The volume contains correspondence relating to British forces sent to Bushire during the Anglo-Persian War of 1856-57. The correspondents include: Major-General Foster Stalker (later James Outram), Commander of British Forces in Persia; Henry Lacon Anderson, Secretary to Government at Bombay; Charles Augustus Murray, British Minister to Persia (in Baghdad during the war); James Rennie, Commander of the vessel
Ferooz; John Darke, Commander of the vessel
Hugh Lindsay; Arnold Burrows Kemball, Political Agent in Turkish Arabia and Consul General at Baghdad; Stratford Canning, British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople; Meerza Hassan Ally Khan [Ḥasan ‘Ali Khān], Governor of Bushire; Brigadier Honner, Commander of the Second Light Infantry Brigade; Lieutenant Thain, Commander Deputed to Karrack [Kharg] Island; Rear Admiral Henry Leeke, Commander of the Naval Squadron of the Persian Expeditionary Force; George Frederick Edmonstone, Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department; G I Fraser, Civil Surgeon at Ahmednagar, in charge of the Persian Prisoners of War; the Secret Committee, in London; the Foreign Office, in London; Lieutenant J Ballard, Intelligence Officer; Hajee Ahmed [Ḥājī Aḥmad], Arabic Secretary to the Political Resident at Bushire; and Bawkir Khan, Chief of Tungistoon [Tangestān].The volume is divided into sections, each containing correspondence pertaining to a particular topic, as follows:I. 1: This section contains no correspondence, but bears the title 'Expeditionary Force placed under the command of General Stalker, C. B.; Commander Felix Jones is nominated Political Agent to the Persian Field Force, and is further to retain the title and discharge the functions of Resident in the Persian Gulf'.I. 2: Relates to the appointments of Felix Jones as Civil Commissioner in the town of Bushire and Major Taylor as Stalker's assistant and interpreter.I. 3: Relates to the siege and capture of Bushire by British Forces, and their unopposed occupation of Kharg Island.I. 4: A diary of events at the Residency from 29 November 1856 to 5 April 1857.I. 5: Relates to the wartime policy regarding Persian and Arab merchants at Bombay who wish to trade with Persian Gulf ports.I. 6: Relates to Leeke's refusal to correspond directly with Jones, and the Government of India's disapproval of his behaviour.I. 7: Relates to where to send prisoners of war and their servants and effects. It contains several English cover letters for correspondence between prisoners and their families.I. 8: Contains extracts from Secret Committee and Foreign Office dispatches that outline on what terms Britain will agree a peace with Persia.I. 9: Contains correspondence and intelligence on the movements of Persian troops in the interior around Bushire and Shiraz, and what allegiance Britain can expect from the tribes of the area. Included are letters from several Persian and Arab leaders, most notably Bawkir Khan, Chief of Tangestān.1 volume (226 folios)The volume is firstly divided into sections relating to a specific topic. Each section is given a topic number with the letter I (ranging from I.1 to I.9), and the sections are arranged using this number. Within each section the correspondence is arranged chronologically.Foliation: the numbers in the sequence are circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. It begins on the first folio, on number 2, and ends on the last folio of writing, on number 218. There are the following irregularities: f 2 is followed by f 2A; f 12 is followed by f 12A; f 26 is followed by f 26A; f 48 is followed by f 48A; f 89 is followed by f 89A; f 98 is followed by f 98A; f 111 is followed by f 111A; f 126 is followed by f 126A; f 141 is followed by f 141A.
A volume of letters sent outwards. Most of the correspondence is from Nicholas Hankey Smith, Resident at Bushire, mainly to various company officials in India or elsewhere in the Gulf and surrounding regions. Correspondence is also frequently sent to Jaffer Ali Khan [Ja‘afar ‘Alī Khān], the Resident's native agent at Shiraz, along with various other Persian officials. From July 1808, correspondence is sent out by William Bruce, who becomes Acting Resident following the departure of Nicholas Hankey Smith. The volume also contains some letters inwards, mainly as enclosures to letters outward.The subject matter of the correspondence is the administration of the Bushire Residency, company trade and political matters in the Gulf. French diplomatic activity, and plans to advance on British India is also a frequent topic in the correspondence.The following abbreviations have been used:HCC - Honourable Company's CruizerHMS - His Majesty's Ship2 volumes, 314 items (212 folios)This was once a single volume that has since been split into two parts.Part 1: ff.1-96Part 2: ff.97-1942 volumes in one slipcaseFoliation: The foliation sequence runs through two volumes as a continuous sequence. It commences at the title page of volume one and terminates at the last folio of volume two; these numbers are written in pencil, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.The file contains the following foliation corrections: 1 is followed by 1A; 11 is followed by 11A; 117 is followed by 117A; 193 is followed by 193A.Pagination: An original pagination sequence also runs through both volumes between ff 1-194; these numbers are written in ink, and are located in the top outermost corner of each page. The pagination is intermittent in places as numbers have been lost as a result of damage to the folios.Condition: The volumes have suffered from extensive pest damage resulting in the loss of a significant amount of text, and as a result the content can be difficult to read in places.
