IOR/L/PS/5/262, ff 718-752

The enclosures largely comprise letters from the Secretary to the Government of Bombay to the Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department, forwarding correspondence, with enclosures, received from Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis Pelly, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Captain George Andrew Atkinson, Acting Political Agent at Muscat, and Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert Disbrowe, Political Agent, Muscat.

The following matters are covered in detail:

• The alleged appointment of Hajee Ahmed [Ḥājjī Aḥmad, also spelled Hajee Hamed and Hazee Ahmed in this item], former Minister of deposed Sultan of Muscat Syud Salim [Sayyid Sālim bin Thuwaynī Āl Bū Sa‘īd, also spelled Saulim and Saulem in this item], as Governor of Bunder Abbass [Bandar-e ‘Abbas] as a Persian [Iranian] subject, including: Hajee Ahmed’s description to Pelly of his expulsion from Muscat by Syud Azan bin Ghes [Sayyid ‘Azzān bin Qays Āl Bū Sa‘īd, Sulṭān of Muscat]; Pelly and Atkinson’s disagreement over whether the appointment is confirmed or still in negotiation; Hajee Ahmed’s plan to visit Shiraz; the reported satisfaction of British merchants with Hajee Ahmed’s management of British trade and shipping; the apparent request by the Prince Governor of Fars for Pelly’s advice regarding Syud Salim’s rights over Bunder Abbass; and Pelly’s opinion that Persia is not bound to re-lease Bunder Abbass to Syud Azan who is regarded as a ‘usurper’
• Rumours of the advance of Ibrahim Khan [Ibrāhīm Khān], Governor of Banpoor [Bampur], to Charbar [Chabahar], including: panic in the town; the hostility of local rulers to Ibrahim Khan; confirmation by the Commander of HM gunboat Hugh Rose that the threatened attack did not materialise and that construction of the telegraph land line along the Mekran [Makran] Coast continues undisturbed; Ibrahim Khan’s arrival in Toomp [Tump] demanding revenue and his confrontation by representatives of the Khan of Khelat [Khān of Kalat] who claims the territory as his own
• The movements and status of Syud Azan, including: the questionable extent of his suppression of the Ghaffree [Āl Ghāfirī] tribes and his influence in the interior of Oman; rumours that he has returned to Birkeh [Barka, also spelled Birka in this item] and may send a force to Gwadur [Gwadar]; rumours that the ‘Chief of the Benyas’ [Banī Yās] has urged him to go to Brymee [Al Buraymi] and capture the fort there
• The movements of Syud Salim including: his location in Debay [Dubai, also spelled Debai in this item]; rumours that he plans to move on Muthrah [Muttrah]; doubts expressed by Pelly and Disbrowe of the prospects of his regaining the throne
• The secret departure to Gwadur from Muscat of Syed Nasir bin Thoweynee [Sayyid Nāṣir bin Thuwaynī Āl Bū Sa‘īd], illegitimate son of the late Sultan Syed Thoweynee [Sayyid Thuwaynī bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd], and his popular ousting of the Sultan of Muscat’s appointed Walee [Wāli, also spelled Wallee in this item]; and the unsuccessful attempt by Captain Edward Charles Ross, Political Agent in Gwadur, to avert Syed Nasir’s takeover, and speculation that he may next advance to Charbar
• British officials’ measures to preserve maritime ‘tranquility’ in the ‘Persian seas’ notably their movement of vessels of war and prohibition of naval operations from Muscat by Syud Azan and his followers, leading to hostility against the British
• General affairs in the Gulf, including: the return by Pelly of a bugla [baghlah] to the Ruler of Aboothabee [Abu Dhabi] with a warning against further breaches of the maritime truce; and the assassination of ‘Soodeyree’ [Al-Sudayrī, also spelled Goodeyree, (the Wahhābī?)] who tried to oust the Ruler of Shargah [Sharjah].

Additional correspondents are: Captain Alfred Cotton Way, First Assistant Resident in the Persian Gulf; Hajee Ahmed; Captain Ross; and Ibrahim Khan.

The Political Despatch was received in the India Office Secret Department on 14 June 1869.