Letter from Samuel Manesty to Marquess Wellesley

Content

A copy of a letter from Samuel Manesty, Resident in Bussora [Basra], to Marquess Wellesley, Governor-General of Bengal, sent from Bussora and dated 28 July 1803.

The letter describes a political crisis in Bussora resulting from the detention of an Egyptian woman living with a British sailor, Captain John White. This incident leads to the intervention of the Bacha [‘Alī Pāshā al-Kahyah, Governor of Baghdad]; the arrest of Mahomed Nejeeb Beg [Muḥammad Najīb Beg], the Mussaleem During the eighteenth century this was the third most powerful official in Ottoman Iraq (after the Pasha and the Kiya). The title was given specifically to the Governor of Basra. [ Mutasallim During the eighteenth century this was the third most powerful official in Ottoman Iraq (after the Pasha and the Kiya). The title was given specifically to the Governor of Basra. , Governor] of Bussora; threats from Manesty to remove the Bussora Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. to India if the woman is not released; and a dispute between Manesty and the Bacha.

Included in the letter are:

• A translation of the Bacha’s orders to the Mussaleem During the eighteenth century this was the third most powerful official in Ottoman Iraq (after the Pasha and the Kiya). The title was given specifically to the Governor of Basra. , received 12 June 1803
• Translations of Manesty’s correspondence with the Bacha and the temporary Governor of Bussora in June 1803
• Copies of Manesty’s correspondence, dated 10 June-3 July 1803, with Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad, who disapproves of Manesty’s handling of the affair, and correspondence between Jones and the Bacha dated 29 June-21 July 1803
• Translations of petitions from inhabitants of Bussora complaining against Manesty, in particular regarding the case of the Egyptian woman
• Translations of two representations from the Cathee [Qāḍī, Magistrate] of Bussora to the Bacha concerning the Egyptian woman
• A letter from Manesty to William Drummond, HM Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, on the affair, dated 21 July 1803.

Arabic and Farsi versions of some of this correspondence are catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/76/300-310.

Extent and format

1 item (32 folios)

Written in

English in Latin script

Type

Archival item

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity.

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

IOR/L/PS/9/76/299

History of this record

Date(s)

28 Jul 1803 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

Political conflicts

People & organisations

ResidentResidentGovernor of BaghdadMutasallim of Bussora

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Cite this record in your research

Letter from Samuel Manesty to Marquess Wellesley, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/9/76/299, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100109378971.0x000001> [accessed 27 August 2024]

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