The volume contains correspondence relating to the employment and activities of British Agents responsible to the Persian Gulf Residency at Bushire. The correspondents include: Felix Jones, British Resident at Bushire; the Government of Bombay; Captain Christopher Palmer Rigby, British Consul and Agent at Zanzibar; Syed Thuweynee [Thuwaynī bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd], Sultan of Muscat; the British Agency at Muscat; Commanders of the Persian Gulf Naval Squadron; the British Agency at Sharjah; the British Agency at Shiraz; Prince Tahmasp, Governor of Fars; Charles Murray (later Charles Alison), British Minister at Tehran; and Lieutenant R W Whish, Commander of the
Mahi.The volume is organised into sections, each relating to a different topic, as follows:Subject 1: Relates to the British Agent at Muscat, covering the following matters:the dismissal of Heskael bin Yusuf as Agent due to lack of communication and inefficiency;the appointment by Jones of Henry Chester as Agent, and his subsequent removal because of the need for officers of his rank in the navy;the argument, put forward by Jones, for the need for a British-born agent at Muscat because of the sensitive political situation (the political split between Zanzibar and Muscat), a new telegraph station at Muscat that requires the expertise to operate, the slave traffic in Oman, and the growing influence of foreign powers (France) in the country;the appointment of William Pengelley as Political Agent at Muscat.The section contains (folios 24-32) detailed instructions for new agents at Muscat and a discussion of the protection to be given to banyans (Indian traders) in the region and the extent of British jurisdiction.Subject 2: relates to friction and disagreement between Jones and Hormuzd Rassam, appointed temporarily as British Agent at Muscat, caused by the former communicating directly with the Sultan of Muscat and the latter considering himself under the authority of the Residency at Aden, not Bushire.Subject 3: relates to Hajee Yacoob [Ḥājī Ya‘qūb], British Agent at Shargah [Sharjah], including praise and reward for his good service, and compensation paid to the family of Hajee el-Mir [Ḥājī al-Mīr], a munshi who drowned off Sharjah and was employed at the Agency.Subject 4: also relates to Ḥājī Ya‘qūb, specifically the transferral of a boat in store at Bassadore [Bāsaʻīdū] to Sharjah for the use of the Agent.Subject 5: relates to the position of British Agent at Shiraz after the Anglo-Persian War. Matters covered include:the re-appointment of Meerza Mahomed Hussun Khan [Mīrza Moḥamad Ḥasan Khān] as agent by Jones and his subsequent dismissal in favour of Hajee Mahomed Khuleel [Ḥājī Moḥamad Khalīl], who had been appointed by Charles Augustus Murray, British Minister at Tehran;the disagreement between Jones and Murray following these events;the routes of communication with India to be used and whether, if Shiraz is bypassed, to retain an agent there.Subject 6: relates to the resignation of Ḥājī Moḥamad Khalīl as agent at Shiraz and a cholera epidemic affecting the city.Subject 7: relates to the appointment of E N Castelli as British Agent at Shiraz, his retirement shortly afterwards, and the re-appointment of Moḥamad Ḥasan Khān. Also briefly covers Charles Murray's return to Europe on sick leave.Subject 8: consists of correspondence between the Resident at Bushire and Castelli, Agent at Shiraz, on miscellaneous topics, including the case of a Persian merchant in Bombay, naturalised as a British subject, seeking legal protection in Persia, and the death of Mirza Mahomed Ali Khan [Mīrza Moḥamad ‘Ali Khān] Nawabi Hindi.Subject 9: relates to the work of several munshis employed by the British Government, including:interpreter Meerza Mahomed Jawad [Mīrza Moḥamad Jawād] joins a mission to Muskat [Muscat];praise for the work of Abdool Kurrem [‘Abdul Karīm];Abdool Cassim [‘Abdul Qāsim] transferred from the
Cliveto the
Aucklandto be appointed the Commodore's munshi.Subject 10: relates to a claim by Khulfan Rattonsee on the estate of the deceased brother of Moolla Ahmed [Mullā Aḥmad], British Agent at Lingah and complaints made about former Muscat Agent, Hezkiel.Subject 11: relates to leave granted to Khodadad bin Mahomed [Khudādād bin Moḥamad], Slave Agent at Bāsaʻīdū, in order to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca.1 volume (318 folios)The volume is firstly divided into sections relating to a specific subject within the main subject of British Agents. Each section is given a subject number, ranging from 1 to 11, and arranged using this number. Within each section the correspondence is arranged chronologically.Foliation is written in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. It begins on the first folio of writing, on number 2, and ends on the inside of the back cover, on number 303. There are the following irregularities: f 55 is followed by f 55A; f 90 is followed by f 90A; f 106 is followed by ff 106A-B; f 158 is followed by f 158A; f 162 is followed by f 162A; f 195 is followed f 195A; f 207 is followed by f 207A; f 218 is followed by f 218A; f 237 is followed by f 237A; f 238 is followed by f 238A; f 255 is followed by f 255A; f 267 is followed by f 267A; f 278 is followed by f 278A; f 280 is followed by f 280A; f 286 is followed by f 286A.