IOR/F/4/2504/142197

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, 13 January 1853, and found at IOR/F/4/2504/142185. Further enclosures to the letter can be found at: IOR/F/4/2504/142194; IOR/F/4/2504/142195; IOR/F/4/2504/142196; IOR/F/4/2504/142198; IOR/F/4/2504/142199; and IOR/F/4/2504/142200. The item is the thirteenth in a series of sixteen items about the Persian Gulf.

The item contains reports from Lieutenant G N Adams, Commanding Company frigate Queen, and Lieutenant James Tronson, Commanding Company ship Tigris, to Commodore George Robinson, Commanding Indian Naval Squadron in the Persian Gulf. Robinson forwards these reports to Captain Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Resident in the Persian Gulf. The reports concern:

• Adams's recent cruise to the Arabian and Persian [Iranian] coasts of the Gulf, and in particular his discussion with Sheik Abdulla ben Sultan ben Suggur, Governor of Shargah [Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Sulṭān bin Ṣaqr, Governor of Sharjah], concerning the latter's recent dispute with Hajee Yacoob [Ḥājjī Ya‘qūb], Agent at Shargah
• Tronson's recent cruise to the Arabian Coast, and in particular a discussion he had with Sheik Saeed ben Butye, Sheik of Debaie [Shaikh Sa‘īd bin Buṭṭī, Shaikh of Dubai], concerning a recent act of 'piracy' committed by the latter's subjects against a subject of Shargah.

The item also contains Kemball's responses to Robinson, in which he states:

• Independent Arab rulers are not obliged to visit the squadron's vessels if conditions are unsuitable, alluding to a recent case involving Sheik Sultan ben Suggur [Shaikh Sulṭān I bin Ṣaqr al-Qāsimī, Shaikh of Ra’s al-Khaymah and Sharjah]
• Tronson acted beyond his authority in his discussion with the Sheik of Debaie.

Kemball includes a copy of a letter from Sheik Sultan regarding his first point, and a copy of a letter from his predecessor, Samuel Hennell, to Robinson's predecessor, Commodore Porter, dated 23 October 1850, regarding his second point. He forwards copies of the reports and his responses to Robinson to the Government of Bombay, who also share their opinions on the above correspondence.

Additionally, the item contains reports from Hajee Yacoob to Kemball regarding the state of affairs among the tribes of the Arabian Coast, in particular concerning:

• Relations between Sheik Saeed bin Tahnoon, Sheik of Aboothabee [Shaikh Sa‘īd bin Ṭaḥnūn Āl Nahyān, Shaikh of Abu Dhabi], and Sheik Sultan ben Suggur
• Recent disturbances in Debaie linked to the contested succession to leadership of the Boo Felasa tribe [Āl Bū Falāsah]
• Recent attack on Sheik Saeed ben Butye's subjects near Wukrah [Al Wakrah].

Kemball forwards these reports to the Government of Bombay, who in turn forward them to the Government of India.

The item contains multiple spellings of multiple personal names and place names.

The title page of the item contains the following references: 'Bombay Political Department', 'Draft No. 350 of 1853', 'Collection No. 1 of No. 8 of 1853', 'Vol: 13', and 'Examiner's Office'. Originally, the Collection number was given as '4' but this has been crossed out.