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'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1870' [‎94r] (194/798)

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'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1870'
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Ref: IOR/L/PS/20/CA10

The record is made up of 1 volume (395 folios). It was created in Dec 1869-Dec 1870. It was written in English. The original is part of the 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. .

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t,le harbour
^ade,^
hl P “Daphne;
'•her chief pi! .
aptain Dou^
: honour aud of
d bin Abdoolli i
1 M »'za Mehdee
Office, and frou
a'as in no way
hdee Khan bad
^oy to Bahrein,
an’s purpose to
r which he had
iefs of Dashtee,
the Chief to
He himself re-
ked leave to
el Pelly de
instructions
the matter to
telegraph to
vere received,
Mahomed bin
d December, at
Adooila, he de-
had been made
then gave them
red bin Abdoolla
me day, and the
raised, he was at
liked.
183
pirate Chief, attributes the appointment to his influence, announces
his intention of shortly visiting Bahrein, but meanwhile summons
Mahomed bin Abdoolla to Dayer to arrange matters. He promises
that a firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). and a dress of honour from the Shah will be awaiting his
arrival; and takes the opportunity of sending a shawl on his own
account. Colonel Felly considers that it would be difficult to pen a
letter more explicitly favourable to the Chief who had taken piratical
possession of Bahrein and plundered British subjects, or tending more
to encourage breaches of the maritime peace. The Chiefs of Dashtee
recount their exertions in behalf of Mahomed bin Abdoolla, and urge
him to proceed to Dayer without delay. All these letters were written
in November.
Amongst the intercepted papers there is also the translation of a
Letter, dated 29th November, from Mehdee Khan to Colonel Pelly,
the tone and burden of which are very different from that addressed
to Mahomed bin Abdoolla. It was apparently written to conciliate
Colonel Pejly, whilst reserving the territorial claims of the Shah over
Bahrein. Mehdee Khan speaks of the pirate Chiefs appointment to
Bahrein as only temporary ^ he takes credit to himself for his en
deavours to recover the property plundered during the disturbances at
Bahrein ; he assumes that Colonel Felly’s views and the object for which
he (Mehdee Khan) has been appointed coincide; he offers to assist in
the punishment of those who have infringed the maritime peace, and
claims, on operations being completed, the right for the Persian
Government to nominate to the administration of the island such
person as it may deem fit. The Resident is of opinion that the action
of the Persian Government, as represented in these letters, has been
deliberately taken, and with a full knowledge of how it was likely to
affect the policy of the British Government in the Gulf. As corrobo
rative testimony, he has forwarded a copy of a letter from the British
Agent at Lingah, which reports the assembling, in November last, of
some six hundred Persian soldiers at Dayer, under the Chief, Hyder
Khan, with the view of a movement upon Bahrein.
The Persian Government’s version of this affair is as follows
The Shah admits that Hajee Abd Alee was his Agent to Bahrein, and
complains that he was prevented “from landing or communicating
with the Chief, and that, in consequence of this interference on the
part of the Resident, the was obliged to return to Bahrein without
“ having delivered his letters to the persons to whom they were ad-
“ dressed.” His Majesty has expressed his regret that his Agent
should have been stopped, and hopes that steps may be taken to
prevent such an occurrence in future. Mr. Thomson further intimates
his belief that Mehdee Khan has urged on the Persian Government
that it cannot under present circumstances overcome or counteract
the influence of the British Government, now paramount in the Gulf,
and has therefore recommended the formation of a Persian flotilla
11603. 3 k

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Confidential printed abstracts of letters received by the 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. from the Government of India, and from senior officials in certain areas outside India, during the year 1870. The letters are dated December 1869-December 1870. The abstracts each have one of the following titles:

  • Abstracts of Secret Letters received from India
  • Abstracts of Letters received from India
  • Abstracts of Military Letters received from India
  • Abstracts of Letters received from Zanzibar and Muscat
  • Abstracts of Letters received from Aden
  • Abstracts of Letters received from Muscat
  • Abstracts of Letters received from Bushire [Bushehr]
  • Abstracts of Letters received from Aden and Zanzibar
  • Abstracts of Letters received from Bushire and Aden
  • Abstracts of Letters received from Zanzibar and Aden.

