Aden Affairs

Content

This item comprises 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. [Mumbai] 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. , [Bombay Secret Letter] No. 12 dated 2 February 1856. The enclosures are dated 10-25 January 1856.

The papers comprise three letters from Brigadier William Marcus Coghlan, Acting 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. and Commandant, Aden, to the Secretary to Government, Bombay, covering the following matters:

• The general peaceful state of affairs in Aden, including relations between tribes of the vicinity and lack of any ‘aggressions’ by the ‘Foutheli chief’ [Aḥmad bin Abdullāh al-Faḍlī]
• The report by HM Agent and Consul-General in Egypt that an order has, in fact, been given ‘for the emancipation of slaves within the Egyptian territory’ (f 161) but it has been very generally put into execution and has not yet met with any resistance by the ‘mussulman [Muslim] population’. Coghlan notes that the Consul-General’s letter indicates he has not yet heard of the recent disturbance in the Hejaz [also spelled Hedjaz in this item]
• Reports, from Hodeida [Al Hudaydah] that [Ottoman] Turkish troops have suppressed the insurrections in Jedda [Jeddah, spelled Judda in this item] and Mecca and intend to march on Taif [Ta'if] to where rebel leader Shereef Abd-el-Mutalib [Sharif ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib bin Ghālib bin Musā‘ad] has fled from Mecca
• News of a violent rebellion in Massowah [Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa] against the Governor of Massawa, reported by Raffaello Barroni, Agent to Mr Plowden [Walter Chichele Plowden], HM Consul in Abyssinia [now Ethiopia], including Barroni’s urgent request to Coghlan to send a vessel to save the ‘lives, merchandise and money of all the Indians, Banyans and Europeans who are here’ (f 164).

Also included are: three Resolutions of the Board including a Resolution to despatch the vessel Queen for the protection of British subjects at Jedda, and the Elphinstone to afford relief and protection at Mussowah on the proviso it does not prevent the restoration of peace in Jedda; and a letter from the Secretary to the Government of India agreeing that Lieutenant Richard Burton’s ‘negligence’ does not excuse the actions of the [Habr Awwal] tribe and that until reparation is received the blockade of Berbera should remain in place.

Extent and format

1 item (13 folios)

It is part of

'ENCLOSURES TO SECRET LETTERS FROM BOMBAY', Vol 124

1014 images

Ref: IOR/L/PS/5/486

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/5/486, ff 154-166

History of this record

Date(s)

2 Feb 1856 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

Naval assistanceInsurrectionsAbolition of slaverySecurity measuresTribal relations

Places

HejazJeddaMassowah HarbourAdenMeccaTaif

People & organisations

HM Ambassador to EgyptGovernment of Bombay, Chief SecretaryGovernment of BombayPolitical Resident

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Cite this record in your research

Aden Affairs, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/5/486, ff 154-166, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100129828683.0x00000a> [accessed 10 August 2026]

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