IOR/L/PS/12/4089

Correspondence, minutes, and memoranda relating to cases of refugee slaves in the Persian Gulf and particularly along the Persian coast. The correspondence is principally interdepartmental in nature and is between officials at the India Office, Foreign Office, and Admiralty. Further correspondence, mostly enclosures, is between officials at the British Legation in Tehran and British Residency and Consulate General in Bushire, the Commissioner of Police in Bombay, Chief of Police in Gibraltar, and the Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf Division. Also contained within the file are several reports of escaped slaves by officers aboard a number of vessels in the Persian Gulf, including HMS Lupin, HMS Bideford, HMS Shoreham, HMS Triad, HMS Hastings, and HMS Folkestone.

The reports centre on the Persian Coast in places such as Henjam and Jask. The majority of slaves are escaping from places along the Trucial Coast of the Arabian Peninsula.

Matters dealt with by the correspondence in connection to these cases include:

• The attitude of the Persian authorities and the question of the correct way of involving them
• The manumission and repatriation of slaves
• Responsibility for costs.

The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.