Abstract: This item comprises enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee [Bombay Secret Letter], No. 7 dated 16 January 1856. The enclosures are dated 17 December 1855-14 January 1856.The papers chiefly comprise correspondence between Brigadier William Marcus Coghlan, Acting Political Resident and Commandant, Aden, and the Secretary to Government, Bombay, covering the following matters:Relations with and between the tribes in the vicinity of Aden, including the ‘Foutheli Chief’ [Aḥmad bin Abdullāh al-Faḍlī, also spelled Foudheli in this item]The continued British blockade of Berbera, including the Government of Bombay and Government of India's: scepticism regarding the alleged ‘solemn warning’ (f 50) given by the Elders of the Habur Owel Tribe [Habr Awwal, also spelled Habr Owel and Habr-Awel Tribe in this item] which was apparently disregarded by Lieutenant Richard Francis Burton leading to the ‘disastrous termination of the late Somali Expedition’ (f 54); and criticism of Coghlan for accusing Burton ‘in very positive terms, of culpable carelessness’ (f 55). Coghlan vigorously defends his position particularly referring to the depositions which indicate that warning was indeed given.Also included in this item is a letter from the Secretary to the Government of India to the Secretary to Government, Bombay, questioning the ‘professions to peace’ of the Foutheli Chief, whom they consider endangers the security of the trade of Aden.Physical description: 1 item (12 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 148 of 1846, dated 12 December 1846. The enclosures are dated 26 October-9 December 1846.The enclosures mainly relate to British relations with the ‘Arab Chieftans’ of the vicinity, in particular:Haines’s account of the continued hostility and intractability of Sultan M’Houssain Fudthel of Lahidge [Sulṭān Muḥsin bin Faḍl al-‘Abdalī, Sulṭān of Lahej] and the consequent suspension of the monthly stipend paid to him by the BritishThe apparent eagerness of several other local ‘chiefs’, including Sultan Ahmed Abdulla Foutheli [Sulṭān Aḥmad bin ‘Abdullāh al-Faḍlī], to agree terms of peace with the British and obtain the removal of the British blockade of their portsThe resumption of kafilahs [caravans carrying supplies] entering Aden townThe Government of Bombay’s opinion that a division between the Foutheli and Abdali tribes might be to their benefitHaines’s condition of peace that the Sayud Ismail [Sayyid Ismā‘īl] be removed to a distant country and be prohibited from returning to the vicinity of AdenReports received by Haines that Sultan M’Houssain Fudthel intends to come to Aden after Eyed [Eid] to sign peace termsHaines’s report of the Sultan of Lahidge’s attempt to seize Foutheli camels returning from the Aden market, the resulting deaths and capture of Foutheli prisoners, and the intention of the Foutheli to retaliate against the AbdaliA report by Haines of the death of Sallem bin Sallah [Sālim bin Ṣāliḥ] who was wounded by a Foutheli raiding party, and the incidental wounding by grape shot, fired from the Aden field works, of three men of the kafilah who received medical treatment at Aden.The principal correspondents are Haines, the Government of Bombay, and the Government of India.Physical description: 1 item (30 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 150 of 1846, dated 15 December 1846. One enclosure is dated 2 December 1846 and the other is undated.The enclosures relate to the apparent ‘mutual understanding’ being formed between the Arab tribes adjacent to Aden, including the following:The reports by Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Political Agent, Aden, to the Government of Bombay and the Secret Committee, London, that a peaceable settlement between and with the Arab tribes would remove all ‘obstructions’ between Aden and the interiorThe purported offer of the Sultan of Lahidge [Sulṭān Muḥsin bin Faḍl al-‘Abdalī, Sulṭān of Lahej] to pay a stipend (generated by his stipend from the British) to the Foutheli Sultan [Sulṭān Aḥmad bin ‘Abdullāh al-Faḍlī] in return for the latter not sending supplies to AdenThe fear by the Abdali inhabitants of Aden that the Fouthelis will mount a retaliatory attack, following the recent Abdali attack on the Foutheli kafilah [caravan carrying supplies]A letter to Haines from the Sultan of Lahidge blaming the Sayud Ismail [Sayyid Ismā‘īl] for influencing his hostility towards the British at Aden (f 452)Haines’s uncertainty of an agreement materialising until the Sultan of Lahidge comes to Aden, after the Eyed [Eid] festival and reports whether the Foutheli have accepted his offer.The principal correspondents are Haines and the Government of Bombay.Physical description: 1 item (8 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 137 of 1846, dated 16 November 1846. The enclosures are dated 7 October-16 November 1846.The papers relate to the affairs of Aden, notably the following:The obstruction of kafilahs [caravans carrying supplies] and communications into Aden from the interior, by the followers of Sayud Ismail [Sayyid Ismā‘īl] and members of the Foutheli tribe [Faḍlī, also spelled Foutheli and Fouthelee in this item] located in the near Sheik Othman [Shaykh Uthman], and the claim by Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Political Agent at Aden, that the Foutheli are secretly in the pay of Sultan M’Houssain of Lahedge [Sulṭān Muḥsin bin Faḍl al-‘Abdalī, Sulṭān of Lahej] (f 191)The apparent success of the British blockade of Shugra [Shaqrah] by the HC [Honourable Company’s] schooner