Each abstract contains summaries of one or more letters from the specified source, each with a title giving the subject of the letter. Letters from India are divided within each abstract by the branch or department of the Government of India they originated from. The correspondence covers issues including:

  • Pay, pensions, recruitment, and other personnel issues in the Indian Civil and Military establishments
  • Public works, including: railways, including a proposed railway from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; roads; canals; irrigation; docks; and river embankments
  • Revenue, expenditure, and taxation
  • Land issues, including: the cultivation of cotton, cinchona, and silk; forestry; and coal mining
  • Education
  • Banking
  • Telegraphy, including international telegraphic links to India
  • Affairs concerning Princely States, including internal administration, debts, allowances, issues of succession, investment in railways, and territorial claims
  • Issues around emigration from India to British and French colonies
  • Legislative and judicial affairs, including the question of jurisdiction over British subjects in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
  • Military affairs, including the organisation and supply of military units and a proposed naval force for the Indian seas and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
  • Frontier affairs: relations with tribes on the Northwest and Northeast Frontiers and frontier raids
  • Affairs in Persia [Iran], including: Persian claims to sovereignty over Bahrein [Bahrain] and objection to British actions in Bahrein; frontier disputes around Khelat [Kalat], Mekran [Makran], and Seistan [Sistan] and proposed arbitration of the Persian-Afghan border; anticipated food shortages and subsequent disturbances involving British subjects exporting grain from Bushire
  • Affairs in the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, including: the consolidation of and challenges to the rule of Syud Azan [Azzān bin Qays Āl Bū Sa‘īd]; debates around British policy towards Syud Azan; confrontation between Muscat and the Wahabees [Waḥabī movement]; the issue of the Zanzibar subsidy; and Syud Azan’s claims to Bunder Abbas [Bandar-e ‘Abbas], Gwadur [Gwadar], Charbar [Chabahar] and other territories on the Mekran Coast
  • Affairs in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , including: the campaign of Colonel Lewis Pelly in Bahrein and the installation of Esau bin Ali [‘Īsá bin ‘Alī Āl Khalīfah] as Ruler; trade and shipping in the Gulf; the desire of the Shah of Persia for a naval presence in the Gulf; Dutch and Turkish [Ottoman] activity in the region; and tensions between Bahrein and the Wahabees, including Wahabee inroads in the Guttur peninsula [Qatar]
  • Affairs in Affghanistan [Afghanistan], including relations with Bokhara [Emirate of Bukhara] and Russia
  • Central Asian affairs, including the Russian advance in the region, trade and communication from India to Central Asia via Cashmere [Kashmir] and Ladak [Ladakh], and affairs in Eastern Turkestan [Xinjiang]
  • Affairs in Zanzibar, including the slave trade, relations with Muscat, the death of Syud Majid [Mājid bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd], and the accession to the throne of Syud Burgash [Barghash bin Sa‘īd Āl Bū Sa‘īd]
  • Affairs in and around Aden Settlement, including: relations with neighbouring polities, including Lahej [Laḥij Sultanate], Houshebi [Ḥawshabī Sultanate], Fodtheli [Faḍlī Sultanate], and Kathiree [Kathīrī Sultanate]; the purchase of Little Aden; the defences of Aden; an attack on Hodeida [Al Hudaydah] from Aseer [‘Asir] and the threat to Lahej from the Zaidees [Zaidīs]
  • Affairs in the Red Sea, including attempted French, Austrian, Turkish, and Egyptian inroads in the region
  • Affairs in Burmah [Burma/Myanmar], Bhootan [Bhutan], and Nipal [Nepal].

The primary correspondents are:

Extent and format
1 volume (395 folios)
Arrangement

The abstracts are arranged in roughly chronological order. A detailed index of subjects, places and people mentioned in the correspondence is included on folios 384-393.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 395; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers.

Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1870' [‎94r] (194/798), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/CA10, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100135113391.0x0000c3> [accessed 17 August 2026]

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Reference
IOR/L/PS/20/CA10
Title
'ABSTRACT OF LETTERS FROM INDIA 1870'
Pages
front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 1r:116v, 119r:395v, back-i
Author
East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
Usage terms
Open Government Licence