Hiskel bin Yusoof about activity at Muscat.The item also includes the Government of Bombay's instructions to forward copies of correspondence on the above subjects to Charles Augustus Murray, HM Consul-General in Egypt, and to the Government of India.Principal correspondents include: Murray; Kemball; Abbas Pasha; Bihjut Effendi; Khoja Hiskel bin Yusoof; Hajee Jassem; Luis Caetano de Menezes, Acting Manager of the Bombay Steam Navigation Company; and the Government of Bombay.There are multiple spellings for multiple individuals in the item, particularly for Bihjut Effendi, whose name is often rendered including the name Aga [Āghā].The title page of the item contains the following references: 'Bombay Political Department', Draft Number '161 1854', 'Collection', 'Vol: 3', and 'Examiner's Office'. Originally, the Collection was described as 'No. 1 of No. 85 of 1853' but this has been crossed out.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 778, and terminates at f 828, 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: A collection of letters, which with the exception of one from L Darling to Her British Majesty's Consul at Bushire, are all from, or to, Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire. The first is a covering letter for a package of samples of piece goods sent by Kemball to Henry Bartle Edward Frere, Commissioner in Scinde [Sindh], Kurrachee [Karachi]. This is followed by a collection of correspondence between Kemball and Shariarjee Rustomjee, Bombay, on the subject of Shariarjee Rustomjee’s proposed sale of goods at Bushire and his engagement of an agent for this purpose. In response to his concerns that his goods should be taxed as British property and secured from unlawful encroachment, Kemball advises Shariarjee Rustomjee to appoint a British subject rather than the native agent proposed. One letter is from L Darling in London seeking to obtain commercial information regarding the market of Bushire. Kemball’s letter in reply includes a copy of a letter from Messrs I A Malcolm and Co., an American firm established in Bushire, providing the requested information. There is a letter from Kemball to Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, Political Agent in Turkish Arabia, Bagdad [Baghdad], on the subject of the establishment of a standing committee at Kurrachee for the direct sale of horses from the Persian Gulf. This letter includes copies of several others all relating to this same subject. The final two letters are letters of introduction, written by Kemball to Henry Bartle Edward Frere, recommending two horse traders bringing horses to Kurrachee for sale.Physical description: Pagination: Pagination is written in ink, in the top right corners of the rectos and in the top left corners of the versos.Foliation: Foliation is written in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. This sequence begins on the fourth folio after the front cover, on number 2, and ends on the last folio of writing, on number 25. This is the sequence used by this catalogue to reference items within the file.