IOR/L/PS/5/358, ff 168-205

The enclosures relate to the following matters:

The impending struggle between the Wahabee Ameer Abdulla ben Faysul [Wahhābī Amīr ‘Abdullāh bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and the de facto Government of Muscat under Syud Azzan [Sayyid ‘Azzān bin Qays Āl Bū Sa‘īd], including:

• Analysis by Major Alfred Cotton Way, Acting Political Agent and HM Consul in Muscat, and Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis Pelly, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, of the respective military strength and political support on the opposing sides, and reports of the whereabouts of all the parties involved
• Intelligence that the Ameer’s forces collected at Lahsa [Al-Ahsa], and were en route from Guttur [Qatar] to Beraymee [Al Buraymi, also spelled Bereymee and Baraymee in this item] with the intention of taking Muscat after Sohar
• An unverified report that the Ameer has invited Syud Saulem [Sayyid Sālim bin Thuwaynī Āl Bū Sa‘īd, deposed Sulṭān of Muscat] to lead his forces
• Cotton Way’s decision to detain the vessel Dalhousie at Oman to protect British interests if required
• Reports that the Ameer solicited cooperation or neutrality from the rulers of the littoral of the Arabian side of the Gulf, with only Aboothabee [Abu Dhabi] contemplating supporting Azzan
• Azzan’s occupation of Beraymee, in alliance with the Aboothabee ruler whom he pays to protect the frontier
• Formation of a defensive alliance by the rulers along the littoral of the Arabian side of the Gulf to avert further attacks by Azzan
• The replacement of the Shargah [Sharjah] Ruler following his breach of the defensive alliance by declaring for Azzan
• The stalling, at Debay [Dubai], of Syud Toorkee [Sayyid Turkī bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd] and his campaign to seize the Muscat throne, due to lack of active support of the littoral rulers, the Wahabees, and (despite his claims to the contrary) the British.

The threatened invasion of Zanzibar from Oman, including:

• The Government of India’s disapprobation of the assurance given by John Kirk, Acting Political Agent and HM Consul at Zanzibar, to Syud Majid [Sayyid Mājid bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd], Sultan of Zanzibar, that he would under his own responsibility suppress by force any attempt to attack Zanzibar
• Kirk’s analysis of the political situation in Zanzibar, including Majid’s continuous ‘intrigues’ against the de facto Government of Muscat and attitude to his brother Syud Toorkee.

Affairs relating to the activities of Persian [Iranian] authorities in Bahrein [Bahrain, mostly spelled Bahrein in this item], including:

• A letter from Hyder Khan [Ḥaydar Khān], ‘Chief’ of Dushtee [Dashti], to the new Ruler of Bahrain, Sheikh Esau ben Ali ben Khalifah [‘Īsá bin ‘Alī Āl Khalīfah], indicating the Persian Government’s support, advising him to seek their protection and not to trust the British, and urging him to ‘do what is right’ (ff 199-200)
• The presence of Mirza Mehdy Khan [Mīrzā Mahdī Khān, also spelled Mehdy in this item] at Bushire [Bushehr] and on the Gulf littoral, whose purported mission is to ‘put the affairs of Bahrain in order’
• Pelly’s anger that Mirza Mehdy Khan may be appointed Foreign Agent on the Persian Gulf Littoral, and desire that British authorities officially object to him as someone who will continue to ‘intrigue’ in the region.