IOR/L/PS/9/62

The volume consists of despatches to the Marquis of Salisbury, HM Principal Secretary of State for India, from Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Ross, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, dated 9 January-11 December 1875, forwarding copies of his letters to the Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department, Calcutta [Kolkata] and Simla [Shimla]. The despatches contain enclosures consisting of correspondence, telegrams, reports and other papers sent and received by the Political Resident, chiefly comprising: his communications with Major Samuel Barrett Miles, HM Political Agent and Consul in Muskat [Muscat; also used], and Lieutenant E A Fraser, Assistant Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; and reports of the News Agent at Bahrain [also spelled Bahrein in this volume], the British Agent at Shargah [Sharjah], the British Government Agent at Shiraz, and the Residency Confidential News Agent, Bushire [Bushehr]. Correspondents also include the rulers of Bahrain and Muscat, local officials, tribal leaders and British naval officers.

The despatches are grouped by date and are separated by Political Department dividers which state the date the despatches were received (22 February 1875-25 January 1876) and the principal subjects covered. The dividers are often annotated with comments, some fairly detailed, by India Office officials.

The volume notably covers and includes the following:

The state of affairs in Oman and the political instability of Seyyid Toorkee [Sayyid Turkī bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd], Sultan of Muskat, particularly:

• Disputes between the Hinawi [al-Hināwī] and Ghafiree [al-Ghāfirī, also spelled Ghaffiree] and their sub-tribes, notably at El Dhahireh [Al Dhahirah] and Semail [Samail, also spelled Semayel in this volume]
• The ‘seditious’ activities of the ‘Metowwa’ movement [a religious faction] in El Sharkiyeh [Al Sharqiyah]
• The unpopularity of Seyyid Toorkee’s favourite advisor ‘Mesh’, and the former’s periodical estrangements from his brother Seyyid Abdool Azeez [Sayyid Abdul Azīz bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd] notably over Customs House revenues
• Seyyid Toorkee’s retreat from government, move to Gwadur [Gwadar], and assignment of authority to Seyyid Abdool Azeez
• Miles’s concerns that Seyyid Toorki may abdicate and, latterly, that and Seyyid Abdool Azeez may claim independent rule
• The Muscat Government’s persistent financial difficulties, requests for subsidy advances from the British Government and reluctant payments to dissatisfied parties in order to avoid deposition
• The activities of former Sultan, Salim bin Thoweynee [Sālim bin Thuwaynī Āl Bū Sa‘īd], his plan to seize Burkah [Barka], interception and capture by HMS Daphne, and removal by the British to Kurrachee [Karachi].

Affairs in Nejd [Najd] and Bahrain, particularly:

• The reoccupation of Lahsa [Al Hasa, also spelled Hassa in this volume] by Turkish [Ottoman] troops commanded by Nasir Muntafij [Nāṣir al-Muntafik], and the flight of the defeated Abdool Rahman bin Feysul [‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal, also spelled Abdur in this volume]
• Turkish claims that Sheikh Esau ben Ali [‘Īsá bin ‘Alī Āl Khalīfah] Ruler of Bahrain, facilitated Abdool Rahman’s Lahsa expedition, and consequent threats to attack Bahrain directly, incite the Beni Hajir [Banī Hājir, also spelled Hajar in this volume] against Bahrain, and to support the Sheikh Esau’s rivals
• Numerous fugitives from Lahsa arriving in Zobarah [Al Zubarah] and Bahrain, reportedly fleeing the brutal reprisals inflicted by Turkish forces and the Governor of Lahsa
• The activities and internecine conflicts of the Feysul brothers, Abdool, Abdullah [‘Abdullāh], Mahomed [Muḥammad] and Saood [Sa‘ūd], including the death of Saood on 25 January 1875, military confrontations, Abdool’s claim of ascendancy over Nejd and his subsequent ousting by Abdullah who declares himself the Ruler of Nejd
• Nasir Muntafij’s appointment as Wali of Busreh [Basra] and claim to include Bahrain and parts of Nejd within his domains
• Clashes between the Naeem [al-Na’īm] of Zobarah and the Beni Hajir; Sheikh Esau’s insistence regarding his possession of Zobarah, his aid to the ‘Zobarites’ against the Beni Hajir, and British demands that Sheikh Esau refrain from ‘interference’ in mainland matters.

Matters relating to Bushire, particularly:

• The Persian Government’s prohibition on the export of grain
• Complaints by British firms Messrs Gray Paul & Co and Messrs Malcolm regarding the levy of transit duties on British goods in Persia [Iran] despite the Persian Government’s orders for their discontinuance
• Ross’s correspondence with the Persian Foreign Agent at Bushire and HM Minister in Tehran regarding permission for Messrs Gray Paul & Co to build warehouses and accommodation at Bushire
• Two changes in the governorship of Bushire.

The following matters are also included in this volume:

• Continued disputes by land between the rulers and tribes of Debaye [Dubai] and Aboothabee [Abu Dhabi, variously spelled in this volume] on the one side and the rulers of Shargah and Rasul Khymah [Ra’s al-Khaymah] on the other, and a report that Shargah and Debaye have made peace
• The compensation of British Indian traders by Mohammed bin Thani [Muḥammad bin Thāni], Ruler of El Bidaa [Al Bidda] on the Guttur [Qatar] coast, for losses incurred by the plunder of a Bahraini boat by the Beni Hajir, and the Ruler’s difficulties in relation to his son Jasim [Jāsim bin Muḥammad Āl Thāni] and Turkish influence
• Communications of and concerning the rulers of Umm el Kewein [Umm al-Quywayn] and Odeyd [Khawr al Udayd] regarding the Turkish presence and influence
• Précis of intelligence received from the British Government Agent at Shiraz, covering political, military, judicial, financial and civil matters, notably reports about robbery and plunder within the locality and oppressive local governors.