"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٢‎٠‎٩] (١٧٨٢/١٣٦٤)

1209
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French and British Relations,
In the summer of 1755 the French Residency at Basrah was re-opened
by a M. Perdria, whose transactions the British Resident, Mr. Shaw,
was directed to watch very carefully and report to the Court of Directors
of the East India Company, for it was " imagined " that the Frenchman
had been sent to Basrah a at this critical juncture'' chiefly to forward intelli
gence to Europe. This order was sent from Bombay through the Agent
and Council at Bandar ''Abbas, the Agent being described on this and on
various later occasions as " Agent for all affairs of the British Nation/'
a style of address due perhaps to the approach of war, but one that conti
nued in use for a number of years after.
About the beginning of 1756 Mr. Shaw, having been insulted and
threatened by a boatman on the Basrah river, applied for redress to the
Mutasallim ; but that officer, instead of complying, incited the populace
against him, and a riot occurred by which his life was endangered. As
the Pasha at Baghdad accepted the Mutasallim's version of the affair,
by which the whole blame was thrown upon the British Resident,
Mr. Shaw undertook a journey to Baghdad, leaving his Assistant,
Mr, Garden, in charge at Basrah ; he was accompanied by M. Perdria,
with whom he seems to have been on good terms. At Baghdad, by
means of a personal interview with Sulaiman Pasha, Mr. Shaw was able
to secure the removal of the Mutasallim and the punishment of the less
important offenders • and the Pasha also granted a Farman << in which he
" directed that all possible honour and regard should be paid to the interest
and credit of the British nation, and declared that the least breach of
''that order would be attended with immediate loss of life and estate."
The question of anchorage duties at Basrah, where it had been the custom
to exact a present of 900 Qurush from every small and one of 1,500
from every large ship visiting the port, was raised by the two Residents
during their visitat Baghdad, and Farmans were obtained by them from
the Pasha abolishing these duties. M. Perdria was imprudent enough to
give the Pasha a present of 6,000 Qurush on this occasion, and Mr. Shaw
feaied that he would be expected to pay a like amount j but he proposed
to decline giving more than 4,000 Qurush and to recover that amount by
temporarily charging British ships at Basrah the same anchorage dues
on behalf of the Company as they had been accustomed to pay to the
l urks. The Government of Bombay were somewhat concerned at the
Re-establish
ment of the
French
Residency
at Basrah,
1755.
Journey of
the British
and French
Residents to
Baghdad,
1756.
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