IOR/L/PS/5/264, ff 397-428

Despatch from the Foreign Department, Government of India, to the Secretary of State for India, No. 18 of 1870, dated 22 February 1870, containing enclosures dated 14 November 1869-22 February 1870.

The despatch (ff 397-409) includes a summary of the history of Bahrein [Bahrain] since the eleventh century, particularly focused on its sovereignty, and an account of the recent attack on Bahrein, during which Alee bin Khalifah [‘Alī bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah], Ruler of Bahrein, was killed and replaced with Mahomed bin Abdullah [Muḥammad bin ‘Abdullāh Āl Khalīfah], and the successful British expedition against those responsible.

The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence relating to claims of suzerainty over Bahrein by the Wahabee [Wahhābī] State [Emirate of Najd] and Persia [Iran], and their respective positions relating to the attack and its aftermath, including:

• Allegations that the Wahabee Ameer [Emir] Abdullah bin Faysul [‘Abdullāh bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] had prior knowledge of the attack and may have been complicit in it
• Reports that the attack’s leader Naser ben Mobarek [Nāṣir bin Mubārak] has returned to Wahabee territory
• Persian letters of support to Mahomed bin Abdullah, and a complaint from the Government of Persia that the agent carrying them was prevented by the British from landing at Bahrein, and the letters confiscated.

The primary correspondents are: Abdullah bin Faysul; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the British Chargé d’Affaires, Tehran; the Native Agent, Lingah [Bandar-e Lengeh]; the Government of Bombay; and the Government of India.