IOR/F/4/2661/176324

The item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, a Political Letter from the Government of Bombay to the East India Company Court of Directors, 26 April 1856. A copy of this letter can be found at IOR/F/4/2661/176320, alongside details of further enclosures. The item is the fifth in a series of fifteen items on events in the Persian Gulf during 1855-56. The eighth item in the sequence is not present.

The item relates to an incident in which Commander Felix Jones, Acting Resident in the Persian Gulf, issued instructions for the Company frigate, Assaye, to transport money and a detachment of sepoys to the Presidency of Bombay. Commander John W Young, Commanding the Assaye, and Commodore Richard Ethersey, Commanding the Indian Naval Squadron in the Persian Gulf, initially refused based on an order not to let any 'superior officer' interfere with the Assaye's mission. Rear-Admiral Sir Henry John Leeke, Commander in Chief of the Indian Navy and issuer of the order, explains that Ethersey misunderstood that this order did not apply to interference from the Resident.

The Government of Bombay respond to both Leeke and Jones explaining the Governor of Bombay's opinion on the incident. They also make reference to earlier correspondence from January 1841 between the Government and Captain Robert Oliver, Superintendent of the Indian Navy, and Captain Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf (copies included). This clarifies the responsibilities, rights, and authorities of both positions and establishes the superiority of command of the Resident over the naval authorities in the Gulf.

The correspondents of the item are Jones, Ethersey, Young, Leeke, and the Government of Bombay.

The title page of the item contains the following references: 'Bombay Political Department', Draft Number '52 [18]57', 'Collection No. 6', 'Vol: 5', and 'Examiner's Office'. Originally, the Collection number was written as 'Collection No. 5 of No. 40 of 1856.' but the '5' was replaced with '6' and 'of No.40 of 1856.' has been crossed out.