Constanceand Haines’s belief that once the Abdali [‘Abdalī], Foutheli, and other ‘hostile’ tribes discern that the British at Aden can obtain most supplies from the coast of Africa and from India they will sue for peaceHaines’s request for a small vessel from India to assist with the blockade ‘to the westward’ which he has imposed to detrimentally affect the exports of Lahedge and injure the Sultan’s interestsThe proposal of Haines for the destruction the castle lately erected by the Foutheli Chief within four miles from the beach of Shugra, as a punishment for the latter’s ‘aggressive’ actions against the British at Aden (ff 197-198), and the Government of Bombay’s view that this measure is not at present advisable as it would increase ill-feeling towards the BritishHaines report that he has taken measures to ensure the sufficient supply of provisions for three months, and his suggestion that all purchases of grain, grass and wood, etc., are made by the Commissariat Department in Aden alone, rather than it competing with the Engineer Department in the Aden marketThe despatch by the Superintendent of the Indian Navy of the HC brigantine
Tigristo Aden for addition to the Indian Naval Squadron there (f 211).The principal correspondents are Haines and the Government of Bombay.Physical description: 1 item (32 folios)
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 48 of 1850, dated 17 September 1850. The enclosures are numbered 3-8 and are dated 27 August-10 September 1850. A note in red ink, dated 1 November 1906, states that enclosures numbered 7-8 detailed in this abstract are missing.The enclosures contain correspondence from the Political Agent at Aden (Stafford Bettesworth Haines), to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay and replies to these letters from the Secret Committee concerning affairs in Aden and its vicinity including tribal disputes.Physical description: 1 item (7 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 2 of 1847, dated 2 January 1847. The enclosures are dated 10 December 1846-2 January 1847.The correspondents are: Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Political Agent at Aden; the Secretary to the Government, Bombay; and the Under-Secretary to the Government of India. The item also contains a minute of the President and Governor and the members in Council, Bombay.The papers notably cover the following matters:The reported ‘tranquility’ among the Arab tribes in the neighbourhood of Aden and consequent open roads and flourishing marketsThe attitude of rapprochement between the recently ‘quarrelling’ Abdali [‘Abdalī] and Foutheli [Faḍlī] chiefsThe report that the ships
Larkinsand
Elizawith the wing of HM’s 94th Regiment on board have been detained by strong currents to the westward of Aden, and report of the return of the ship
Recoveryto Aden HarbourHaines’s report that he has sent the HC [Honourable Company’s] schooner of war
Constancefrom Aden to the Zebayr [Zubayr] Islands in the Red Sea to observe any changes since the volcanic eruption on one of the islands and the results of the earthquake felt at Mocha and Hodeida [Al Hudaydah] for many miles distant at the time; the ship is then to go to Mussowah [Massawa] to investigate a ‘misunderstanding’ between a British Indian merchant and the Turkish [Ottoman] authoritiesThe view of the Government of India that it would be inexpedient to use coercive measures against the Foutheli tribe for their ‘continued acts of aggression towards Aden’ (f 27).Physical description: 1 item (14 folios)
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 99 of 1847, dated 15 November 1847. The enclosures, numbered 3-31, consist of correspondence, and minutes of the Government of Bombay. Enclosure numbers 3-29 are dated 13 May to 13 November 1847.The enclosures concern matters including:The Political Agent at Aden, Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, reporting that the Arab tribes in the immediate neighbourhood of Aden are in a ‘tranquil’ stateHaines receiving an application from the Sultan of Lahedge [Lahej or Lahij], Sultan M’Houssain Fudthel [Muḥsin bin Faḍl al-‘Abdalī], for the restoration of his stipendAn outbreak of smallpox cases amongst the Somali (also spelled Soomallee in this item) community at Aden, and measures taken by the Political Agent at Aden to prevent it spreadingThe departure of the Assistant Political