IOR/F/4/2661/176328

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, 12 September 1856. A copy of this letter can be found at IOR/F/4/2661/176320, alongside details of further enclosures. The item is the ninth 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 contains two copies of letters from Commander Felix Jones, Acting Resident in the Persian Gulf, to the Government of Bombay, dated 23 May and 29 May 1856. His letters mostly relate to his interventions in several events involving the Sheikh [Shaikh] and inhabitants of Himreyah [Al Hamriyah], including:

• The plunder of a vessel shipwrecked near Himreyah which belongs to a native subject of the Imam [Imām] of Muscat
• Salvage to be paid to a native of Himreyah who repaired and refloated a wrecked boat from Rasel Khymah [Ra's al-Khaymah]
• The seizure of a Lingah [Bander-e Lengah] subject by Himreyah inhabitants in retaliation for one of their subjects being seized while at Lingah
• Tension between the Shooeyheen [al-Shuwayhīyūn] and Naeem [al-Na‘īm] tribes of Himreyah on one side and Sheikh Sultan ben Suggur [Shaikh Sulṭān I bin Ṣaqr al-Qāsimī], 'Chief' of Rasel Khymah on the other.

Jones also includes summaries of instructions he has sent to Hajee Yacoob [Ḥājjī Ya‘qūb], British Agent at Shargah [Sharjah], regarding the above events as well as some minor affairs mostly relating to Lingah, Aboothabee [Abu Dhabi], Shargah, Debaie [Dubai] and Himreyah. Additionally, he includes extracts of letters on the same subjects that he has sent to: Hajee Jassem [Ḥājjī Jāsim], Agent at Bahrein [Bahrain]; the 'Chief' of Bahrein; and Sheikh Sultan bin Suggur.

The item includes the Government's response and their instruction to send a relevant extract of Jones's letter to Rear-Admiral Sir Henry John Leeke, Commander in Chief of the Indian Navy.

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

The title page of the item contains the following references: 'Bombay Political Department', Draft Number '52 [18]57', 'Collection No. 6', 'Vol: 9', and 'Examiner's Office'. Originally, the Collection number was written as 'Collection No. 1 of No. 71 of 1856.' but the '1' was replaced with '6' and 'of No.71 of 1856.' has been crossed out.