IOR/P/441/100

This volume contains the Abstracts of Proceedings of the Political Department of the Government of Bombay for the months of January-December 1870. These Proceedings comprise correspondence sent to the Government of Bombay, and the resolutions taken by the Political Department in relation to that correspondence. Specific pieces of correspondence deemed particularly important are included in full as appendices at the end of some months. The subjects covered include:

• Presents, allowances, and stipends given to and received from Arab chiefs near Aden, and the stipend paid to Syed Toorkee [Sayyid Turkī bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd]
• The visit of Fadil, the Sultan of Lahej [Faḍl IV Muḥsin al-‘Abdalī], to Bombay [Mumbai]
• Diplomatic relations with the Foodtheli [al-Faḍlī] tribe
• The Sultan of Lahej's claim to territory in Little Aden
• Supplying of ammunition to the Sultan of Lahej for defence against an attack by Zaidees [Zaydis]
• Appointments, resignations, leave, and pay of staff and officers at the Aden Residency, Muscat Agency, and Bushire [Bushehr] Residency
• Improvements to Aden's defences and management of the Aden Troop
• Schemes for the development and repair of infrastructure in and around Aden
• Financial administration of the Aden Residency, Muscat Agency, and Bushire Residency
• Shipwrecks near Aden and Muscat
• Reports of current affairs at Aden, Muscat, Bahrein, [Bahrain], and Bunder Abbass [Bandar-e ʻAbbas]
• Trade to and from Aden, Muscat, and Bushire
• Activities of French, Dutch, and Ottoman ships and personnel in Aden, Muscat, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea
• Transfer of rescued and manumitted enslaved people from Aden and Bassadore [Basaʻidu; also written in the volume as Bassidore] to Bombay
• Correspondence concerning escaped, manumitted, and rescued enslaved people at Muscat
• Attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Aden
• Enforcement of quarantines in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea to prevent the spread of cholera
• Rumours of planned attacks by Muscat against Zanzibar and Gwadur [Gwadar]
• The movements of Syed Azan [‘Azzān bin Qays Āl Bū Sa‘īd] and Syed Toorkee
• British relations with Syed Azan and Syed Toorkee
• Conflict between the Muscat Government and the Wahabees [Wahhābī]
• Relations between the British Government and the Wahabee Ameer [Amīr]
• Alleged Wahabee influence on the people of Guttur [Qatar]
• Shots fired at the British ship Bullfinch from the Julalee [Al Jalali] fort at Muscat
• Supplying of machinery, tools, and other goods for use of the Muscat Agency and Bushire Residency
• Issues relating to the rental of the building housing the Muscat Agency
• Disputes concerning the exercising of Persian legal jurisdiction by the Persian [Iranian] Consul General in Bombay
• Discussion of the proposed application of the Foreign Jurisdiction Act to Persia and the Persian Gulf
• Grain riot at Bushire and 'unrest' due to food shortages throughout Fars province
• Alleged interference with trade at Bombay by the Persian Consul General
• Matters relating to the Telegraph Station at Angaum [Jazīreh-ye Hengām]
• Matters relating to the imprisonment of Arab ‘chiefs’ from Bahrein at Asseerghur [Asirgarh]
• Personnel and equipment required for the Bassadore Station
• Protection of the telegraph line along the Mekran [Makran] Coast.

The Proceedings also contain correspondence relating to political, economic, and military affairs in Deccan and Concan [Konkan], Guzerat [Gujarat], Sind [Sindh], Afghanistan, Abyssinia [Ethiopia], Somalia, Berbera, Massowah [Massawa], Zanzibar, Jedda [Jeddah], and the Bab-el-Mandeb.