Aden Affairs [‎340r] (73/98)

Content

This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee Pre-1784, the Committee responsible for protecting East India Company shipping. Post-1784, its main role was to transmit communications between the Board of Control and the Company's Indian governments on matters requiring secrecy. , Number 69 of 1847, dated 6 August 1847. The enclosures are dated 13 April-2 August 1847 (although some internal copy documents date back to 26 December 1846).

The primary documents are: letters from Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Captain Indian Navy and Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. in Aden, to Arthur Malet, Secretary to the Government, Bombay, with related correspondence; Malet’s forwarding letters to Henry Miers Elliot, Secretary to the Government of India with the Governor-General; and minutes of the Governor in Council.

The subjects covered notably include:

• An unsuccessful attempt by the Chief of the Ameer tribe [Banu ‘Amir?] to extract tribute from the (British) Aden revenue based on a 200-year old document
• Despatch of Haines’s assistant, Lieutenant Charles John Cruttenden on the Honourable Company (HC) steam frigate Auckland , to investigate the veracity of reports of the arrival of a large body of Turkish [Ottoman] troops at Mocha and Hodeida [Al Hudaydah]
• Haines’s application for an HC steam vessel (schooner) of war to proceed to Mocha, Hodeida and Museowah [Massawa, also spelled Mussowah in this volume], to see what changes have taken place in the sea port towns of the lower part of the Red Sea; observe if Turkish troops have re-occupied them; and liaise where necessary with Turkish authorities to protect British and Indian interests
• Captain Haines’s arrangement and funding of a passage on an American ship for Syed Omar, cousin and ambassador to the King of Johanna [Anjouan, also known as Ndzuwani or Nzwani], and his party, from Aden to Zanzibar, including a letter of thanks to the British authorities from Syed Omar; a testimonial from a French traveller ‘rescued’ by Syed Omar at Jedda [Jeddah]; and bills of expenses submitted by Haines to Bombay for the assistance provided
• Progress reports of Captain J Kilner, Executive Engineer at Aden, on the various works connected with the defences of Aden up to 28 February 1847 (ff 339-340)
• Measures taken by the Military Board for protecting the town of Aden from floods of rain water from the landward side of the town; and Military Board’s criticism of how unsatisfactorily the instructions and works at Aden have been carried out, notably the conduct of Captain Kilner and Colonel Grant, and the lack of cordiality between Haines and Kilner (ff 344-351) (see also IOR/L/PS/5/450, ff 198-202).

Extent and format

1 item (49 folios)

Arrangement

There is an abstract of contents of the despatch, numbered 1-25, on folios 305-308. These numbers are repeated for reference on the verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. of the last folio of each enclosure.

Written in

English in Latin script

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