IOR/L/PS/5/415, ff 3-267

Enclosures no. 2-93 to a despatch from the Secret Department, Governmentof Bombay, dated 30 November 1842. The enclosures are dated 20 September-30November 1842.

The enclosures consist of copies ofcorrespondence relating to affairs in Aden, including:

• Withdrawal of the British stipend paid to Sultan M Houssain Fudthel of Lahidge [Muḥsin bin Faḍl al-‘Abdalī, Sultan of Lahej] in response to reports he is secretly permitting ‘murder and robbery’ (f 24) along trade routes to Aden that pass through his territory, and a decision that any subsequent agreement with the Sultan must include the taking of hostages in order to ensure his compliance
• Restoration of the British stipend paid to Sultan Hamed Abdulla Fouthelee [Sulṭān Aḥmad bin ‘Abdullāh al-Faḍlī] who has acted 'in a proper and friendly manner' (f 49) since making a peace agreement with the British in 1841
• Reports that Sherriff Hussain ibn Ali Hyder [Sharīf Ḥusayn bin 'Alī bin Ḥaydar] of Mocha has increased his force at Zebeed [Zabid], and plans 'to unite with the Sultan of Lahidge in expelling the British from Aden' (f 26)
• Discussions over potentially supporting the Imaum of Sanaa [Imam of Sana’a] as a rival to Sherriff Hussain
• Reports that the Ottoman Empire has agreed to support the Sherriff in exchange for an annual tribute, made up of money which the Sherriff has ‘extorted’ from merchants at Mocha, and a journey to Mocha by the Assistant Political Agent, Aden, to attempt to meet with the Sherriff and Mahomed Eschreff Bey [Muḥammad Ashraf Beg], Ottoman Envoy to the Sherriff
• Efforts to improve the fortifications of Aden in response to the potential threat from Sherriff Hussain, and a request for extra masons to be sent from Bombay [Mumbai]
• Complaints from British Indian merchants that the Ottoman authorities at Judda [Jeddah] and Mussowah [Massawa] are not observing the terms of the 1838 Treaty of Commerce and Navigation, including the alleged imposition of ‘arbitrary’ fines and restrictions, and a request for a ‘vessel of war’ to be sent to protect British interests in the Red Sea
• A re-audit of the accounts of the Political Agency, Aden, covering July 1839-April 1841
• Discussion over the value of keeping a Native Agent at Cossier [El Qoseir], and a decision that the position may be discontinued and the coal store at Cossier abandoned
• Reports that the Governor of Maculla [Mukalla] has ordered the massacre of his own cousins, from which one boy escaped and is being taken to either Aden or Muscat for protection, and has also fined and imprisoned several British Indian merchants
• An investigation into allegations that a group of Aden police officers covered-up an arson and robbery committed by a fellow officer, the dismissal and recall to Bombay [Mumbai] of the officers concerned, and the suicide of one of them
• The lack of an available vessel to relive the Honourable Company’s Schooner Constance, which is ‘much in want of repairs’ (f 261).

The primary correspondents are: the Political Agent and Assistant Political Agent, Aden; the Superintendent of the Indian Navy; the Civil Auditor, Bombay; Sultan M Houssain Fudthel; Mahomed Eschreff Bey; Lieutenant W Christopher, commanding the Constance; and the Government of India.