IOR/L/PS/5/272, ff 417-430

This item comprises copies of a despatch and enclosures from the Government of India, Foreign Department, to the Duke of Argyll, HM Secretary of State for India, Number 25 of 1873, dated 28 February 1873. The enclosures are dated from 21 August 1872 to 23 January 1873, consist of printed correspondence, and concern affairs in Nejd [Najd] and Bahrein [Bahrain]. Correspondence comes from the following: the Government of Bombay; Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Charles Ross, Acting Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; various, usually unnamed News Agents in Bahrein and Lahsah [Al-Hasa], and including Hajee Ahmed Khan [Ḥājjī Aḥmad Khān]; and Shaik Esau bin Ali [Shaikh ‘Īsá bin ‘Alī Āl Khalīfah], Ruler of Bahrein.

The correspondence mostly relates to relations between the Ottoman Turkish authorities and the [Sa‘ūdi] Emirate of Nejd. Matters covered include:

• The faltering Ottoman military campaign in Lahsah, an attempt to establish a presence on the Persian Gulf
• The power struggle between the two brothers, Saood bin Feysul [Sa‘ūd bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and Abdullah bin Feysul [‘Abdullāh bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd]
• Inter-tribal relations in the region
• Reports of Turkish oppression in Kateef [Qatif].

Included is an abstract of contents, listing details of each enclosure, and several news updates from Bahrein and Lahsah concerning anything deemed of political importance to the British.