Aden Affairs

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 137 of 1846, dated 16 November 1846. The enclosures are dated 7 October-16 November 1846.

The papers relate to the affairs of Aden, notably the following:

• The obstruction of kafilahs [caravans carrying supplies] and communications into Aden from the interior, by the followers of Sayud Ismail [Sayyid Ismā‘īl] and members of the Foutheli tribe [Faḍlī, also spelled Foutheli and Fouthelee in this item] located in the near Sheik Othman [Shaykh Uthman], and the claim by 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. at Aden, that the Foutheli are secretly in the pay of Sultan M’Houssain of Lahedge [Sulṭān Muḥsin bin Faḍl al-‘Abdalī, Sulṭān of Lahej] (f 191)
• The apparent success of the British blockade of Shugra [Shaqrah] by the HC [Honourable Company’s] schooner Constance and Haines’s belief that once the Abdali [‘Abdalī], Foutheli, and other ‘hostile’ tribes discern that the British at Aden can obtain most supplies from the coast of Africa and from India they will sue for peace
• Haines’s request for a small vessel from India to assist with the blockade ‘to the westward’ which he has imposed to detrimentally affect the exports of Lahedge and injure the Sultan’s interests
• The proposal of Haines for the destruction the castle lately erected by the Foutheli Chief within four miles from the beach of Shugra, as a punishment for the latter’s ‘aggressive’ actions against the British at Aden (ff 197-198), and the Government of Bombay’s view that this measure is not at present advisable as it would increase ill-feeling towards the British
• Haines report that he has taken measures to ensure the sufficient supply of provisions for three months, and his suggestion that all purchases of grain, grass and wood, etc., are made by the Commissariat Department in Aden alone, rather than it competing with the Engineer Department in the Aden market
• The despatch by the Superintendent of the Indian Navy of the HC brigantine Tigris to Aden for addition to the Indian Naval Squadron there (f 211).

The principal correspondents are Haines and 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. .

Extent and format

1 item (32 folios)

It is part of

'ENCLOSURES TO SECRET LETTERS FROM BOMBAY', Vol 85

1104 images

Ref: IOR/L/PS/5/447

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/5/447, ff 182-213

Former external reference(s)

No. 137 of 1846

History of this record

Date(s)

16 Nov 1846 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

Tribal relationsSecurityBlockades

Places

Aden

People & organisations

Political AgentGovernment of BombaySultan of Lahej

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Cite this record in your research

Aden Affairs, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/5/447, ff 182-213, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100156189964.0x00000a> [accessed 11 June 2024]

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