Aden Affairs: The Recent Attempted Attack on Aden

Content

This item comprises copies of 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. 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. , Number 114 of 1846, dated 1 October 1846. The enclosures are dated 8 September-26 September 1846.

The item relates to the recent attempted attack on Aden on 1 September 1846 by ‘a body of Arabs under the Fanatic Syud Ismael [Sayyid Ismā‘īl, also spelled Sayud in this item]’ (f 495).

The principal correspondents are: Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines, Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Aden; and the Secretary to the Government, Bombay.

The papers notably include the following:

• Reports by Haines concerning: the planned attack and the cause of the quarrel between Syud Ismael and his followers which resulted in the dispersal of the force; the subsequent opening up of communications and trade with the interior; intelligence regarding Syud Ismael’s ensuing communications with various ‘chiefs’; Haines’s suggestion for a punitive blockade of the ports of those ‘chiefs’ in order to effect the suppression of the date trade and supply of fish; and Haines’s expectation that elements of the local population will be ‘again troublesome’ after the ‘Eyed’ [Eid al-Fitr] (ff 498-501)
• A report by the Senior Naval Officer at Aden, forwarded to the Governor and President in Council, Bombay, by Captain Sir Richard Oliver, Superintendent of the Indian Navy, detailing the actions of the vessels of war at Aden that repelled the two attacks in August on the field works there (ff 510-512)
• Reports forwarded to the Military Department, Bombay, by the Adjutant-General of the Army, Poona [Pune], praising the conduct of the troops composing the Aden garrison during the recent attacks on Aden, including copies of correspondence between Haines and Lieutenant-Colonel H R Milner, Commanding the troops at Aden, and reports by Captain C Taylor, 47th Regiment of Native Infantry, Commanding the Turkish Wall (ff 515-523).

The last two enclosures, the Bombay Times overland summary and the Bombay Overland Courier , are noted as ‘Missing 29.10.1906’.

Extent and format

1 item (32 folios)

It is part of

'ENCLOSURES TO SECRET LETTERS FROM BOMBAY', Vol 83

1062 images

Ref: IOR/L/PS/5/445

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/5/445, ff 494-525

Former external reference(s)

No. 114 of 1846

History of this record

Date(s)

1 Oct 1846 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

DefencePolitical intelligenceReligious zealotry

Places

Aden

People & organisations

Political AgentGovernment of BombaySenior Naval Officer at Aden

Share this record

• Share on twitter
• Share on facebook

Cite this record in your research

Aden Affairs: The Recent Attempted Attack on Aden, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/5/445, ff 494-525, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100154581908.0x000014> [accessed 1 July 2026]

Link to this record

https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100154581908.0x000014

IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000319.0x000104/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Copyright: How to use this content