IOR/L/PS/7/7, ff 553-562

This item consists of a copy of a Political Letter from the Government of India’s Foreign Department, to the Secretary of State for India, No. 28 of 1876, dated 4 February 1876, submitting enclosures related to the treatment of two British Indian merchants resident at El-Bidaa [Al Bidda, now a neighbourhood in Doha], dated 21 October 1875-11 January 1876.

The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence discussing the case of Rama and Cheyla, two British Indian merchants based in Guttur [Qatar] who were summoned to Lahsa [Al Hasa] by the Turkish [Ottoman] Governor of Lahsa. Elements of the case covered include:

• Rama and Cheyla being placed under house arrest until their departure
• An unsuccessful attempt to intervene by Mahomed bin Thanee [Muḥammad bin Thānī Āl Thānī, Emir of Qatar], and the insistence of his son Jasim bin Thanee [Jāsim bin Muḥammad Āl Thānī], serving as Turkish Governor of Guttur, that the summons be followed
• British enquiries into the summons and the possible reasons behind it
• An allegation that Jasim has had Rama and Cheyla’s shops in El-Bidda closed and demanded payment to re-open them.

The primary correspondents are: Mahomed bin Thanee and his Moonshee [Munshi] Nasir Basree [Nāṣir al-Bāṣri]; Rama and Cheyla; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the News Agent, Bahrein [Bahrain]; and the Government of India.