IOR/F/4/2238/112367

The item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence and minutes cited in, or enclosed with, a Political Letter from the Government of Bombay to the East India Company Court of Directors, 31 January 1848. A copy of this Political Letter can be found at IOR/F/4/2238/112322, alongside details of further enclosures. The item is the forty-sixth in a series of fifty-nine items on events in the Persian Gulf.

The item relates to news from the Arabian and Persian [Iranian] coasts of the Gulf, as reported to the Government of Bombay by Major Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf. In particular, Hennell mentions:

• The relations between rulers of: Rasel Khymah [Ra’s al Khaymah]; Debaye [Dubai]; Aboothabee [Abu Dhabi]; Amulgavine [Umm al-Qaywayn]; and Bahrein [Bahrain]
• The consequences of the hostility between the sons of the late Beniyas chief, Khuleefa ben Shackboot [Shaikh Khalīfah bin Shakhbūṭ Āl Nahyān, Ruler of the Banī Yās], and Sheik Saeed bin Tahnoon of Aboothabee [Shaikh Sa‘īd bin Ṭaḥnūn Āl Nahyān, Ruler of Abu Dhabi]
• The ‘disturbed’ state of the southern coast of Persia due to the feud between the people of Charrack [Bandar-e Charak] and Mogoo [Moghuyeh]
• The hostility between the former ruler of Bahrein, Sheik Abdoollah ben Ahmed [Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Aḥmad Āl Khalīfah], and his ally, Sheik Esai bin Tareef of Bidda [Shaikh ‘Īsá bin Ṭarīf, Ruler of al-Bid], on one side and the current ruler of Bahrein, Sheik Mahomed ben Khuleefa [Shaikh Muḥammad bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah], on the other side
• The intervention of Captain William Lowe, Commanding [Naval Squadron] in the Persian Gulf, in the dispute between the former and current rulers of Bahrein and Hennell’s suggested course of action in this matter
• The dispute between Sheik Sultan bin Suggur [Shaikh Sulṭān I bin Ṣaqr al-Qāsimī] and his sons Ibrahim [Ibrāhīm] and Abdullah [‘Abdullāh] following their attempt on Shargah [Sharjah].

To a lesser extent, the item's contents also mention:

• The actions taken by Ul Ajajee, Wahabee agent at Brymee [Muḥammad bin Sayf al-‘Ajjājī, Wahhābī agent at Al Buraymi], following the expulsion of Kheilela [Khalīlī?] and the Mootawah [Muṭawwa‘] from Sohar [Suhar]
• An act of ‘atrocity’ committed by six Bedouins of Brymee against a vessel from Shargah
• Brief details on the recent tour of the Gulf undertaken by Lowe, including: shipwrecks; the seizure of a ship carrying enslaved people; and his communications with sheiks [shaikhs] at the ports he visited during his tour.

Correspondents include: Hennell; Lowe; Sheik Mahomed ben Khuleefa; Sultan bin Selamah [Sulṭān bin Salāmah]; Sheik Esai bin Tareef; and the Government of Bombay.

The item contains multiple spellings for individuals and places.

The title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Bombay Political Department’, ‘Draft No. 345/48, Coll: 2, Vol: 46’, ‘Collection No. 2 of No. 21’ and ‘Examiner’s Office’.