IOR/R/15/1/178

This volume contains administrative reports and historical sketches concerning Persian Gulf affairs. The volume also contains a number of letters between Henry Lacon Anderson, Secretary to the Government, Bombay; A Hinlock Forbes, Acting Secretary to the Government, Bombay; and Captain Felix Jones, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf. The correspondence relates to the reporting of this information (folios 3-5 and 77-79). The historical reports themselves were prepared by Herbert Frederick Disbrowe, Assistant Resident.

The volume contains reports covering two reporting periods:

• 1 May 1858 to 31 May 1859 (folios 2-75): Joasmee [Āl Qaswāsim] (folios 6-19); Beniyas [Banī Yās] (folios 20-25); Debaye [Dubai] and Ajmaun [Ajman] (folio 26); Amulgavine [Umm al-Qaywayn] (folios 27-30); Wahabee [Wahhabi, Najd] (folios 31-33); Uttoobee [al-‘Utūb, Bahrain] (folios 34-50); Muscat (folios 51-63); and Persian Coast (folios 64-75);
• 1 June 1859 to 31 May 1861 (folios 76-173): Joasmee (folios 80-86); Bokha [Bukhā] (folios 87-89); Himreeah [Ḥimrīyah] (folios 90-91); Beniyas (folios 92-93); Boo Felasa [Bū Falāsah] (folios 94-105); Ajmaun and Amulgavine (folios 106-107); Wahabee (folios 108-115); Uttoobee (folios 116-157); Muscat (folios 158-161); and Persian Coast (folios 162-173)

The reports concern British relations with various Persian Gulf and Arabian rulers, including: Sa‘īd bin Taḥnūn Āl Nahyān, former ruler of Abu Dhabi; Zāyid bin Khalīfah Āl Nahyān, ruler of Abu Dhabi; Sa‘īd bin Buṭṭī Āl Maktūm and Shaikh Ḥashr bin Maktūm Āl Maktūm, rulers of Dubai; Sulṭān bin Ṣaqr Āl Qāsimī, ruler of Sharjah; ‘Alī bin ‘Abdullāh Āl Mu‘allā, ruler of Umm al-Qaywayn; Ḥumayd bin Rāshid Āl Nu‘aymī, ruler of Ajman; Amīr Fayṣal bin Turkī Āl Sa‘ūd, Wahhabi chief; Muḥammad bin Khaīfah Āl Khalīfah, ruler of Bahrain; Syed Soweynee [Sayyid Thuwaynī bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd], Sultan of Muscat and Oman; and Sayyid Mājid bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd, ruler of Zanzibar. Mention is also made of the Chief of Damaum [Damām], Seikh Mohomed bin Abdullah [Muḥammad bin ‘Abdullāh] (folio 34); the Sheikh [Muḥamad bin Thānī] of Biddah [al-Bida‘] on the Gutter [Qatar] coast (folio 36); and chiefs of Lingah [Bandar Lengeh] and Mogoo (folio 67), as well as Charrack (folio 68).

The reports cover the following subjects: visits and interviews of the Political Resident and other British officials, including Commodore Jenkins and Commander Balfour, with local rulers; the slave trade; piracy and the upholding maritime peace; pearl diving and trade; judicial matters affecting British subjects (Banyans), as well as details concerning their status; native Residency Agents at Sharjah and Bahrain; smallpox outbreak; the death of Shaikh Sa‘īd bin Buṭṭī and the succession of Shaikh of Ḥashr bin Maktūm; the Perpetual Truce of Peace and Friendship (1861) between Britain and the ruling Āl Khalīfah family of Bahrain; relations and conflicts between local rulers, notables, merchants and the British; and relations with the Amir Faysal, the Imam of Muscat, the Persian Government and the Ottoman Empire.

Marginal notes refer to various correspondence. In addition, annotations in pencil appear throughout the volume (particularly folios 103-105, 141-145, 157) and the front cover is marked 'Done' in blue.