1 - 2 of 2
Number of results to display per page
Search Results
1. Letters and Enclosures etc., Received from Gombroon [Bandar-e ʻAbbās]
- Description:
- Abstract: Two volumes containing a collection of letters and enclosures dispatched from Gombroon [Bandar-e ʻAbbās] Factory to ‘the Court of Directors for affairs of the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies’. Each letter has the date it was received overland, and the date it was read in Court noted at the end of it. At some point these letters were assigned numbers from 2487-2604, in red (turned to purplish) ink. Any missing numbers in between indicate that the letter is missing.The letters cover variety of issues and topics including:The state of affairs and military operations in a number of provinces in Persia [Iran] including, Mashad [Mashhad, also written as Mashat, Mushat, Mushatt and Musshat], Carmenia [Kerman], Gombroon, Yazd, and Spahaun [Eṣfahān]. Among the rulers involved in the operations were Shawrook Shaw [Shāhrokh Shāh Afshar, or Shāhrokh Mīrzā Afshār, c 1734-1796, also written as Sarook, Sharrook, Shawrooke, Sharooke and Shawroke], Carem Caun [Karīm Khān Zand, Vakil of Persia, also written as Carreemm], Ally Mardin Caun [‘Ali Mardan Khan Bakhtiyari, Ilkhani of the Bakhtiyari Tribe], Ahzad Caun [Āzād Khān Ghilza'ī, d 1782, Beglerbeg of Azarbāijān], Ahmed Shaw Afgoon [Ahmad Shah Afghan Durrani, known as Ahmad Shah Abdali r 1747-1772, also written as Ahmet Shaw Aphgoon] and Nasseir Caun [Nāsir Khān Āl Mazkūr, r 1162-1203/c 1749-1788]Indent of woollen goods proper for the Persian market including: the type of cloth, amount by piece, colours required, and their prices. On some occasions patterns of coloured woollen goods were attached to the list as in folios 4, 195 and 214Indent of iron, lead and tin proper for the Persian market and the amount in tonsAbstract of general expenditures at GombroonRecords of the Company’s cash balanceThe activities of the Dutch and the Russians in the regionReports on the activities of local Persian and Armenian merchants in the regionNews of Nadir Shaw [Nadir Shah, Shah of Persia 1732-1747] being killed by his own people in 1747A list of twenty-three rogoms [raqams or ruqums, also written as rogomms: royal grants confirming specific trading privileges] granted to the Company by Nadir ShawSuggestions to set up a Company house at the Island of Bhareen [Bahrain, also written Bahreen and Barren] or at the Island of Kishmish [Qishm]Reports on the status of the wool trade at CarmeniaNews of the deaths of Factory members Danvers Graves and Robert WentNews of Nasseir Caun appointing Moola Ally Shaw [Mulla ‘Ali Shah] to the Government of GombroonNews of the war between the Hoola Arabs [Hawala] and Nasseir Caun at BahreenLists of the Company’s servants in the Gulph [Gulf] of Persia containing their names, ages, stations, places, and salaries.The volumes include enclosures of letters exchanged with the Factory Warehouse Keeper, Danvers Graves, who took the place of the late Resident at Spahaun, John Pierson [also written as Peirsons]. Mr Graves was instructed to clear the Company’s debt at Spahaun, sort the outstanding bills, settle the affairs of the Carmenia bill, and provide a detailed account of Mr Peirson’s fraud accounts and his transactions with local merchants, particularly with Hodjee Ibrahim Bozoork [Haji Ibrahim Buzurg] and Mirza Boggher [Mirza Baqer, also written as Bagher]. The volumes also include records of the examinations of John Pierson before the Agent and Council at Gombroon, and remarks on his conduct and management of affairs at Spahaun.The volumes contain enclosures of letters from the Resident at Bussorah [Basra], William Shaw, to the Court of Directors for affairs at Bombay [Mumbai] reporting on the state of affairs in the region, ships sailing and arriving, the activities of the Aleppo traders, letters dispatched to Aleppo, and the Turks’ activities in the region.The letters in the volumes include records of the arrival and departure of ships, including the Rose Galley, the Welcome, the Godolphin, the Swallow, the Heathcote, the Fort William, the Fort St. George, the Jenney, the Nancy, the Prince of Orange, the Drake, the Oxford, the Shaftesbury, the Boscawen, the Man of War, the Prince Henry, the Hector, the Guardian, the Fezeraboony[ Fayz Rabbani], and the Prince of Wales. Ships sailed mainly to and from Gombroon, Bombay, Bussorah, Surat, Bengall [Bengal], Boutchier [Būshehr, also written as Boucheir, Busshire], Madrass [Madras, i.e. Chennai], the Island of Socrata [Socotra Island], Batavia [Jakarta], Judda [Jeddah], China, Mocha, Muscat and England.Physical description: Foliation: this file consists of two physical volumes. The foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at f 1 of volume one (ff 1-130) and terminates at f 247 of volume two (ff 131-247); these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
