IOR/L/PS/5/358, ff 130-160

The enclosures concern British actions in relation to alleged Persian [Iranian] efforts to sanction the ‘usurper’ Mahomed bin Abdullah [Muḥammad bin ‘Abdullāh Āl Khalīfah, also spelled Abdoollah in this item] in his ‘piratical possession of Bahrain’ (f 136) [also spelled Bahrein in this item]. They cover:

• The unsuccessful attempts of a messenger on an Arab buglah [baghlah] to breach the British blockade of Bahrain and deliver a dress of honour and a rukum confirming Mahomed bin Abdullah’s ‘chieftanship’, allegedly from the Governor-General of Fars. (The messenger has been sent by the ‘Chief’ of Dashtee [Dashti, Bushehr province] on behalf of Mirza Mehdee Khan [Mīrzā Mahdī Khān] a former Persian Envoy to Bahrain and Persian Foreign Office Agent in the Gulf)
• The confiscation, by Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis Pelly, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, of the messenger’s letters and their presentation to Mahomed bin Abdullah after his surrender of Bahrain
• Mirza Mehdee Khan’s subsequent communications with Pelly, altering his position regarding Mahomed bin Abdullah.

The enclosures include: a transcription of an interview by Pelly and Senior Naval Officer Captain G A Douglas with the messenger on the Arab buglah; copies of telegrams between Pelly, the Government of India and the Government of Bombay; copies of the letters from the Governor-General of Fars and Mirza Mehdee Khan; and letters of support for Mahomed ben Abdullah from Dashtee leaders.

The despatch also includes enclosures relating to: reports of an approaching attack on Muscat by the Wahabee Ameer [Wahhābī Amīr] against the government of Syud Azzan [Sayyid ‘Azzān bin Qays Āl Bū Sa‘īd]; and Pelly’s instructions that a vessel of war be sent to Muscat to protect British interests and prevent any breach of the maritime truce. Included are copies of Pelly’s correspondence with the representative of Azzan and situation reports from Major Alfred Cotton Way, Political Agent and Consul at Muscat.