IOR/R/15/1/190

The volume contains correspondence relating to the perceived threat of attack on Oman by Ibn Rashid [Muḥammad bin ‘Abdullah Āl Rashīd]. The principal correspondents are: Edward Charles Ross, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, at Bushire; Abul Kasim [Ḥajj Abu'l-Qāsim], Residency Agent at Sharjah; Aḥmad bin ‘Abd al-Rasūl, Residency Agent at Bahrain; various officials at the India Office, Foreign Office, and the Government of India; Henry Drummond Wolff, British Minister at Tehran; officials at the Political Agency in Muscat; Faysal bin Toorki [Fayṣal bin Turkī, al-Sayyid], Sultan of Muscat; William Tweedie, the Political Agent for Turkish Arabia, at Baghdad; and William White, British Ambassador at Constantinople.

The volume largely consists of intelligence reports (both the originals in Arabic and the English translations) sent by the Residency Agents at Bahrain and Sharjah to Edward Ross at Bushire, which were subsequently shared and discussed with other departments. The volume is divided into four sections under a subject heading, as follows:

• 'Reports of Turkish Naval Reinforcement, etc. in connection with the threatened invasion of Oman by Ibn Rashid, June 1888';
• 'Threatened invasion of Oman by Ibn Rashid - Proceedings of Shaikh Jasim';
• 'Turkish Relations with Shammar Arabs of Mesopotamia';
• 'Genealogy of Mohammed ibn Rashid'.

Topics covered by the volume include:

• The build-up of Turkish military presence in the Gulf;
• The rivalry between Shaikh Saeed bin Khaleefah [Zāyid bin Khalīfa Āl Nahyān], ruler of Aboothabee [Abu Dhabi], and Jasim bin Mahomed Thani [Jāsim bin Muḥammad Āl Thāni], ruler of El Bidaa (modern Doha);
• Jasim's attempts to gather support amongst the Arab tribes of the Trucial Coast for Ibn Rashid's planned attack against Oman;
• Biographical information on Ibn Rashid and his family, as well as assessments of the support he enjoys in the region;
• British concern over the matter, and warnings given by them to the Turkish authorities of the consequences should the attack against Oman be made;
• A Turkish military expedition against sections of the Shammar (tribe) residing in Mesopotamia.