IOR/F/4/288/6503

The item consists mostly of copies of correspondence, minutes and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, letters to and from the Governments of Bengal and Bombay. It concerns reports of piracy carried out by the Joasmee [Qawasim], and the deliberations of the governments of Bombay and Bengal over the appropriate response to this issue.

The primary subjects are:

• Reports of attacks on British shipping in the Gulf by the Joasmee, including the capture of the Sylph
• The expansion of Wahabee [Wahhabi] influence in the Gulf, and the increase in piracy this has allegedly caused
• Divisions among the Joasmee, including reports that Sheikh Sultan Ben Suggur [Sultan bin Saqr al-Qasimi], the ruler of Ra’s al-Khaymah and Sharjah, has abandoned their cause
• Relations between Britain and the Joasmee, including a copy of a treaty made on 6 February 1806 (folios 74 recto to 75 recto)
• Reports of Joasmee attacks on shipping off the coast of India (including: a petition from merchants in Bombay requesting greater British protection (folios 92 recto to 93 recto); a report into four dows [dhows] which had arrived at Surat (folio 105 verso); extracts from two letters from Sunderjee Sewjee, a merchant from Bombay, reporting Joasmee activity in the Gulf of Kutch (folios 109 recto to 109 verso; and folios 113 verso to 114 recto); and two letters from Mutur bin Ruhmu bin Rashid Casimee [Matar bin Rahma bin Rashid al-Qasimi], the cousin of Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi, to his brother Rashid Bin Ruhmu Rashid Casimee [Rashid bin Rahma bin Rashid al-Qasimi] at Bhownuggur [Bhavnagar] (folios 147 recto to 151 verso))
• The relations of Muscat with the Joasmee and the Wahabees, and a request from the Imam of Muscat for British help in resisting them
• A request from the Uttoobee [Bani Utbah] for British support
• Reports on the expansion of Wahabee influence in south Arabia and of attacks on shipping off the southern Arabian coast (including: an extract from a memoir by Mohumud Ibrahim Purkar [Ibrahim Purkar, also referred to as Mohummud Hajee Ibrahim and Moohummud Ibrahim Purkar Makhooda] (folios 131 verso to 136 verso), and a letter from the Dola [Governor] of Mocha (folios 137 recto to 138 verso))
• Plans for an expedition against the Joasmee, in cooperation with Muscat.

The primary correspondents are: William Money, Superintendent of the Bombay Marine; David Seton, Resident at Muscat; Brigadier General John Malcolm; and Neil Benjamin Edmonstone, Chief Secretary to Government, Fort William.

The title page (f 65) of the item contains the following references: ‘Political No. 12, Season 1809/10, Draft 186’; and ‘Examiner’s Office, October and December 1809’.