IOR/F/4/2238/112326

The item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence cited in, or enclosed with, a Political Letter from the Government of Bombay to the East India Company Court of Directors, 16 June 1847. A copy of this Political Letter can be found at IOR/F/4/2238/112322, alongside details of further enclosures. The item is the fifth in a series of fifty-nine items on events in the Persian Gulf.

The item relates to reports by Major Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf, on his visits in April and May 1847 with:

• Shaik Abdool Rahman, Chief of Kishm [Shaikh ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Ṣaqr al-Mu‘īnī, Shaikh of Qeshm]
• Shaik Mukhtoom bin Butye, Chief of Debaye [Shaikh Maktūm I bin Buṭṭī Āl Bū Falāseh, Shaikh of Dubai]
• Shaik Sultan bin Suggur [Sulṭān I bin Ṣaqr al-Qāsimī, Shaikh of Ra’s al Khaymah and Sharjah]
• Shaik Abdoollah bin Rashid, Chief of Amulgavine [Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Rāshid al-Mu’allā, Shaikh of Umm al-Qaywayn]
• Shaik Azeez bin Rashid, Chief of Ejman [Shaikh ‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin Rāshid al-Na‘īmī, Shaikh of Ajman]
• Shaik Saeed bin Tahnoon, Chief of Aboothabee [Shaikh Sa‘īd bin Ṭaḥnūn Āl Nahyān, Shaikh of Abu Dhabi]

Hennell reports on the topics covered in the interviews, which include: disputes and grievances amongst the rulers; planned attacks; general complaints; and the English [British] government’s policy of non-interference in local disputes. Hennell also reports on the general peaceful status of the above areas, and provides his opinion on the characters of some of the rulers.

Multiple spellings for the above rulers and places are present in the item.

The title page of the item contains the following references: ‘Bombay Political Department’, ‘Draft No. 345/48’, ‘Collection No. 2 of No. 78, Vol: 5.’ and ‘Examiner’s Office’.