IOR/F/4/1163/30468

The item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence, minutes and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, letters from the Government of Bombay regarding numerous issues attended to by the Resident at Bushire, Captain David Wilson. The following topics are covered:

• An incident in which Aga Hyder Ally [Shirazi, Mirza Haydar ‘Ali, Agha] sought refuge inside the Residency at Bushire, claiming that he was not a servant of the local Governor, Sheikh Nassir [Shaikh Nāsir Āl Mazkūr II], but the carrier of a message from the Prince of Fars [Ḥosayn-ʿAlī Mīrzā]
• The Prince of Fars’ request for the Resident at Bushire to help secure the return of the ex-Governor of Bushire, Sheikh Abdool Rassool [Shaikh ‘Abd al-Rasūl Khān], from Muscat; the release of Sheikh Abdool Rassool by Sayyid Seid, [Sayyid Saʿīd bin Sulṭān] the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat and the desire of the former to establish firm friendship with the British Government
• The recent disturbances at Bushire relating to the conduct of Sheikh Haussein, uncle of Sheikh Nassir and brother of Sheikh Abdool Rassool
• Comments from the Resident at Bushire and the Envoy in Persia, Lieutenant-Colonel McDonald, regarding the feasibility of removing the Residency or strengthening its defences due to the unsettled state of the country
• A request by the East India Company's President, William Fullerton Elphinstone, to the Superintendent of Marine, Captain Thomas Buchanan, to enquire about a rock which struck the ship of Captain Grice and has been omitted in a survey of the coast between Sharga [Sharjah] and Aboothabee [Abu Dhabi]
• Discussions between the Resident at Bushire and the Political Agent at Bussorah [Basra], Captain Robert Taylor, regarding the consequences of either endorsing or advising against the Imaum of Muscat's proposals to aid the Chaub Arabs against the people of Bussorah
• An incident between Captain Betham of the Honourable Company's Cruizer Clive and Sheikh Nassir, following Captain Betham's attempts to capture a deserter from the Honourable Company's ship Amherst who he believed to be on board a bugalow in Bushire harbour belonging to the Sheikh.

Several extracts of correspondence relate to establishing the best procedures to follow in future with relation to people seeking asylum in Residencies and the discovery of deserters. Many of the extracts make reference to the Company's strong desire not to interfere, or to be seen to be interfering, in disputes between local leaders or to cause foreign powers to feel threatened or alarmed by actions of the Company.

Correspondents: the Government of Bombay; William Newnham, Chief Secretary of the Government of Bombay; Captain David Wilson, Resident at Bushire; the Secretary to the Supreme Government; the Honourable Company’s Broker at Muscat; William Henry Wathen, Persian Secretary to Government; the General Paymaster; Thomas Buchanan, Superintendent of Marine; Captain Betham of the Honourable Company’s cruiser Clive; Captain Walker of the Honourable Company’s ship Benares; Sayyid Seid, the Imaum of Muscat; the Senior Officer of the Marine in the Persian Gulph [Gulf]; Essai Johannes and Malcolm Arrathoon, persons put in charge of the Residency at Bushire in the Resident’s absence; Captain Robert Taylor, Political Agent at Bussorah; the Prince of Fars; Sheikh Nassir; Sheikh Abdool Rassool Khan; Muiza Mahommed Ally, Wuzeer [Mushir al-Mulk, Mirza Muhammad ‘Ali Khafraki, Vizier of Fars].

The item also contains notes of a conversation between Aga Mahomed Kazim, Messenger from the Prince of Fars, and the Resident at Bushire (ff 300 verso – 304 verso).

The Resident at Bushire is alternatively referred to as the Resident in the Persian Gulph [Gulf].

The title page of the item contains the following references: ‘P.C. 783, Draft 477, 1829/30’, ‘Collection No. 10’ and 'Examiner's Office 1830'.