IOR/G/29/39

The volume comprises copies and extracts of correspondence, with enclosures, relating to the Persian Gulph [Persian Gulf] Expedition of 1819 against the Joasmees [al-Qāsimī] at Rasul Khyma [Ra's al-Khaymah, various spellings in this volume] who the British deemed guilty of acts of ‘piracy’ in the region. The correspondence is between the Government of Bombay [Mumbai], at Bombay Castle, and the Court of Directors in London.

The volume broadly covers three subjects, as follows:

1. The period April 1814 to November 1819, leading up to the expedition and during which acts of ‘piracy’ were being committed in the Persian Gulph and along the coasts of Scind [Sindh] and Cutch [Kutch]. Matters covered include:

• Reports of captured trade vessels, mostly from India
• Deployment of British naval patrols and stations to protect trade between India and the Gulph
• A visit by the Resident at Bushire [Būshehr], William Bruce, to Rasul Khyma, to remonstrate with the Joasmees
• A visit by Captain Lock, Commander of the Eden, to Bahrein [Bahrain] to investigate reports of the sale of Indian and European women prisoners at the island, and a subsequent prisoner exchange.

2. The 1819 expedition. Matters covered include:

• The background to the decision to send the expedition
• Preparations for and objectives of the expedition
• The progress and eventual success of the expedition
• The signing of the 1820 General Treaty with the Arab Tribes of the Persian Gulf
• Discussion of what to do with the former possessions of the Joasmees
• The establishment of a political agency and naval station on the Island of Kishma [Qeshm].

3. Two expeditions, in 1820 and 1821, against the Beni Boo Ali [Banī Bū ‘Alī, various spellings in this volume], inhabitants of Jalan province and nominally under the authority of the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat [Sayyid Sa‘īd bin Sulṭān Āl Bū Sa‘īd], for alleged acts of ‘piracy’ and for the murder of a member of the Imaum’s government. Matters covered include:

• The visit of Captain W S Collinson, Commander of the cruiser Mercury, to Alashkarah [al-Ashkarah, various spellings in this volume] to remonstrate with the Beni Boo Ali in September 1820, and during which the murder of the Imaum’s government official took place
• The preparations for, progress of, and eventual failure of the first expedition in late 1820
• The preparations for, progress of, and eventual success of the second expedition in early 1821.

Other matters covered by the volume include:

• Affairs of Central Arabia, in particular those concerning the Wahabees [Wahabi] and the campaign of Ibrahim Pasha against them
• British efforts to enlist Ibrahim Pasha's cooperation with the campaign against Rasul Khyma, including Captain George Sadlier’s [Sadleir] journey across Arabia in order to deliver a letter and a gift to the Pasha
• A visit by Captain E Pratt, Commander of the Fly, to the Curia Muria [Kuria Muria] Islands in January 1821 in search of shipwrecked 'Lascars' [non-European sailors, usually from the Indian subcontinent, in the employ of the British]
• Relations between Britain and Persia [Iran], specifically relating to Britain’s presence on the Island of Kishma.

The second part of the volume comprises the enclosures referred to in the letters of the first part. These enclosures consist of letters, reports, and extracts of Proceedings of the Government of Bombay. Correspondents include: Major-General Lionel Smith, Commander of the Second Expedition against the Beni Boo Ali; Lieutenant J M Guy, Commander of East India Company Cruizer Psyche; Captain A Hardy, Commander of East India Company Cruizer Teignmouth; Lieutenant-General Charles Colville, Commander-in-Chief, Bombay Army; Shaik Sultan Ben Suggar [Shaikh Sulṭān I bin Ṣaqr al-Qāsimī, various spellings in this volume]; Shaik Zeid Ben Seif [Shaikh Zayed bin Sayf bin Mohammed al-Falahi], Acting Ruler of Debay [Dubai]; George Swinton, Acting Secretary to the Governor-General of the Presidency of Bengal, Fort William; Captain Thomas Perronet Thompson (and his successors (acting), Captain Charles James Maillard and Captain H R Deschamps), Political Agent, Kishma; Captain Price Blackwood, Commander of HM Sloop Curlew.