IOR/L/PS/9/22

The volume consists of despatches tothe Duke of Argyll, Secretary of State for India, from Edward Charles Ross, ActingPolitical Resident in the Persian Gulf, dated 11 January-7 August 1873. Thedespatches contain enclosures consisting of correspondence sent and received bythe Acting Political Resident, dated 19 November 1872-31 July 1873.

A significant portion of the volume (folios 247-286and 293-340) covers events surrounding a significant fire on board theprivately owned British vessel SS Mesopotamia, while moored at Bushire[Bushehr], including:

• Accounts of the fire and efforts to extinguish it and unload cargo, with the involvement of officers and crew from HMS Hugh Rose and the Dutch brig Persian Packet
• A claim for salvage reward made by Alex Campbell, Commanding HMS Hugh Rose, on behalf of his crew
• A claim for salvage reward made by Assud-ullah Mirza [Asad Allāh Mīrzā], Prince-Governor of Bushire on behalf of Persian [Iranian] boats used in unloading the cargo, and a claim for customs duty on the unloaded goods
• Refutations to the Persian claims from British authorities and Gray Paul & Co, agents for the ship’s owners, who argue that Persian boats used for unloading were hired as they would usually be, and that charging customs duty on goods saved from a burning vessel is unjust and unprecedented
• Refusal by customs authorities to allow the goods to be shipped from Bushire until the customs duty has been paid, even after instructions to release them from the Sadr Azam [Ṣadr-i Aʿẓam, Persian Prime Minister].

Other topics covered in the volume include:

• Potential threats to the rule of Syed Toorkee [Turkī bin Sayyid Āl Bū Sa‘īd, spelt various ways in the volume] as Sultan of Muscat
• A British survey of the coast around Kateef [Al-Qatif], and objections raised by the Turkish [Ottoman] authorities
• The deposition of Abdullah ben Feysul [‘Abdullāh bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] as Emir of Nejd [Najd] by his brother Saood [Sa‘ūd bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd], and Saood’s subsequent attempts to form an alliance with the United Kingdom and to ensure peace with the Ottoman Empire
• Efforts to suppress the trade in enslaved persons in the Gulf, including the signing of an Anglo-Omani agreement for prevention of the trade, which is included in English and Arabic on folios 379-82
• An incident where passengers from Bombay [Mumbai] on board the privately owned British vessel SS Patna physically prevented the embarkation of further passengers at Bunder Abbass [Bandar-e Abbas] and Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh], leading to protests on shore and threats against employees of Gray Paul & Co, agents for the ship’s owners
• A complaint from Gray Paul & Co about the Persian system for dealing with claims from British and British Indian merchants in Persian ports
• The murder of Nasir bin Ali [Nāṣir bin ‘Alī], Walee [Wali] of Muscat, and the arrests of men suspected of involvement, including the former Walee Thoweynee bin Mahomed [Thuwaynī bin Muḥammad]
• The arrest of Gray Paul & Co’s Mail Agent at Bahrain on charges of cutting wood from plantations belonging to Esau ben Ali [‘Īsá bin ‘Alī Āl Khalīfah], Ruler of Bahrain, and a complaint by the Acting Political Resident that an employee of a British company was arrested without notice being given to the British authorities
• Movements of Royal Navy ships in the Gulf and Indian Ocean.

As well as the Acting PoliticalResident, the primary correspondents are: Syed Toorkee; Esau ben Ali; Saood benFeysul; the Sadr Azam; Assud-ullah Mirza; Mirza Mahomed Khan [Mīrzā Muḥammad Khān],Persian Foreign Agent at Bushire; Sir Henry Bartle Frere, on special mission toZanzibar and Muscat; the British Minister in Tehran; the Assistant PoliticalResident in the Persian Gulf; the Political Agent, Muscat; the Senior NavalOfficer in the Persian Gulf; the Native Agent, Bahrain; the Native Agent,Lingah; the Native Agent, Shargah [Sharjah]; the Native Agent, Shiraz; AlexCampbell, Commanding HMS Hugh Rose; Richard Charles Keun, Dutch Consul atBushire; Gray Paul & Co; George Phillips, Commanding SS Mesopotamia; andthe Government of Bombay.

There is a single folio in French, folio 540, acopy of a telegram from the Sadr Azam to Assud-ullah Mirza.