IOR/R/15/1/87

The volume comprises letters sent from the Residency in the Persian Gulf, based at the time at Karrack [Bandar-e Chārak], under a number of different departmental headings (general, political, marine, territorial, judicial, financial, military, secret, steam), and written by Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf, or one of the officiating Residents, Lieutenant T Edmunds or T Mackenzie. Most of the letters are addressed to the Secretary to the Government Bombay. Other recipients include Commodore George Barnes Brucks, Commanding Indian Naval Squadron in the Persian Gulf, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Taylor, Political Agent for Turkish Arabia, Colonel Justin Sheil, HM's Chargé d'Affairs at the Court of Persia, and Captain Atkins Hamerton, employed on political duty at Muscat. Many of the Resident’s letters refer to enclosures which are not included in the volume. Instead, reference is made after the Resident’s letter to the location of the enclosure (for example ‘Translation Book for 1840, Page 172’ on folio 70).

The correspondence covers a wide range of topics:

• The day-to-day affairs and financial administration of the Residency, removed from Bushire to Karrack island in the wake of the break in diplomatic relations between Britain and Persia, and the Karrack Field Force, with particular reference to the difficulties faced by Residency staff and troops on Karrack island, including lack of proper accommodation, disease (fever, scurvy), procurement of supplies, and the construction of permanent buildings to ensure protection during the winter season;
• Progress of the Euphrates expedition – the construction of three steamers on the Euphrates river – led by Lieutenant Henry Blosse Lynch;
• Reports of Hennell’s annual tour of the Arab coast of the Gulf on board the Sloop of War Coote during April and May 1840, and his meetings with various rulers;
• Orders to and coordination (including pilotage) of vessels in the Indian Naval Squadron in the Persian Gulf, as communicated to the squadron’s officers;
• Reports from the Native Agent at Bahrain, relating to the activities of Khorshed or Koorshid [Khurshid] Pasha, Commander in Chief of the Egyptian armies in Nedgd [Najd], and the movements and actions of the Egyptian army in Arabia;
• Reports from the news writers at Shiraz on court and government affairs in Persia, including visits to Persia of ambassadors from foreign countries, including France and Italy;
• Affairs on the Arab coast, including tribal disputes, and a protracted dispute between the Shaikhs of Debaye [Dubai] and Aboothabee [Abu Dhabi];
• Incidents of shipwreck, piracy and plunder in the Persian Gulf, including piracies committed by an individual named Ghuluta, and British efforts to apprehend him (folios 35-36, 44-45);
• Incidents of kidnap and slave trading occurring in the Gulf, instances of the recovery of enslaved individuals, and their subsequent despatch to Bombay, and a discussion of the precedents and treaties under which British officers can tackle the Gulf’s slave trade (folios 221-24).