IOR/F/4/649/17852

This item consists mostly of copies of correspondence, minutes and memoranda cited in, or enclosed with, letters to and from the Government of Bombay. It is the third in a series of eight items on the subject of the alleged piracy of the Joasmee [al-Qawāsim, also referred to as Joassmee] (the others are: IOR/F/4/648/17850, IOR/F/4/649/17851, IOR/F/4/650/17853 and 17854, IOR/F/4/651/17855, and IOR/F/4/652/17856 and 17857). The main subjects are:

• Reports of the appearance of Joasmee pirates off the coasts of Cutch [Kutch] and Kattivar [Kathiawar], and the organising of ships to protect the trading vessels sailing to and from the ports along these coasts
• Accounts of the activities of British ships sent to cruise the coastlines of Guzerat [Gujarat] and Scind [Sindh] in search of Joasmee pirates. It includes depositions from the members of the crews of two suspected pirate ships that were captured, and from two residents of Mandavie [Mandvi], where the ships were detained (ff 168r to 171v)
• Arrangements for providing convoys for trading vessels travelling along the Indian coast, and those sailing from India to Mocha
• Suspicions that the Joasmee pirates are being assisted by communities along the coast of Makran, and that pirates from Dwarka are perhaps also active
• Reports of attacks by and engagements with Joasmee pirates in the Persian Gulf. It includes an extract from the log book of the Ariel from 15-17 September (ff 146v to 148r); and a list of questions put to and answers by Joasmee prisoners captured by Captain Francis Erskine Loch, Commander of the Eden and Senior Officer of His Majesty’s Navy in the Gulph [Gulf] of Persia (ff 223r to 225v)
• The capture by the Joasmees of a number of female prisoners, suspected to be variously of Indian and European origin, and efforts to get them released from Ras ul Khima [Ra’s al-Khaymah], Bahrein [Bahrain], and Sharga [Sharjah] where they are being held. It includes a table with details of ten Joasmee prisoners to be offered as part of a prisoner swap (f 322r)
• Reports of efforts by Joasmee pirates to intercept, in the Gulf of Aden, trading ships sailing from India to Mocha, and the actions taken to protect this trade
• A report by Captain George Forster Sadleir, dated 18 November 1819, on his travels in the Arabian Peninsula and his meetings with Ibrahim Pasha
• The case of a merchant ship at Muscat that was illegally flying the King’s colours
• Discussions regarding the legal basis of claims to prize property captured in the Persian Gulf.

The main correspondents are: Henry Meriton, Superintendent of Marine; William Bruce, Resident at Bushire; Charles William Elwood, Agent at Porebunder [Porbandar]; James Macmurdo, Resident in Cutch; Lieutenant James Arthur, Commander of the Ariel; Lieutenant Thomas Tanner, Commander of the Thetis; Captain George Robson, Commander of the Prince of Wales; Captain D D Conyers, Commander of the Mercury; Sheikh Abdallah ben Ahmed [Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Aḥmad Āl Khalīfah], Sheikh of Bahrein; and Sheikh Hassan ben Ramah [Shaikh Ḥasan bin Raḥma al-Qāsimī], Chief of the Joasmees.

The title page (f 138) of the item contains the following references: ‘PC 16, Draft 383’, 1821/2’; and ‘Examiner’s Office 1821’.