IOR/F/4/1148/30305

The item consists of extracts of Political Letters and Political Consultations from the Government of Bombay concerned with the action taken by the Resident at Mocha, Captain Bagnold, in response to a dispute between Surat merchants and the Dola [Governor] of Mocha. The dispute relates to outstanding accounts owed to the merchants for goods supplied to the Dola. Topics covered include:

• Instructions to the Resident at Mocha regarding the use of an East India Company cruiser with the order not to take action unless authorised by Henry Salt, Consul General at Cairo
• The Resident at Mocha’s and the Consul General at Cairo's differing views on how to settle the dispute
• The Pacha [Pasha] of Egypt's offer to write to the Imaum of Senna [Imam of Ṣanʻā', Yemen] on behalf of the Company and the Pacha's general concerns regarding the weaknesses of the Imaum's government
• The Resident at Mocha’s unauthorised action of requesting Captain Bremer to bring his squadron to Mocha and the Company’s concerns that this move may have caused the Pacha of Egypt and the Turkish Government to suspect that the Company is attempting to widen its influence in the Red Sea
• The death of a Turkish soldier as a result of an affray between ‘some of the Factory’ at Mocha and a group of Turkish soldiers, and the Company’s wishes to stress that this incident was unconnected to the presence of the squadron at Mocha
• The successful settlement of the dispute due to the actions of the Resident at Mocha.

The correspondence consists mainly of letters between the Resident at Mocha and William Newnham, Chief Secretary of the Government of Bombay. The other correspondents are: the Government of Bombay; the Court of Directors; the Agent at Surat; the Secretary of the Government of Bombay; the Secretary of the Supreme Government at Fort William; Syed Abdulla [Sayyid ‘Abdullāh, of Mocha]; Imaum H Mehdee [Al-Qasimi, Mahdi Abdullah, Imam of Yemen]; Henry Salt, Consul General at Cairo; Stratford Canning, Ambassador to Constantinople; Admiral William Hall Gage; Captain Bremer; Captain Robert Taylor, Political Agent at Bussora [Basra].

The item also contains a table of contents noting the page number, date, author and recipient of each letter (f 195 recto) as well as a copy of the petition against the Dola of Mocha made by the Surat merchants (ff 203 recto – 206 verso).

The bulk of the item dates from the years 1826 and 1827.

The title page of the item contains the following references: 'P.C. 681, Draft 367, 1829/30', ‘Collection No. 9’ and 'Examiner's Office 1829'.