IOR/L/PS/6/693, ff 241-288

This item is a collection to Bombay Political Despatch Volume 31 of 23 May 1859, from the Secretary of State for India to the Government of Bombay Political Department (the Political Despatch itself is not included in this item). The collection consists of papers forwarded with the Government of Bombay’s Political Despatch No. 32 of 20 October 1859 to the Secretary of State for India. It comprises correspondence from the Resident in the Persian Gulf to the Secretary to the Government of Bombay, relating to payments covering expenses incurred by the former legal officers of the Government of Bombay and to the captors of the buglas (also written bugalows) Saied [Saʿīd] and Futhool Moombaruk [Fatḥ al-Mabrūk] allegedly engaged in the trade of ‘slaves’ [enslaved people] in the Persian Gulf. Payments were partially funded through prize money released through the General Prize Committee, based on proceeds from the sale of the two captured buglas.

As a consequence of an internal dispute between legal officers and the Government of Bombay, a portion of the correspondence in this item focuses on clearly defining the duties of law officers in the service of the East India Company through consultations with the Government of Fort St George, Madras, and the Government of India, Calcutta.

Correspondents include: the Resident, Persian Gulf; the Secretary to the Government of Bombay; the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay; the Military Secretary to the Government of Bombay; the Secretary to the Government of India, Calcutta; the Chief Secretary to the Government of Fort St George, Madras; the Commander-in-Chief, Indian Navy; the Honourable Company’s Solicitor; the General Paymaster; the General Prize Committee, Bombay; the Accountant General; and the Late Solicitor for the Honourable Company.