IOR/L/PS/5/385, ff 470-483

This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 44 of 1840, dated 30 June 1840. The enclosures are dated 7 May to 30 June 1840.

The enclosures consist of correspondence relating to affairs at Aden and within its vicinity. They mostly concern responses of the Government of Bombay and the Government of India to despatches from the Political Agent at Aden, Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, including:

• The Government of Bombay stating that the murder of Haines’s Agent, Hassan Abdallah Katteef [Ḥasan ‘Abdullah Qaṭīf], is to be deplored, but that it was imprudent to have had an openly recognised British Agent at Lahedge [Lahej] after the commencement of hostilities with the Sultan of Lahedge
• The Government of Bombay requesting Haines’s opinion as to whether it would be advisable to recommend to the Government of India the granting of a pension to the family of Hassan Abdallah Katteef, in recognition of the valuable services he rendered, and if so what amount the pension should be
• The Government of India informing the Government of Bombay that in view of the present state of Egypt and British relations with the Pasha [Muḥammad ‘Alī Pāshā al-Mas‘ūd bin Āghā], it ‘can scarcely be doubted’ that the influence of the Egyptian authorities will be exerted to render British tenure of Aden insecure, therefore the Government of Bombay is authorised to send to Haines any reinforcements which may be necessary for the defence of Aden
• The Government of India considering it unfortunate that the schooner Mahi was not detained for twenty-four hours in order to bring intelligence of the results of the threatened attack on Aden by Sultan Hamed Abdulla Fouthelee [Sulṭān Aḥmad bin ‘Abdullāh al-Faḍlī]
• Arrangements in progress for reinforcing the garrison of Aden with British troops
• The sanctioning of purchases for the use of the Political Agency at Aden by the Government of Bombay.

The enclosures also concern the ‘Chief’ of Beerahmed [Bi’r Ahmad] Sheik Hydura Bin Mehudi Ali Mukki il Gufiree [Shaikh Ḥaydarah Mahdī bin ‘Alī bin Makkī al-‘Aqrabī], seeking the Government of Bombay’s assistance in protecting his tribe against the attacks of the Foudili [al-Faḍlī] and Obedili [al-‘Abdalī] tribes.

The main correspondent is the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, Lestock Robert Reid. The other correspondents are the following: the Officiating Secretary to the Government of India, Henry Torrens; Haines; and Sheik Hydura Bin Mehudi Ali Mukki il Gufiree.