"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎١‎٩‎١] (١٧٨٢/١٣٤٦)

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1191
relation, whom he sent to Constantinople to negotiate on his behalf,
pla.v ed him false and returned with troops and an authority from the
Sultan to assume the Government of Basrah himself. A contest ensued
of which the result was unfavourable to Husain Pasha and oblicred him to
, &
retire to Persia ; and Basrah and its dependencies came under the power
of his rival. This revolution, which seems to have had the effect of
restoring direct Turkish control over Basrah and the surrounding dis
tricts, took place in or about the year 16(59.*
English relations, 1648—87.
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Sit
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n
or
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English relations with ■'Iraq, during the period now Under considera
tion, depended solely on the commercial connection of the East India
Company with Basrah.
The experimental Factory established at Basrah about 164'8, though
it is not mentioned by Tavernier who visited the place in 1652,
apparently continued to exist until 1657, in which year the Pasha of
Basrah, in consequence of a rumour propagated by the Merchant
Adventurers that the East India Company was about to be dissolved,
seized upon the premises and goods of the Company. A Mr, Bell had
visited Basrah in that year with one of the Company's vessels, but he had
only succeeded in obtaining freight to the amount of lis. 9UU for his
return voyage.
In April 1661 Messrs. George Cranmer and Robert Sainthill were
sent from Surat to Basrah in the "Amerita" frigate with a cargo
of Surat and other cloth, pepper, cassia lignum, rice, etc. They were
instructed to remind the Pasha of a promise given by him in the previous
year that he would provide " a better house than that taken from the
Hon^ble Company/*' and, if their representations on this point failed,
they were to hire suitable premises on their own account. Freight goods
were to be landed at once; but goods for sale were to be kept on board ship,
with a view to avoiding payment of customs, until any doubts that might
appear as to their profitable disposal had been removed. Mr. Sainthill
was to return on the " Amerita/"' which was not to be detained beyond
the 20th of September; but Mr. Cranmer was to remain until the
amounts due for goods sold had been collected in full.
*A somewhat different and fuller account of Husain Pasha's affairs is given b y
uieutenaut A. T. WilsOn, in his Precis of the relations of the British Government
with the Tribes and Shaikhs cf'Aruhisiun, 1912, page 7.
East India
Company's
trade with
Basrah,
] 648—87.
Seizure by
the Pasha
of the Com
p a n y's
possessions
at Basrah,
1657.
Voyage cf
Messrs.
Cranmer and
Sainthill to
Basrah, 1661.
r