Agent at Aden, Lieutenant Charles John Cruttenden, to Berbera (also spelled Burberra in this item) on political duty, with Haines issuing him the following instructions: to assist in settling the feud between the Somali tribes, helping to ensure that the annual fair at Berbera is held, which is greatly beneficial to Indian and Aden trade; to make enquiries into the state of the country inland, and especially to ascertain whether a regular supply of meat to Aden over the next few years can be counted on; and to provide information on the proceedings of Ismail Effendi [Ismā‘īl Ḥaqqī Pāshā], the Governor of Mussowah [Massawa], who is reported to have laid claim in the name of Mahomet Ali Pasha [Muḥammad ‘Alī Pāshā al-Mas‘ūd bin Āghā] to the sea ports of Tajoura [Tadjoura], Zeyla [Zeila or Saylac] and BerberaThe circumstances surrounding the dismissal of Ibrahim Pittajee [Ibrāhīm Pitājī, also spelled Ibrahim Pettajee, and in various other ways in this item] from his employment as Town Surveyor at Aden by the Executive Engineer at Aden, Captain James KilnerLieutenant Cruttenden’s request for an increase to his pay and allowances as Assistant Political Agent at Aden.The correspondence is mainly between the following: the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, Arthur Malet; the Political Agent at Aden; the Assistant Political Agent at Aden; the Executive Engineer at Aden; Ibrahim Pittajee; Brigadier W Spiller, Commanding at Aden; the Secretary to the Government of India with the Governor-General; the Bombay Medical Board; and the Bombay Military Board.Enclosure Nos. 30-31, listed in the abstract of contents as copies of the
Bombay Times Overland Summaryand the
Bombay Overland Telegraph and Courier, dated 15 November 1847, are not included in this item (they are recorded as missing in a note dated 30 November 1906).Physical description: 1 item (53 folios)
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 32 of 1853, dated 28 April 1853. The enclosures are numbered 3-9 and are dated 31 March-27 April 1853. A handwritten note in red ink indicates that enclosures 7-9 (copies of the overland summaries of the
Bombay Times,
Telegraph and Courierand
Bombay Gazette) are missing.The papers relate to:Attacks on maritime trade involving the Foutheli [al-Faḍlī] tribe and the Sultan of Lahedge [Lahej]Use of HC ship
Elphinstoneto proceed to Jedda [Jeddah] to enquire about excessive duty being levied on goods importedThe return of the HC schooner
Mahifrom Mocha with items of intelligence.Correspondents are the Political Agent at Aden and the Secretary to the Government of Bombay.Physical description: 1 item (15 folios)
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 17 of 1853, dated 1 March 1853. The enclosures are numbered 3-9. Enclosure numbers 3-6 are dated 3 to 24 February 1853.Enclosure number 3 is a letter from the Political Agent at Aden, Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, Arthur Malet, reporting that he has requisitioned the East India Company’s schooner
Mahito proceed to Mussowa [Massawa or Mitsiwa] with despatches for HBM Consul at Abyssinia [the Ethiopian Empire], and requested that its Commander, Lieutenant King, stop at Hodeida [Al Hudaydah] and Mocha on its return and report to Haines on the state of political and commercial affairs at each port. The letter includes an enclosed copy of the requisition letter from Haines to the Senior Naval Officer at Aden. Enclosure number 4 is a minute by the Governor of Bombay concurred in by the Board, approving Haines’s actions.Enclosure number 5 is a letter from Haines to Malet reporting on the state of affairs at Aden and in its vicinity. Haines reports matters including:The intention of the Sultan of Lahedge [Lahej or Lahij], Sultan Ali M Houssain [‘Alī I bin Muḥsin al-‘Abdalī], to build a small fort at Sheik Othman [Ash Shaikh Outhman] to protect the roads leading to Aden, opposition to this from Sultan Hamed Ibn Abdulla Foutheli [Aḥmad bin Abdullāh al-Faḍlī] and Haines informing the Sultan of Lahedge that in his opinion he had the right to erect any building he wished on his territory and to prevent other tribes entering and crossing his territoryThe sea port towns of Mocha, Hodeida and Loheiha [al Luhayyah] being in danger of attack from the Bedouin divisions of the Beni Yam [Banī Yām] tribe‘Mahomed’ Pashah [Kürt Mehmed Pasha] reaching Hodeida with a firman from the Sublime Porte [the Government of the Ottoman Empire] as Supreme Pashah over all the Turkish possessions in Yemen, and that finding on his arrival all the interior roads closed on their seaport towns and the inhabitants in great alarm, he has been collecting together all the Turkish soldiers he can, and that therefore news of a conflict may be expected.Enclosure number 6 is a minute by the Governor of Bombay concurred in by the Board, stating that a copy of Haines’s letter (enclosure No. 5) is to be sent to the Government of India and the Secret Committee.Numbers 7-9, listed in the abstract of contents as copies of overland summaries of the
