IOR/L/PS/9/21

The volume consists of despatches to the Duke of Argyll, Secretary of State for India, from Lewis Pelly, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, dated 12 July-26 December 1872, forwarding copies of his despatches to the Secretary to Government, Political Department, Bombay and enclosed letters. The despatches contain enclosures consisting of correspondence, telegrams, reports and other papers sent and received chiefly by the Political Resident.

A large portion of the volume relates to the Turkish [Ottoman] Expedition in Nejd [Najd, also spelled this way in the volume] and the occupation of parts of the Gulf coast of the Arabian Peninsula, in particular Guttur [Qatar], Bahrein [Bahrain], and Koweit [Kuwait]. Topics covered include:

• Turkish relations with and actions towards the ‘Trucial Chiefs’, the rulers of Guttur and Koweit, and the local population on the eastern Arabian coast
• The respective movements and expeditions of Turkish and British troops pearl boats, including an expedition at Bushire [Bushehr]
• Turkish-Wahabee [Wahhābī] relations.

Also covered significantly in the volume is the state of affairs in Oman, including the persistent threats to the position and financial stability of the Sultan of Muscat (also written as Muskat in this volume), Syud Toorkee bin Saeed [Sayyid Turkī bin Sa’īd Āl Bū Sa’īd; also spelled Seyyid Toorki in this volume]. The correspondence also covers the Sultan’s relations with the British Agent and Consul at Muscat, Major Edward Charles Ross, and with Pelly. Topics covered include:

• The Zanzibar subsidy
• A report by Sheikh Serhan bin Said bin Serhan bin Mohammed El-Alawi [Shaikh Sarḥān bin Sa‘īd bin Sarḥān bin Muḥammad al-‘Alawī] of Oman, including a description of the people of Oman, mainly focusing on the religion of Islam, status of beliefs, prayers, behaviour, distinctions within Islam, and pilgrimage (ff 272-285)
• Reports regarding the trade in enslaved people on the Arabian coast
• A memorandum on tribal division in the principality of the Imam (ff 326-330).

Other matters notably covered in this volume include:

• The proceedings of the Persian Famine Relief Committee at Bushire, chaired by Pelly
• An attack, described as piracy, on the steamer Cashmere off the Arabian Coast, in Turkish waters
• The appointment of a Native Agent at Yezd [Yazd] and Bushire
• The appointment of a Port Master in Bahrein.