IOR/F/4/2235/112015

This item consists of copies of correspondence, minutes, resolutions, and consultations, cited in, or enclosed with, political letters from the Government of Bombay. These political letters appear in IOR/F/4/2235/112011. It is the fifth in a series of five items on the Persian Gulf.

The correspondents are: the Government of Bombay; the Government of India; Major Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf; Captain William Lowe, Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf; and Commodore Sir Robert Oliver, Superintendent of the Indian Navy.

The item concerns the efforts to carry out the agreements made with the Imam of Muscat and the rulers of the Arabian coast of the Gulf for the suppression of the ‘slave trade’ [trade in enslaved people] in the Gulf. It includes:

• Discussions regarding the size of the naval force required in the Gulf to enforce these agreements, and the locations where it would be most effective for this force to operate
• Reports, including from Hajee Yacoob [Ḥājjī Ya‘qūb], Government Pilot, of vessels carrying enslaved people embarking from Muscat
• The problems caused by the exemption of Persian [Iranian] vessels and ports from the agreements
• The agreement made with the Ottoman Empire with regard to the ‘slave trade’ in the Gulf, and the unclear position of Koweit [Kuwait] in relation to this.

The item also contains correspondence relating to items sent to the Resident in the Persian Gulf as presents for local rulers.

The item contains a table of contents (f 318), and the title page (f 317) contains the following references: ‘Bombay Political Department’, ‘Draft N. 294/48’, ‘Collection Vol: 5’, and ‘Examiner’s Office’.