IOR/L/PS/9/68/252

Copy of a letter from the Governor of Bombay in Council, Mountstuart Elphinstone, at Bombay Castle, to the Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William, the Marquess of Hastings, of 15 December 1819. The letter concerns proposed plans for the British expedition to the Persian Gulph [Persian Gulf] against the Joasmees [al-Qawasim] and their allies, whom the British accuse of piracy. The plans proposed include:

• To discourage the Sheik [Shaikh] of Bahrein [Bahrain] from engaging in acts of aggression at sea
• Reduction of Ras-il Khyma [Ra’s al-Khaymah] and other ports along the coast from Rumz [Rams] to Abbo Heyle [Abu Hail]
• The posting of British ships and the establishment of a Native Agent at Ras-il-Khyma
• Strengthening the position of the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat in the Persian Gulph
• The reestablishment of the authority of the Persian Government along the Persian coast
• Establishing a permanent British base on Kishma [Qeshm]
• The maintenance of a naval force in the Persian Gulph.

The letter is signed by Elphinstone, C Colville, A Bell, and G L Prendergrast. The letter was enclosed in Elphinstone’s letter to HM Chargé d’Affaires to Persia [Iran], Henry Willock, of 15 December 1819 (see IOR/L/PS/9/68/251).