1. ‘Persian Gulf- Registers granted to Vessels from the- to be countersigned by the Resident.-’

Description:

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, 31 January 1848. A copy of this Political Letter can be found at IOR/F/4/2238/112322, alongside details of further enclosures. The item is the fifty-eighth in a series of fifty-nine items on events in the Persian Gulf.The item relates to the new rule that all vessels belonging to ports under the ‘political control’ of Major Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf, who wish to trade in India must now carry a pass or register that has been signed by him. A list of the relevant shaikhs impacted by this is present at folio 618. The item also relates to a similar requirement that all vessels sailing under the flag of the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat must have a pass or register countersigned by Captain Atkins Hamerton, Her Majesty’s Consul and Company’s Agent in the Dominions of the Imam of Muscat.The issue is raised that affected vessels may have already departed for the season without the necessary paperwork. Solutions to this problem are discussed by the following: Hennell; Henry Young, Collector of Customs at Bombay [Mumbai]; and the Government of Bombay.The title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Bombay Political Department’, ‘Draft No. 345/48, Coll: 2, Vol: 58’, ‘Collection No. 14 of No. 21’ and ‘Examiner’s Office’. The title page also contains a note that relevant correspondence can be found in Collection No. 1 accompanying despatch from the Government of Bombay, 18 June No. 82 of 1848.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 614, and terminates at f 626, 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.

2. ‘Persian Gulf. Passes to be produced by vessels belonging to ports in the Persian Gulf trading to India-’

Description:

Abstract: The item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence and minutes cited in, or enclosed with, a Political Letter from the Government of Bombay to the East India Company Court of Directors, 31 January 1848. A copy of this Political Letter can be found at IOR/F/4/2238/112322, alongside details of further enclosures. The item is the fifty-ninth in a series of fifty-nine items on events in the Persian Gulf.The item relates to the issue of whether vessels from the ‘Persian or Arabian’ Gulfs require passes in order to obtain the privilege of paying single duties on the goods they import to Bombay [Mumbai], as opposed to the double duties charged for ‘foreign bottoms’ [goods carried on foreign vessels]. Henry Young, the Collector of Customs at Bombay, notes that not all vessels from the Gulfs have carried such passes. Young cites several cases where merchants and leaders have petitioned for refunds after being charged double duties. An audit of such a claim is present at folios 630-631.The item also relates to a pass granted to the bugla, Sad-ool Barree [Sa‘d al-Barī], by the Governor of Judda and Hubusha [a province under the Ottoman Empire with Jeddah as the principal city] and discussions about whether this document needs to be countersigned by a British officer in order to be considered valid.Correspondents include: Young; Major Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf; Charles Augustus Murray, Her Majesty’s Consul General in Egypt; and the Government of Bombay.Judda is also rendered as Djeddah in the text.The title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Bombay Political Department’, ‘Draft No. 345/48, Coll: 2, Vol: 59’, ‘Collection No. 15 of No. 21’ and ‘Examiner’s Office’. The title page also contains a note that relevant correspondence can be found in Enclosures N[umber]s 16 [and?] 19 accompanying despatch from the Government of Bombay, 6 August No. 70 of 1847.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 627, and terminates at f 639, 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. 'File 1/13 I Major Head:- Political. Sub:- Head:- Persian pretensions to Bahrain.'

Description:

Abstract: The file concerns Persian claims to Bahrain (also spelled Bahrein).The correspondence is mainly between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and the Political Agent, Bahrain. Other correspondents include the British Consular Agent, Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh], and the Adviser to the Government of Bahrain (Charles Dalrymple Belgrave). Enclosures to correspondence from the Political Resident include copies of correspondence from senior officials in the Foreign Office, the Government of India, the Colonial Office and the India Office, and other British officials in the region, including HBM's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Persia, Tehran (Sir Percy Lyham Loraine), the High Commissioner, Baghdad (Major-General Sir Percy Zachariah Cox), and the Consul at Shiraz (Herbert George Chick).The main topics covered in the papers are:reports by the Political Agent and Political Resident;discussion of the issue by the British Government and Government of India;the nature of the claims made by the Persian Government and the question of the British response to those claims;the issuing by the Persian authorities of passports and passes ( Ilm-o-Khabar) for Bahrain as though it were an inland port of Persia;use of British certificates of identity;anti-British agitation in Bahrain and support for a return to Persian rule;the need for the British Passport Office to make it clear to persons wishing to travel to Bahrain that they did not need a visa from the Persian Legation, London (folios 24-26);support for the Persian claim to Bahrain in the Persian press;proposal to give Bahrain the right to return a member to the Persian Madjliss [majlis] (folio 52);the question of British jurisdiction in Bahrain over foreigners;the history of Persian claims to sovereignty over Bahrain, including analysis of records held by the Government of India;attitude of the Bahrain ruling family;the treatment of Bahraini subjects in Persia, and the question of the protection of their interests by the British.The Arabic and Persian language content of the file consists of approximately ten letters, newspaper cuttings and associated items.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover and terminates at the back cover; 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 also present in parallel between ff 100-111; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence. A third foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 7-116; these numbers are written in blue crayon, are circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

4. ‘Muscat. Vessels sailing under His Highness the Imaum’s flag to be provided in future with registers or passes.’

Description:

Abstract: This item consists of copies of correspondence, minutes, and consultations cited in, or enclosed with, political letters from the Government of Bombay. These political letters appear in IOR/F/4/2174/105546. It is the forty-fourth in a series of forty-five items on the Persian Gulf.The correspondents are: the Government of Bombay and Captain Atkins Hamerton, Her Majesty’s Consul and Honourable Company’s Agent in the Dominions of the Imaum [Imām] of Muscat.The item concerns the decision of the Imaum of Muscat to provide all vessels belonging to him or his subjects with registers or passes.The item contains a table of contents (f 704), and the title page (f 703) contains the following references: ‘P C [Previous Communication] 5507, Coll. 7, Vol. 44’, ‘D/t 197/47’, ‘Collection No. 13 of No. 119’ and ‘Examiner’s Office’.Physical description: ​Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with f 703 and terminates at f 707, 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. The sequence contains one foliation anomaly, f 705a.Pagination: the item also contains an original pagination sequence.