IOR/R/15/1/157, ff 34-50

The letter and its enclosures relate to a raid by the former ruler of Aboothabee [Abu Dhabi] Saeed ben Tahnoon [Sa’id bin Tahnun] on Abu Dhabi, aided by the Joasmee [Qāsimī] chief Sultan ben Suggur [Sultan bin Saqr].

The following enclosures follow Jones’s letter:

1. Letter no.152 of 1856 (folios 36-37) from Commodore Richard Ethersey, Commanding Officer Persian Gulf Squadron, to Jones, dated 6 August 1856. The letter is a report of the despatch to Abu Dhabi of the schooner Constance, and encloses a letter (folio 38) from Lieutenant Campbell, Commanding Officer on the Constance, to Ethersey, dated 3 August 1856, which reports on the fighting at Abu Dhabi, and his interview with the Shaikh of the town;

2. Letter no.140 of 1856 (folio 39) from Ethersey to Jones, dated 25 July 1856, which gives a report of news that Shaikh Sa’id bin Tahnun has sailed to Abu Dhabi with a view to being reinstated as ruler of the town, and the despatch of the Constance to Abu Dhabi to monitor ongoing events;

3. Letter no.226 of 1856 (folio 40) from Jones to Ethersey, dated 8 August 1856, acknowledging receipt of Ethersey’s previous letter (folio 39), and confirming that British forces should only interfere if the conflict becomes a maritime conflict;

4. The translated purport of a letter (folio 41) from Hajee Yacoob [Hajjī Yaqoob] to Jones, received 17 August 1856, which is an account of Sa’id bin Tahnun’s attack on Abu Dhabi;

5. The translated purport of a letter (folios 42-43) from Yaqoob to Jones, dated 31 July 1856, reporting on continuing events at Abu Dhabi, including the return to Abu Dhabi of Shaikh Zayid bin Khalīfah, and the subsequent battle in which Sa’id bin Tahnun’s men were defeated, and Sa’id bin Tahnun himself killed;

6. The translated purport of a letter (folio 44) from Shaikh Zayed bin Khuleefa [Zayid bin Khalīfah] to Jones, received 17 August 1856, stating that after his defeat of Sa’id bin Tahnun, he found that goods to the value of 2,500 dollars have been plundered from the town. Shaikh Zayid states that judgement on whether he should retaliate against his adversary rests with the Resident;

7. Letter no.243 of 1856 from Jones to Ethersey (folios 45-46), dated 17 August 1856, requesting that Ethersey make efforts to restore the property plundered from Abu Dhabi, and seize those boats involved in the act of piracy. Jones encloses copies of the following letters to Ethersey: The translation of a letter (folios 47-48) from Jones to Hajjī Yaqoob, dated 17 August 1856, requesting that the British agent make enquiries into the identities of the perpetrators of the plunder, and the boats involved. Enclosed under flying seal with Jones’s letter is an address to Shaikh Sultan bin Saqr (folio 49), dated 17 August, demanding the immediate return of goods plundered from Abu Dhabi, as well as the boats used in the raid, and another letter to Shaikh Zayid bin Khalīfah (folio 50), dated 17 August 1856, instructing Shaikh Zayid to not retaliate further, and that he (Jones) is seeking the return of stolen goods to Abu Dhabi.