IOR/F/4/652/17856

This item consists mostly of copies of correspondence, minutes and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, letters from the governments of Bombay [Mumbai] and Bengal. It is the seventh in a series of eight items on the subject of the alleged piracy of the Joasmee [al-Qawasim, also referred to as Joassmee] (the others are: IOR/F/4/648/17850, IOR/F/4/649/17851 and 17852, IOR/F/4/650/17853, IOR/F/4/650/17854, IOR/F/4/651/17855, and IOR/F/4/652/17857). The main topics covered are:

The military expedition against the Beni Boo Ali [Bani bu ‘Ali, also referred to as Beni Abou Ali and Bunee boo Ulee], a tribe in southern Oman, including:

• Reports of acts of piracy committed by the Beni Boo Ali tribe, the investigations into these reports, and the decision by Britain and the Imam of Muscat to send a joint military force against the tribe, led by Captain Thomas Perronet Thompson, Political Agent at Kishme [Qishm, also referred to as Kishm and Kishmee]
• Reports of the expedition, leading to the defeat of the joint force
• Preparations for a second military expedition, led by Major General Lionel Smith
• Reports on the second expedition, resulting in the victory of the joint force against the Beni Boo Ali, and the subsequent burning of the port of Lashkara [Al Ashkharah, also referred to as El Asharrah]
• The situation of the Beni Boo Ali prisoners sent to Bombay following the expedition, including the tribe’s two principal sheikhs [shaikhs], Mahomed Ben Ali [Muhammad bin ‘Ali] and his brother Kadhim bin Ali [Kazim bin ‘Ali]
• Extracts from the proceedings of the courts martial brought against Lieutenant William Morley and Captain Thompson regarding their conduct during the first expedition against the Beni Boo Ali.

The development of measures to ensure the maintenance of the settlement reached following the 1819 expedition, including:

• The question of the extent to which Britain should cooperate with Sultan Ben Suggar [Sultan bin Saqr al-Qasimi], the Ruler of Shargah, and details of a dispute between Sultan Ben Suggar and Zied Ben Sief [Zayid bin Sayf al-Falahi] of Debaye [Dubai] regarding an alleged act of piracy
• The question of whether to retain a British military force at Kishme, the opposition of Persia [Iran] to this, and the sending of Andrew Jukes, Political Agent at Kishme, to attempt to assuage Persian concerns
• The instructions issued to the ships tasked with patrolling the waters of the Gulf and enforcing the terms of the General Treaty with the Arab Tribes of the Persian Gulf
• A ‘description of the shores of the Persian Gulph [Gulf]’ prepared by Major William Colebrooke, focusing on the navigability of the coastline and with details of the key settlements, including the identities of the resident tribes, the size of the populations, the strengths of their defences, and the quality of their water supplies.

The primary correspondents are: Francis Warden, Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay; Captain Thompson; Major General Smith; Captain Deschamps, Acting Political Agent at Kishm [Political Agent for the Lower Gulf?]; Lieutenant Colonel N P Warren; Captain Charles J Maillard; Lieutenant John Michael Guy, Commander of the Psyche.

The title page (f 5) of the item contains the following references: ‘PC 16, Draft 383, 1821/2’ and ‘Examiner’s Office 1821’.