IOR/L/PS/5/487, ff 350-374

This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 45 of 1856, dated 25 June 1856. The enclosures are dated 5 May-19 June 1856.

The enclosures chiefly comprise copies of the correspondence of Commander Felix Jones, Acting Resident, Persian Gulf, with Commodore Richard Ethersey, Indian Navy, Commanding the Indian Naval Squadron in the Persian Gulf, and the Government of Bombay, relating to the removal of the Al Ali [Āl ‘Alī] tribe from Demaum [Dammam].

They notably cover and include:

• Jones’s and Ethersey’s agreement to make a demonstration of naval strength at Demaum with the Ajdaha, Semiramis and Falkland, and if that fails to bombard the town and fort of Demaum, followed if necessary by further coercive measures including the blockading of the port and destruction of any captured Al Ali boats
• Ethersey’s reservations regarding the agreed measures to be taken at Demaum, due to: the inadequacy of naval resources to carry out the Demaum action in addition to policing the Gulf and searching vessels for enslaved persons; the unsuitability of the Ajdaha for the shallow seas around Demaum; and the urgent need for the Semiramis to return to Bombay [Mumbai] for repairs
• Jones’s hope that a brief show of naval strength at Bahrein [Bahrain] and his negotiations with the Sheikh of Demaum [Muḥammad bin ‘Abdullāh, Shaikh of Dammam] will achieve the British objective, his reluctant agreement that the Semiramis return to Bombay before the monsoons set in, and his decision to retain the Constance at Bushire [Bushehr] during the temporary withdrawal of the Ajdaha and Falkland
• Ethersey’s provision of the Ajdaha for Jones’s visit to Demaum and tour of the Gulf, due to the inadequate cabin accommodation on his own vessel the Falkland
• Jones’s report to the Government of Bombay on his proceedings at Bahrein regarding the Al Ali, including: his meetings with Sheikh Mahomed ben Khuleefa [Muḥammad bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah, Shaikh of Bahrain], the Sheikh of Demaum and with Ali ben Sultan [Alī bin Sulṭān], chief of the Al Ali; the agreement of Jones and the Sheikh of Bahrein not to force the Al Ali to return to Geis [Kish, also was known as Kenn] due to its unsuitable living conditions, and proposal that the Al Ali go to Kuweit [Kuwait], Grane [Kuwait] or Aboothabee [Abu Dhabi]; Jones’s encouragement of those Al Ali who wish to reconcile with the Sheikh of Bahrein and return to the island without punishment; Jones’s consent to the Sheikh of Demaum’s request (f 367) to allow the Al Ali to remain at Demaum until the month of Ramadhan [Ramadan] has ended; Ali ben Sultan’s compliance following Jones’s threat to bring the squadron to Demaum; Jones’s pleasure that he has achieved a ‘peaceful resolution’ and relief at the avoidance of a potentially ineffective and expensive blockade
• Jones’s orders to Ethersey that the Semiramis should go to Bombay should any important despatches arrive at Bushire for India.

In this item Jones also reports unverified intelligence from the Acting Native Agent at Muscat that the agents of the Imam of Muscat and Persia [Iran] at Kishm [Qeshm] have agreed that the Imam will take possession of Bunder Abbas [Bandar Abbas].