"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٢‎٢‎٨] (١٧٨٢/١٣٨٣)

Refusal of
the British
to assist the
Turks
against the
Muntafik,
1769.
Withdrawal
of the
Agency staff
i : roin Basrah,
23rd April
1773.
1228
ted at the Turkish custom house, and not at the Company's premises as
had been hoped by the Agent and Council in 1765.
The behaviour of Sulaiman Agha, notwithstanding his acceptance of
Mr. Moore's terms, must have continued unsatisfactory; for on the Sht
of October 1769, on news being received that Sulaiman Pasha had
marched from Baghdad against the Muntafik tribe, Mr. Moore and
Mr. Green embarked on the Expedition " cruiser and proceeded up the
Euphrates, accompanied by the bomb-vessel "Fancy," to Umm Labas on
the south side of the river half way from Qurnah to Samawah, where
they found the Pasha encamped. They arrived there on the 6th of
November, to discover that the Mutasallim had anticipated them by some
days and obtained the Pasha's ear; but on the 12th, after the Mutasal
lim s departure for Basrah, the Agent had a private interview with the
Pasha, which resulted a few days later in the despatch of the Kehiyah,
who was also the Pasha's brother, to remove Sulaiman Agha from his
Government and to install in his place Yusuf Agha, who was generally
reported to be an honest and humane man.
In August 1769, the Pasha of Baghdad earnestly begged the British
Agent at Basrah to lend him the assistance of the Company 's vessels for
suppressing the revolt of the Muntafik under Shaikh 'Abdullah, already
mentioned; but Mr. Moore, to whom the disastrous consequences of the
Company's intervention in the war between the Turks and the Ka'ah
were well known, whose relations with the rebellious Shaikh 'Abdullah
had always been friendly, and who at the time—as we have already
seen—had unredressed grievances against the Mutasallim of Basrah,
evaded the request on the ground that large European ships would be
unable to act in the Euphrates. In the opinion of the Agent there was
even at one t ime a possibility of the town of Basrah being captured by
the Muntafik, and this he regarded as a strong additional reason for
observing neutrality.
In the spring of 177b an outbreak of plague occurred at Basrah,
resulting in heavy mortality and general panic. At the beginning of
« (^■ 1 - Moore) and some of his establishment retired to
Bel voir," where also the Company's vessels "Drake" and Tyger"
were sent to lie, while the other members of the staff shut themselves up
e actoi} building in the town of Basrah ; and communication with
the outer world was after that rigorously avoided. On the 7th of April
e wa ow, ' sloop-of-war, arrived at Basrah with 65 bales of piece-
goo s rom Surat; and as Sir John Gierke, the commander, would not
a ow any Joats from the shore to approach his vessel lest they should