Persian Gulf Affairs

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. 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 89 of 1847, dated 28 October 1847. The enclosures are dated 9 September-25 October 1847.

The item chiefly comprises communications of the Chief Secretary to the Government, Bombay, to: Major Samuel Hennell, Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; Lieutenant Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Officiating 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. , Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. [Ottoman Iraq]; the Secretary to the Government of India; and Commodore Sir Robert Oliver, Superintendent of the Indian Navy. Also included are: single communications from the Secretary to the Government of India and Hennell to the Chief Secretary to the Government, Bombay; two minutes of the President and Governor in Council and the members in Council, Bombay; and a copy (as published in the Bombay Gazette 21 October 1847) of the engagement entered into with the British Government by the ‘six Maritime Arab Chiefs…binding themselves to prevent, from and after the 10th December next, the exportation of slaves [enslaved persons] from the African Coast or Elsewhere on board of their vessels and those of their subjects’ (ff 288-289).

The communications are brief and largely administrative. They cover the following matters:

• Approval of Hennell’s negotiations with the Maritime Arab Chiefs and authorisation of the publication of the agreement in English, Arabic and Persian in the government Gazette
• The request, subsequent to a letter by Hennell, for the opinion of Commodore Oliver as to the best measures to follow up the treaties already in force for the suppression of the trade in enslaved persons from the east coast of Africa
• Concurrence in concern regarding the amended instructions issued by the Turkish [Ottoman] Government to the Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. [Governor] of Baghdad regarding the disposal of enslaved persons liberated under the convention recently signed by the [Ottoman] Porte
• Approval of Hennell’s intention to quickly remove ‘rescued slaves’ from Bussorah [Basra] who do not wish to remain in Ottoman territory
• A translated extract of the report by the Agent at Shargah [Sharjah] on the recent ‘number of Abyssinian [Ethiopian] slaves imported into Oman’ (f 300) and approval of Hennell’s intention to rigorously enforce the terms of the convention when it comes into force ‘with equal strictures in the case of the importation of Abyssinians as in that of Negroes [Black Africans] and Soomalees [Somalis]’ (f 299).

Extent and format

1 item (27 folios)

It is part of

'ENCLOSURES TO SECRET LETTERS FROM BOMBAY', Vol 89

1046 images

Ref: IOR/L/PS/5/451

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/5/451, ff 281-307

Former external reference(s)

No. 89 of 1847

History of this record

Date(s)

28 Oct 1847 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

ConventionsAbolition of slaverySlave trade

Places

BussorahPersian GulfOttoman Empire

People & organisations

Government of Bombay, Chief SecretaryPolitical Resident, Persian GulfPolitical Agent, Turkish ArabiaGovernment of IndiaSuperintendent of the Indian NavyGovernment of the Ottoman EmpireGovernor of BaghdadNative Agent, Trucial Coast, Sharjah

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Cite this record in your research

Persian Gulf Affairs, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/5/451, ff 281-307, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100153828290.0x000008> [accessed 8 July 2024]

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