IOR/F/4/690/18908

This item consists of copies of correspondence, minutes, and consultations, cited in, or enclosed with, political letters from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai]. It is the first in a series of two items on Lieutenant Dominicetti and Mocha (the other is IOR/F/4/690/18909). The principal correspondents are: the Government of Bombay; Lieutenant Bartholomew Dominicetti, commander of the Prince of Wales; Henry Meriton, Superintendent of the Bombay Marine; Muhammed Ali Khan, owner of the Derria Beggy.

The item concerns:

• The death of Ramsay, the British Resident at Mocha on 16 July 1817
• The ill-treatment of Dominicetti and other British subjects resident at the Factory by the Dola of Mocha, [Amir Fatih Muhammad]
• The plunder of the British Factory
• Extortion of money by the Dola of Mocha from British ships and the Honourable Company’s Broker
• The refusal of the Imaum of Senna [Mahdi ‘Abdullāh al-Qāsimī, Imam of Yemen] to give up deserters from Company ships who had converted to Islam
• A discussion of whether Dominicetti’s actions concerning the Derria Beggy were justified, and a consideration of her ownership
• A discussion of the measures the British were prepared to take in response to the above
• The British decision to blockade Yemen, and then bombard Mocha, if the Imaum’s response to their demands was unsatisfactory.

The item includes a contents page and the title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Draft 38, P.C. [Previous Communication] 61, [Season 18]23/24’ and ‘Examin[er’s Office] Nove[mber]’.