IOR/R/15/1/157

The volume contains correspondence relating to a number of subjects, listed below. The principal correspondents throughout are Commander (James) Felix Jones, initially Acting Resident, then Resident in the Persian Gulf; and Henry Lacon Anderson, Secretary to the Government of Bombay.

The volumes contain correspondence relating to events in the Gulf, and are arranged by subject as follows:

• Bahrain (folios 10-24); despatches from the Government of Bombay in response to 1854-55 events in Bahrain; theft of property from Banyan (Indian) traders in Bahrain, and the suspicious death of a Banyan trader;
• Aboothabee [Abu Dhabi] (folios 25-65): the attack upon Abu Dhabi of the deposed Shaikh Sa’id bin Tahnun, in collaboration with Shaikh Sultan bin Saqr; an act of piracy off the Al-Qaṭīf coast;
• Shargah, Rasul Khymah [Ra’s al-Khaymah], and Himreeyah [Ḩamrīyah] (folios 66-127): an incident of piracy at Sharjah, and attempts by British officials to obtain compensation; conflict between Shaikh Sultan bin Saqr, ruler of Ra’s al-Khaymah, and the tribes of Ḩamrīyah; Wahhābī forces moving toward the Oman coast;
• Muscat and Bunder Abbass [Bandar-e ʻAbbās] (folios 128-62): investigation into the shipwreck and plunder of a vessel carrying pilgrims, and the murder of some of the vessel’s crew; the treatment of British subjects at Muscat; conflict and settlement between the Persian Government and Imam of Muscat over customs at Persian ports including Bandar-e ʻAbbās;
• The Slave Trade (folios 163-297): resources in the Gulf for fighting the maritime slave trade; Jones’s recommendations for improvements and changes to the policing of waters; the actions of the British Agent at Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh], in relation to diplomatic relations between Britain and Persia; the capture of a boat carrying slaves under Turkish colours.