IOR/F/4/1435/56726

The item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence, minutes and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, letters from the Government of Bombay and the East India Company Court of Directors. It is the first in a series of three items on general affairs in the Persian Gulf (the others are: IOR/F/4/1435/56727 and IOR/F/4/1436/56728).

The item is chiefly concerned with general updates of events in the Gulf over the period 1831-1833. In particular, the item relates to:

• The conflict between Hussein Ali Mirza [Ḥusayn ‘Alī Mirzā Farmānfarmā], Prince of Shiraz (also referred to as the Prince of Fars), and Abbas Mirza [‘Abbās Mīrzā Qājār], Crown Prince of Persia
• Upheaval at Bushire [Būshehr] following the death of the governor, Shaik Abdool Russool [‘Abd al-Rasūl Khān Āl Mazkūr]
• The struggle for power at Bushire between: Shaik Nasser [Nāṣir II Āl Mazkūr], son of Abdool Russool; and Reza Kooli Mirza [Reza Qulī Mīrzā Farmānfarmā], son of Hussein Ali Mirza
• The rebellion against the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat by his relatives: Hamed bin Azan of Sohar [Ḥamūd bin Azan Āl Bū Sa‘īd, Shaikh of Ṣuḥār]; and Sued Hillal of Sowack [Sayyid Hilāl bin Muḥammad Āl Bū Sa‘īd, Shaikh of As Suwayq]
• The unsettled nature of affairs in Oman due to: the above-mentioned rebellion; the Imaum’s frequent absences; and the rise of the Wahabees [Wahabi, tribe]
• Designs on the Imaum’s territories of Debba [Dibba] and Khor Fikan [Khawr Fakkān] by Sooltan bin Suggur [Sulṭān I bin Ṣaqr al-Qāsimī, Ruler of Ra’s al Khaymah and Sharjah]
• The Government of Bombay’s concerns about the weakened position of the Imaum and its intervention in Muscat during his expedition to Zanzibar in 1832
• Acts of ‘piracy’ and disruption to the trade at Muscat and Sohar caused by Rashid bin Humeed [Rashid I bin Ḥumaid al-Nu‘aymī, Shaikh of Ajman]
• Arrangements made by the Superintendent of the Indian Navy to ensure that there is a sufficient number of vessels in the Gulf.

The item also includes minor and general discussions of issues in the Gulf, such as: reported acts of ‘piracy’; relations between the different chieftains; activities of the Wahabees; and the claim for payment by the Shaik of Kishm [Qeshm] for helping the merchant vessel Prinsep.

The principal correspondents are: the Government of Bombay; David Anderson Blane, Resident in the Persian Gulf; and Lieutenant Samuel Hennell, Assistant to the Resident in the Persian Gulf. Other correspondents include: the Court of Directors; the Government of Bengal; the Superintendent of the Indian Navy; Native Agents at Shiraz, Muscat, Sharga [Sharjah], and Bahrein [Bahrain]; and the Persian Secretary to the Government of Bombay.

The title page of the item contains the following references: 'Bombay Political Department’, ‘P.C. [Previous Communication] 1339, Draft 435, 1834' and 'Examiner's Office'.