IOR/F/4/2121/100025

This item consists of copies of correspondence, minutes, and consultations cited in, or enclosed with, a political letter from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai]. The correspondents are the Government of Bombay and Captain (later Major) Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf.

The item concerns a request by the Government of India for a report on the history of Britain’s relations with the states on the Arabian coast of the Persian Gulf, and the completion of this by Lieutenant Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Assistant Resident in the Persian Gulf. Kemball’s report was originally submitted with the political letter. The first part can be found in IOR/F/4/2121/100024, and the remainder is included in this item. An additional report on the territories belonging to the Imam of Muscat, produced by Captain Atkins Hamerton and also submitted with the political letter, is contained in IOR/F/4/2121/100026.

This item contains the following sections of Kemball’s report:

• ‘Historical Sketches of the Arab Tribes in the Persian Gulf from 1832 to 1844.’
• ‘Chronological Table of Events connected with the Arab Tribes of the Persian Gulf being an Index to the Historical Sketches of those tribes.’
• ‘Memoranda on the resources, localities and relations of the Tribes inhabiting the Arabian Shores of the Persian Gulf.’

These sections contain Kemball’s summaries and commentary, as well as extracts from earlier records produced by British officials.

The item contains a table of contents (f 145), and the title page (f 81) contains the following references: ‘P C [Previous Communication] 5061, Coll. 5, Vol. 2’, ‘D/t 29/46’, ‘Collection No. 2 of No. 18’ and ‘Examiner’s Office’.