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 36 of 1856, dated 12 May 1856. The enclosures are dated 9 April-10 May 1856.

The papers concern events on the north east coast of Africa, as reported to 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. by Brigadier William Marcus Coghlan, 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. at Aden. They specifically cover the following matters:

• Reports by Raffaello Barroni, Agent to Walter Chichele Plowden, HM Consul in Abyssinia [now Ethiopia], of disorder alleged to be fostered by the Governor of Mussowah [Massawa] and the resultant plunder carried out by Egyptian soldiers in nearby Abyssinian provinces, and the trafficking of prisoners taken by Egyptian troops on the ‘slave market’ at Mussowah
• Proceedings relating to Haj Shermarkie [Ḥājjī Sharmārkī ‘Alī Ṣāliḥ, also spelled Shermarkay and Shurmarkie in this item], the deposed Governor of Zailah [Saylac, or Zeila, Somalia, also spelled Zeylah in this item], including: Coghlan’s deputation of his assistant, Lieutenant Robert Lambert Playfair, to travel on the HC [Honourable Company’s] steam vessel Queen to investigate Shermarkie’s alleged ‘piracy’ and attempts to blockade and re-take Zailah; Playfair’s account of his visits to the coastal ports of Zailah, Ain Tarad [El Darad, or Ceel Dhaarand], Berbera and Tajourah [Tadjoura], including a description of the mediation he conducted on board the Queen between the mutually hostile Shermarkie and the new Governor of Zeylah, Haj Aboo Bekr bin Ibrahim [Ḥājjī Abū Bakr bin Ibrāhīm, also spelled Aboo Bukur Dunklee in this item]; and the offer of asylum at Aden to Haj Shermarkie on condition that he does not leave without permission from the 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. or use Aden as a base to organise further attacks on Zailah
• The trade in enslaved persons in Zailah and Tajourah and Playfair’s opinion that it will never be suppressed unless British vessels have permission to search Turkish [Ottoman] vessels at sea and land enslaved persons on shore.

Coghlan also reports on the water shortages at Aden, reduced water allowances, and continuing efforts to improve the water supply.

The principal correspondents are Coghlan 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. . Coghlan’s despatches contain numerous enclosures including letters and reports from: Playfair; Barroni; the Governor of Yemen; and Haj Shermarkie (letters written in September 1855, in which Shermarkie complains of his recent deposition and reminds Coghlan of his previous acts of loyalty towards Britain).

Extent and format

1 item (24 folios)

It is part of

'ENCLOSURES TO SECRET LETTERS FROM BOMBAY', Vol 125

998 images

Ref: IOR/L/PS/5/487

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/5/487, ff 212-235

Former external reference(s)

No. 36 of 1856

History of this record

Date(s)

12 May 1856 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

Slave tradeMediationBlockadesNaval operationsAsylumWater supplyRobbery

Places

ZailahIndian OceanRed SeaMussawah

People & organisations

Assistant Political AgentGovernor of Berbera and ZeilaPolitical AgentGovernment of BombayWali of Yemen

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Cite this record in your research

Aden Affairs, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/5/487, ff 212-235, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157091557.0x00000b> [accessed 8 July 2026]

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