IOR/L/PS/5/376, ff 279-409

This item consists of a despatch to the Secret Committee, 16 July 1839, from John Pollard Willoughby, Secretary to the Government, Bombay [Mumbai]. The despatch itself (not included) is numbered 1 and is followed by an abstract of contents, numbered 2. The abstract of contents is followed by despatches to Willoughby, numbered 3-29. Despatches 3-27 are from Captain Samuel Hennell, Political Resident, Persian Gulf, and were sent when the Residency was situated on the island of Karrack [Kharg, also known as Khark, also spelled Karrak in this item], following a dispute with Mirza Assad, the Governor of Bushire [Bushehr]. Despatches 28-29 are from Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Taylor, Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq].

Hennell’s despatches contain copies of correspondence, reports, translated letters and other documents, and include his extensive communications, including with:

• Khorshid Pasha [Khūrshid Pāshā, also spelled Korshid and Koorshid in this item], Commander of the Egyptian Forces in Nedgd [Najd, also known as Nejd, also spelled Nedged, Nedge and Nedje in this item]
• Captain John Croft Hawkins, Commanding the HC [Honourable Company] Sloop of War Clive
• Thomas MacKenzie, Civil Surgeon to the Political Residency, Persian Gulf
• Shaik Jaber, the Chief of Koweit [Shaikh Jābir bin ‘Abdullāh Āl Ṣabāḥ of Kuwait]
• Thomas Edmunds, Assistant Resident, Persian Gulf
• Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Sheil, HM Chargé d’Affaires at the Court of Persia [Iran]
• Mahomed Effendi, [Muḥammad Effendi] ‘the Confidential Agent of Khorshid Pasha’ (f 327)
• Shaik Abdoollah bin Ahmed [Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Aḥmad Āl Khalīfah] Chief of Bahrein [Bahrain]
• George Barnes Brucks, Commodore of the Squadron of the Indian Navy in the Persian Gulf
• Lieutenant-Colonel James Shirreff, Commanding the Detachment at Karrack
• The Native Agent at Shargah [Sharjah]
• The Governor of Muscat
• Native Agent at Muscat
• Arab Maritime Chiefs of varying seniority
• Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick Campbell, HM Consul General in Egypt
• Meerza Mahomed Ali [Mīrzā Muḥammad ʿAlī] British Agent at Bahrein [Bahrain].

The main subjects covered are:

• The purported designs of Khorshid Pasha in relation to the island of Bahrein, including: the agreement between the Chief of Bahrein and Mahomed Effendi (ff 354-355) indicating the former’s ‘submission’ to Egypt; Hennell’s meeting with Mahomed Effendi at Karrack and correspondence with Khorshid Pasha; Khorshid Pasha’s insistence that Bahrein has agreed to pay tribute to Egypt as a dependency of Nedgd, but that he has no designs on the Persian Gulf
• Intelligence, resulting from visits and tours of inspection, relating to the cooperation and assistance that Britain might expect from the Arab maritime chiefs in the event of any military operations being undertaken by, or to oppose, Egyptian forces, including reports by: Captain Hawkins, Commanding the Clive (ff 295-296); Mr MacKenzie, Civil Surgeon of the Residency, on the HC Schooner Emily (f 295); and the Assistant Resident, accompanying Rear-Admiral Sir Frederick Maitland on his tour of the Arabian Coast in HMS Wellesley (ff 303-321)
• British efforts, at a meeting in Rusul Khyma [Ra's al Khaymah, also spelled Rasul Khyma and Ras-ul-Khyma in this item], to influence the major Arab maritime chiefs to: end their ‘internecine’ conflicts; unite against potential Egyptian territorial encroachment; and be aware that submission or providing assistance to Egypt is not in their interests as it is in opposition to British policy
• The movements of Sued ben Mootluk [Sa‘d bin Mutlaq al-Muṭayrī, spelled in multiple variant forms in this item], an officer formerly in the service of the ex-Wahabee [Wahhabi] leader Fysul [Amir Fayṣal bin Turki bin Abdullāh Āl Sa‘ūd], and self-professed agent of Khorshid Pasha (f 359), notably with regard to his: activities in Shargah; unsuccessful attempt to take the fort of Braymee [Al Buraymi]; claims to have taken charge of the government of Oman; arrival in Ras-ul-Khyma; purported aim to effect the submission of Muscat
• Ascertainment of the position of the Sheik of Koweit with regard to the demands of Mahomed Effendi to supply grain and to supress local opposition to Khorshid Pasha
• The relations between the Political Residency, Persian Gulf, with Mirza Assad, the Governor of Bushire [Bushehr], and with the authorities at Shiraz, notably: instructions from Sheil to Hennell: not to impose a blockade of Bushire; and to suspend all official communications with the Government of Shiraz following the departure of the British Mission from Tehran (f 348) and break in diplomatic relations with Persia
• The departure of Shaik Nassir [Shaikh Nāṣir Āl Mazkūr II, a former Governor of Bushire] from Karrack on 18 April 1839, following a decision by Lieutenant-Colonel Shirreff that his presence compromised the safety and security of the force on the island
• Rumours, and their contradiction, of alleged Persian attempts to prevent supplies reaching Karrack
• Communications between Hennell and Commodore Brucks regarding: the number of vessels of war needed for security and communications purposes in the Persian Gulf; whether the Elphinstone, Clive and Tigris can, in turn, be released for repairs in Bombay; the powers the Indian Navy can use to protect merchant ships threatened by hostile forces; the method merchant ships expected at Bushire from India should use to discharge and load their cargo whilst relations with Shiraz are suspended
• The difference of opinion between Shirreff and Hennell (and Brucks) regarding the prospect of a serious attack on the Karrak station by sea.