2. Diary, Consultations, and Accounts of Nathaniel Whitwell and Henry Savage, Agents of the East India Company at Gambroon [Bandar-e ʻAbbās] in the Persian Gulf, commencing 1 August 1746 and ending 31 July 1752
- Description:
- Abstract: Diary, consultations, and accounts of the East India Company merchants in Persia [Iran], specifically factories at Gambroon [Bandar-e ʻAbbās, Laristan, Iran], written and signed by Nathaniel Whitwell (Agent and Council) and Henry Savage (succeeding Agent and Council) respectively, countersigned by various officials, St George Pack (Steward), Walter Ray, Thomas Dorrill (Warehouse Keeper), Danvers Graves, John Hope (Steward and Secretary), Cowan Henry Draper, and Francis Wood (Steward). Comprised of multiple dispatches spanning the period 1 August 1746-31 July 1752, with a supplementary account on the affairs at the Persian court:Folios 4r-78r. Dispatch copying the Gambroon diary, consultations, and accounts, written and signed Nathaniel Whitwell (Agent and Council) and Henry Savage (succeeding Agent and Council), countersigned by St George Pack, Thomas Dorrill (Warehouse Keeper), Danvers Graves, John Hope (Steward and Secretary), covering period 1 August 1746-31 July 1747. Received 3 August 1749, by ship Orford. Title page lostFolios 79r-99r. Dispatch copying the supplementary account entitled ‘Journal of the most material Occurrences During Nadir Shaw’s Residence at Carmenia [Kerman],’ written and signed by Danvers Graves, covering period 26 February 1747-23 March 1747Folios 101r-170v. Dispatch copying the Gambroon diary, consultations, and accounts, written and signed Henry Savage (Agent and Council), countersigned by Danvers Graves, John Hope (Steward and Secretary), covering period 3 August 1747-31 July 1748. Received 3 August 1749, by ship Orford. Title page lostFolios 171r-250v. Dispatch copying the Gambroon diary, consultations, and accounts, written and signed Henry Savage (Agent and Council), countersigned by John Hope (Steward and Secretary), and Cowan Henry Draper, covering period 1 August 1748-31 July 1749. Original dispatch received 13 September 1749, by ship Drake Ketch. Present copy received 13 June 1750, by ship Durrington. Title page, ‘Gambroon Diary and Consultations’ (f 171r)Folios 251r-335v. Dispatch copying the Gambroon diary, consultations, and accounts, written and signed Henry Savage (Agent and Council), countersigned by Danvers Graves, Cowan H Draper, and Francis Wood (Steward), covering period 1 August 1750-31 July 1751. Received 15 August 1752, by ship Eastcourt. Title page lostFolios 336r-392v. Dispatch copying the Gambroon diary, consultations, and accounts, written and signed Henry Savage and Danvers Graves (Agent and Council), countersigned by Francis Wood (Steward), St. George Pack, and Walter Ray, covering period 1 August 1751-31 July 1752. Received 18 June 1753, by ship Stretham. Title page lost.Accounts cover the movements and changes between EIC officials at Gambroon; movements and changes between EIC officials at Shiraz, Carmenia or Carmania [Kerman], Busheir [Bushire], Bagdat [Baghdad], and Bombay [Mumbai]; relations with and news from EIC ports, presidencies, council and directors (India); English, French, Dutch, Arab and Indian shipping; salaries, financial compensation, banking through financiers (especially Bania communities); copies and translations of letters, treaties, and official documents; monthly and annual accounts; officers’ debts and estates of the deceased; assessments of market trading conditions; trade, valuations, and details on commodities (copper, sulphur, lumber) and processed or manufactured products (English, French, Dutch, Russian, Indian, and Chinese), especially gunpowder, wool, plain and fine textiles, as well as livestock, horses, food and drink (such as rice, China sugar, Java sugar, sugar candy, coffee, and alcohol); dearth of food; physical and mental ill-health; swarming insects; weather and sea conditions; observations on festivities and ceremonies (‘Id and Nowruz); gifts; and the import of enslaved people from Africa.Substantial portions of accounts contain reports on ongoing conflict between Persian authorities and troops at Julfar [Ra's al-Khaymah, UAE], local Arabs, and the Imaum of Muscatt [Imam of Muscat]; reports from Persia of military and political developments leading to the murder of Nadir Shaw [Nadir Shah Afshar] treated in a supplementary account (‘Journal of the most material Occurrences During Nadir Shaw’s Residence at Carmenia’), the competition for power between his successors, as well as the rise of Careem Caun [Karim Khan Zand]; reports of developments in Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Timurid (Mogul [Mughal]) India, with particular reference to increasing tensions between the EIC and the Nabob of Bengall [Nawab of Bengal].Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 395; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the volume also contains an original pagination sequence.