IOR/L/PS/5/261, ff 613-626

Despatch from the Foreign Department, Government of India, to the Secretary of State for India, No. 187 of 1868, dated 24 October 1868, including an abstract and enclosures numbered 3-4, dated 9-22 October 1868.

The enclosures comprise a letter from the Secretary to the Government of Bombay to the Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department, enclosing a letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis Pelly, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, describing the proceedings he has adopted, with the cooperation of the Commander of HMS Vigilant, for the ‘punishment’ of the Rulers of Bahrein [Bahrain], Aboothabee [Abu Dhabi] and Guttar [Qatar], following their ‘flagrant breaches of the peace at sea’ (f 617).

Pelly reports his visits, with Sind, Hugh Rose, Vigilant and Clyde, to Wukra [Al Wakrah], Bahrein, and Aboothabee, between 1 and 16 September 1868 and his meetings with the various Rulers. He also provides copies of the declarations extracted from them, which include their agreements to maintain the maritime peace and pay compensation for alleged acts of plunder. Included are copies of declarations by: Shaikh Ali bin Khalifeh [‘Alī bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah] of Bahrein; Shaikh Mahomed bin Sanee [Muḥammed bin Thānī Āl Thānī] and various other named ‘chiefs’ of Guttar; and Shaikh Zayid bin Khalifeh [Zāyid bin Khalīfah Āl Nahyān] of Aboothabee. Pelly also stops at Shargah [Sharjah] to issue a ‘solemn and polite warning’ (f 620) to its Ruler for his ‘minor breaches of the peace’.

The papers also cover: the departure from Bahrein of its Ruler, Mahomed bin Khalifeh [Muḥammed bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah] who has become deeply unpopular on the island and in the region for his ‘tyranny, exactions, and mad eccentricities’ (f 617); Pelly’s meeting with Mahomed bin Khalifeh’s brother, Shaikh Ali bin Khalifeh [Shaikh ‘Alī bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah]; the declaration signed by Shaikh Ali and seven other shaikhs and dependants of Bahrein, ousting Mahomed bin Khalifeh from his position as principal Shaikh and permanently excluding him from all participation in the affairs of Bahrein (f 681).

The response of the Government of India, Foreign Department, conveys the Viceroy and Governor-General in Council’s approval of all Pelly’s proceedings.