IOR/F/4/1699/68472

This item consists of copies of correspondence and consultations cited in, or enclosed with, letters from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] to the East India Company Court of Directors.

The item concerns two military campaigns conducted by Egyptian forces in the Arabian Peninsula. The first campaign is in Nedgd [Najd], is led by Sheikh Khaled bin Saud [Shaikh Khālid bin Sa‘ūd Āl Sa‘ūd], and aims at conquering the territories of Sheik Fysul ben Toorkee [Amīr Fayṣal bin Turkī bin ‘Abdullāh Āl Sa‘ūd], the Wahabee [Wahhabi] chief [Emir of Najd]. Reports on the progress of this campaign are provided by local sources in the Gulf, in particular by Mirza Mahamed Ally [Mīrzā Muḥammad ‘Alī], the Native Agent at Bahrein [Bahrain], and the possible implications for the eastern Arabian coast are discussed.

The second campaign, led by Abrahim Pacha [Ibrahim Pasha Kavali] is focused in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula. The item contains: reports of the Egyptian conquest of Tauz [Taizz, also referred to as Taas in the item]; the plans of the Imaum of Senna [Imam of Sana’a] with support from the Aseer [Asir] tribe, to launch counter attacks on Tauz and Mocha; the conditions in Mocha; and the suggestion to keep HMS Euphrates stationed in the Red Sea to protect British property and trade in Mocha.

The primary correspondents are: Captain Samuel Hennell, Officiating Resident in the Persian Gulf; John Pollard Willoughby, Secretary to Government, Bombay; Mirza Mahamed Ally; and Rear Admiral Sir Charles Malcolm, Superintendent of the Indian Navy.

The item contains a table of contents (f 526), and the title page (f 525) contains the following references: ‘P C [Previous Communication] 2196, No. 10, Draft 573-1838, Collection No. 10 of No. 32’ and ‘Examiner’s Office’.