Factory Records: Persia and the Persian Gulf

Early papers, 1620-1697 Gombroon diary, 1708-1710 Gombroon diaries, 1726-1763 Letters from Gombroon, Basra, etc, 1703-1811 Miscellaneous papers, 1764-1799 Letters from General Malcolm, 1799-1801 Letters from Harford Jones, 1798-1802 Letters from Samuel Manisty, 1803-1805 Letters from Harford Jones, 1807-1810 Letters from Harford Jones, 1791-1811 Enclosures to Bengal Secret Letters, 1808-1809 Miscellaneous, 1806-1822 Despatches relating to the Expedition to the Gulf of Persia, 1815-1821 Letters from Persia, Turkey, Egypt etc to the Secret Committee, 1817-1832 Memoranda on various subjects, 1832-1833 Letters from Persia, Turkey, Egypt etc to the Secret Committee, 1833-1835 Letters from Persia, Turkey, Egypt etc to the Secret Committee and to the Foreign Office, 1836-1858 Letters from Persia, Turkey, Egypt etc to the India Office and to the Foreign Office, 1859-1874.

In 1614, Richard Steele, an Englishman trading in Persia, travelled to Surat and informed the resident factors of the great opportunities for trade that existed in that country. British woollen textiles could be exchanged for Persian silks; the information was welcome because at that time the Company had a surplus of woollens in Surat that could not be disposed of in India. In 1616 a ship from Surat was allowed to land at Jask at the mouth of the Gulf. Factors proceeded overland to Shiraz and Ispahan where permission was obtained to trade and where factories were established. In 1623 a further factory was established on the coast at Bandar Abbas, or Gombroon as it was known to English traders. It quickly became the centre for the Company's activities in the region. In 1635, trading began in Turkish Arabia at Basra. Until 1684, all factories in the Gulf were subordinate to Surat. They then officially became subordinate to Bombay although as Bombay was less easy to reach than Surat had been, the factories in practice acquired more autonomy. By the 1720s, the English had become the dominant trading power in the Gulf. The political position in Persia, however, was unstable and the Company's trade suffered. In 1759 the factory buildings at Gombroon were destroyed by the French and the Company moved its headquarters to Basra, where a factory had been established in 1723. To retain a foothold in Persia, a factory was established at Bushire. This replaced Gombroon as the centre of Persian trade, the factors reporting initially to Basra but, from 1778, to Bombay directly. The establishment of the factory at Bushire marked the beginning of the Company's change of function in the Gulf. Trading activities gradually became less important and, with the rise of the French as contenders for power in the Middle East, the Company's interest in the region became a political one. In 1798, the same year in which Napoleon invaded Egypt, a political residency was established at Bagdhad under Harford Jones. British officials undertook missions to the Shah of Persia in an effort to secure treaties between the two countries against the French. They also sought Persian support against the perceived threat to India from Afghanistan. General Sir John Malcolm and Samuel Manisty were among those who led missions. Treaties were eventually concluded in 1814. At around this time, the Company sent a military and naval expedition to the Gulf in order to protect British shipping from piracy in the region. In 1822, the establishment at Bushire became a political residency. It gradually became responsible for other political agencies that were set up in and around the Gulf. Residents and agents in the region reported to the Government of Bombay. On matters of urgency, they also corresponded directly with the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors in London, with the Foreign Office and, later, with the Political and Secret Department of the India Office. In 1873, control of the Persian Gulf territories passed from the Government of Bombay to the Government of India.

Unrestricted

Bombay and Surat Factory Records (G/3 and G/36); Miscellaneous Factory Records (G/40/4,5,12); Bombay and Government of India Proceedings (P) Political Residency records, Bushire (R/15/1) Political Agency Records, Muscat (R/15/6) Political and Secret Department records (L/P& S)

Penelope Tuson, The Records of the British Residency and Agencies in the Persian Gulf (London, 1979); F. C. Danvers, Report on the India Office Records relating to Persia and the Persian Gulf (London, No date)