IOR/L/PS/5/432, ff 311-470

Enclosures no. 2-61 to a despatch from the Secret Department, Government of Bombay, dated 27 August 1844. The enclosures are dated 14 May-21 August 1844.

Folios 324-350 consist of copies of correspondence relating to a petition from Moola Moosa [Mullā Mūsá, also written as Moollah Maussa and Moolla Moses] and Moola Ibrahim [Mullā Ibrāhīm], Jewish merchants resident in Meshid [Mashhad], for indemnity for losses suffered due to alleged persecution in Cabool [Kabul] caused by their association with the British. The correspondence covers:

• Details of the ‘essential service’ provided by both men to the British in Afghanistan, Bokhara [Emirate of Bukhara], Khiva, Kokan [Kokand] and Toorkistan [Turkestan]
• An immediate grant by the Governor-General of India, upon receipt of the petition, of 1000 rupees each, and his passing the case on to the Court of Directors for consideration of further compensation
• The death at Bombay [Mumbai] of Moola Moosa while awaiting a response to the petition.

Folios 397-470 consist of copies of correspondence relating to the Indus Flotilla, particularly a severe delay in paying the men of the flotilla, due to confusion over which Presidency has ultimate authority for issuing the pay, after the responsibility for auditing the accounts of the Scinde [Sindh] Marine Department was transferred from the Government of Bombay to the Government of Bengal in May 1843.

Other topics covered in the item include:

• Arrangements for three trophy guns, captured in Afghanistan and Hyderabad, to be shipped from Bombay to England aboard HMS Nimrod as gifts for Queen Victoria
• The arrival at Fort William of Sir Henry Hardinge, the newly-appointed Governor-General of India
• A request from the Assistant in Charge of Nimar for 10,000 rupees worth of small denomination coins to be sent for circulation in the region, and arrangements for a military escort for transportation of the coins.

The primary correspondents are: Captain F H H Glasse, commanding HMS Nimrod; the Superintendent of the Indian Navy; the Military Auditor General, Bombay; the British Resident, Indore; the Assistant in Charge of Nimar; Moola Moosa; Moola Ibrahim; the Government of Scinde; the Government of India; and various Indian Army officers.