IOR/R/15/1/1

A collection of letters sent from and received at the East India Company's Bushire Residency from the establishment of the settlement in early 1763 until late 1788. The letters are mostly between the Residency and the Agency in Basra or the Presidency at Bombay, but there are several letters from other individuals and Company servants.

The correspondence covers a wide range of topics:

• Trade - mainly the import of English woollens for the Persian market and the export of Carmenia wool (from Kirmān province) and raw silk. Other commodities discussed are tin, lead, and coffee.
• Political developments in Persia and along the Gulf coast. The dominant events focus around relations between Mīr Muhanna, the Banu Ka‘b, Karim Khan, the Ottoman Turks, the Sheikhs of Bushire, the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) and the English, and cover a period of increasing political and military activity by the British East India Company in the region.
• Financial and administrative matters, including the relationship between the Agency in Basra and the Residency, structural changes within the Company as a whole, and the issues of sick leave, salaries, and allowances.
• Scientific and geographical matters, such as botanical collections and weather.