Bombay Times, the
Bombay Telegraph & Courier, and the
Bombay Gazettenewspapers, dated 1 March 1853, are noted as missing.Physical description: 1 item (10 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 55 of 1856, dated 29 July 1856. The enclosures are dated 19 June-12 July 1856.The enclosures comprise:Reports by Brigadier William Marcus Coghlan, Political Resident in Aden, to the Government of Bombay, on: the recent dispute between the Sultan of Lahej [Sulṭān ‘Alī I bin Muhsin al-‘Abdalī] and the ‘Chief’ of the Azaiba [a sub-tribe of the ‘Abdalī] over fees for the use of the water wells at Shaik Othman [Shaykh Uthman]; the poor relations between the Abdali and Foudelie [Faḍlī, also spelled Foutheli in this item] tribes; and the Sultan of Lahej’s message to Coghlan that he has concluded a one-year peace with the FoudelieA report by Stephen Page, HM Acting Vice-Consul and Officiating Honourable Company’s Agent at Juddah [Jeddah], to the Government of Bombay, that the former Scerriff of Mecca, Abu Montallib [Sharīf ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib bin Ghālib bin Musā‘ad], left Tayf [Taif] on the 19 June under Turkish [Ottoman] custody, for Cosseir [El Qoseir] en route to Constantinople [Istanbul].Physical description: 1 item (5 folios)
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 20 of 1853, dated 14 March 1853. The enclosures are numbered 3-8. Enclosure numbers 3-5 are dated 28 February to 11 March 1853.Enclosure number 3 is a letter (with enclosures) from the Political Agent at Aden, Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, Arthur Malet, regarding the state of affairs at Aden and within its vicinity, including:Secret information Haines has received, corroborated by an enclosed translation of a letter from the Chief of Lahidge, Ali M Houssain Foudthel El Abdali [the Sultan of Lahej, ‘Alī I bin Muḥsin al-‘Abdalī], that the Foutheli [Fadhli] Sultan had instructed certain men to try to kill any men practising their guns on the Isthmus, or any of those who accompany the artillery unarmed to watch their practice; Haines states that the intention of the Foutheli Chief is ‘no doubt to annoy the Chief of Lahidge by if possible, involving him in difficulty with the English in Aden’News received in a letter from Hodeida [Al Hudaydah] of a ‘skirmish’ between ‘the Turks’ and Arabs of the Beni Yam [Banī Yām] tribe, resulting in the defeat of the latter, but leaving the inhabitants of Mocha and Hodeida still in fear of an attack from ‘the Arabs’, and their trade at a standstill due to the roads to the interior being closedThe arrival of the French man of war steamer the
Caimanat Aden, which is awaiting the arrival of the French Admiral ‘Jaines’ in the frigate
Jeanne D’Arc, who it is believed intends to visit Suez, Judda [Jeddah], Mussowa [Massawa], Hodeida, and Mocha.The arrival of the
Caimanat Aden is also reported in a letter from the Commander in Chief of the Indian Navy, Henry John Leeke, to the President and Governor in Council, Bombay, Lord Viscount Falkland (enclosure No. 4, which includes an extract of a letter from the Senior Indian Naval Officer at Aden).Enclosure number 5 is a letter from the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay to the Officiating Secretary to the Government of India, forwarding copies of the above letters from the Political Agent at Aden and the Commander in Chief of the Indian Navy, for submission to the Governor-General of India in Council.Numbers 6-8, listed in the abstract of contents as copies of the
Bombay Timesoverland newspaper, the
Bombay Telegraph and Courier,and the
Bombay Gazette, all dated 14 March 1853, are noted as missing.Physical description: There is an abstract of contents of the despatch, numbered 1-8, on folios 452-453. These numbers are repeated for reference on the verso of the last folio of each enclosure.
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 9 of 1853, dated 29 January 1853. The enclosures are numbered 3-7. Enclosure numbers 3-4 are dated 14 to 28 January 1853.Enclosure number 3 is a letter from the Political Agent at Aden, Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, consisting of a general report on the state of affairs at Aden and within its vicinity, including relations between tribes, and the death of the murderer of Captain Milne.Enclosure number 4 is a minute by the Governor of Bombay subscribed to by the Board, directing that copies of Haines’s letter be sent to the Government of India and the Secret Committee.Enclosures 5-7, listed in the abstract of contents as copies of the
Bombay Overland Times, the
Bombay Overland Telegraph & Courier, and the
Bombay Overland Gazette, dated 29 January 1853, are noted as missing.Physical description: There is an abstract of contents of the despatch, numbered 1-7, on folio 273. These numbers are repeated for reference on the verso of the last folio of each enclosure.