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Relations between the Government of India and the Sharif of Mecca during the French Invasion of Egypt, 1798–1801

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

Extract

The Hijaz, being only a little less sterile than most of the Arabian peninsula, could in the 18th century support its nomadic inhabitants and urban communities owing to two important assets, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, the Ḥajj, and the transit trade from the south of Arabia to the north.

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1965

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References

page 33 note 1 India Office Archives (I.O.A.), Marine Miscellaneous (M.M.), Vol. 891, p. 182, Report of 15th August, 1790.

page 33 note 2 I.O.A., Factory Records (F.R.), Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6, no. 393, “a scetch, etc.”; probably from the end of the 18th century.

page 33 note 3 F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6, Report of 1787. See also George, , Valentia, Viscount, Voyages and Travels in India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia and Egypt in the years 1802, 1804 and 1806. London, 1809, Vol. 3, p. 326Google Scholar.

page 33 note 4 Burckhardt, J. L., Travels in Arabia, London, 1829, pp. 1618Google Scholar. Public Records Office. Foreign Office, Abyssinia, 1/1, p. 4. Observations, etc. Valentia, 1808. Marine Misc., Vol. 891. Report from 15.8.1790.

page 33 note 5 Valentia, Vol. 2, p. 364. Archives du Ministère des Affaires Etrangères (A.E.), Corr. Consulaire et Commerciale (C. & C), Mokha, Vol. 1710–1829, Rapport to the minister. I.O.A., Home Miscellaneous (H.M.), Vol. 436, p. 110, Captain Taylor to Dundas, 30.9.1791.

page 33 note 6 F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6, pp. 45–60, July, 1801.

page 34 note 1 The Resident at “Bussorah” reported on 15.8.1790 (Marine Misc., Vol. 891) that the most important source of income Jidda preserved was its trade with Egypt and North Africa. The Suez fleet continued to visit Jidda annually to buy Indian goods and coffee from the Yemen. See also: I.O.A., F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6, pp. 45–60.

page 34 note 2 Burckhardt, , Arabia, pp. 1415, 42Google Scholar.

page 34 note 3 Ibid., pp. 14–15.

page 34 note 4 Report for the year 1776. F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 5, p. 16.

page 34 note 5 Valentia, Vol. 3, p. 331. It should be pointed out that in the last quarter of the 18th century the Sharif owned large ships which traded with India and therefore he was also in competition with the other merchants. See: Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6, pp. 300–301. Burckhardt, , Arabia, p. 22Google Scholar.

page 34 note 6 Sir Home Popham, F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6, pp. 300–301. On the same subject see also Ibid., pp. 109–110 (General Baird) and I.O.A., Marine Misc., Vol. 891, p. 188 (Resident of Bussorah), 1790.

page 34 note 7 F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6, No. 393, “a scetch, etc.” Probably from the end of 18th century. I.O.A., Home Miscellaneous, Vol. 476, pp. 337, 340, 349.

page 35 note 1 Amīn, Sa'īd, Al-thawra al-'arabiyya al-kubrā, Cairo, Vol. 1, pp. 103–4Google Scholar. Ḥusaīn, 'Abdullah b., Mudhakkirātī, Jerusalem 1945, pp. 1819Google Scholar.

page 35 note 2 H.M., Vol. 247, p. 141. Vol. 470, pp. 36, 337. F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6, pp. 104–5. Irwin, E., A Voyage up the Red Sea, London, 1780, p. 18Google Scholar. Burckhardt, , Arabia, p. 46Google Scholar.

page 35 note 3 Herold, C., Bonaparte in Egypt, London, 1963, p. 221Google Scholar.

page 35 note 4 Ibid., pp. 265–6.

page 35 note 5 See correspondence regarding expenses of French couriers in Mokha. A.E., C. & C, Mokha, Vol. 1710–1829. H.M., Vol. 477, p. 359. A letter to Murray, 11.6.1801. F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6. Letters from Colonel Murray, Mokha, 31.5.1800. de La Jonquière, C., L'Expedition en Egypte, 1798–1801, Paris 18991907, Vol. 3, p. 675Google Scholar. Herold, p. 265.

page 35 note 6 See correspondence in: F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6. H.M., Vol. 470–2.

page 36 note 1 H.M., Vol. 472, p. 183. Murray, Mokha, 9.2.1800. Herold, p. 260.

page 36 note 2 Perim was found unsuitable and Murray moved his headquarters to Aden. Correspondence in: F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6.

page 36 note 3 F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6. Admiral Blankett to resident at Bussorah, 5.8.1799.

page 36 note 4 Ibid.

page 36 note 5 Owing to contrary winds.

page 36 note 6 According to La Jonqutère (Vol. 3, p. 675) Quseir was taken in the last days of May. Admiral Blankett was also worried about the brigantine and three gunboats that the French had built in Suez from the timber of Arab boats. F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6. Blankett, 5.8.1799. For further information about the French fleet see: La Jonquière, Vol. 3, p. 206.

page 36 note 7 H.M., Vol. 470, pp. 329, 337. H.M., Vol. 472, p. 183.

page 36 note 8 H.M., Vol. 474, pp. 108–112. Blankett, Jidda, 30.6.1800.

page 37 note 1 H.M., Vol. 474, pp. 108–112. Blankett, Jidda, 30.6.1800.

page 37 note 2 Report of Resident of Bussorah. Marine Misc., Vol. 891, p. 188. Various reports in F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6.

page 37 note 3 The India Company under its charter was not allowed to trade through Egypt with the Mediterranean.

page 37 note 4 H.M., Vol. 473, p. 321. See also: Murray, F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6. Mokha, 31.5.1800.

page 37 note 5 Herold, p. 375.

page 37 note 6 F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6, p. 89.

page 38 note 1 F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6, p. 89. In a letter from the secret committee of the government of India to Sir Home Popham we read: “…Commerce formerly carried between the Red Sea and the Company's possessions in India…now from the oppression of the Arab government fallen into decay and almost total ruin.”

page 38 note 2 Herold, p. 375.

page 38 note 3 F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6, p. 91, 26.6.1801.

page 38 note 4 H.M., Vol. 476, p. 349, April, 1801. See also ibid., pp. 337–340.

page 38 note 5 F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6, p. 70, 10.5.1801.

page 38 note 6 F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6, pp. 104–5, Mahdi 'Ali Khan to General Baird, 10.6.1801.

page 39 note 1 Ibid., p. 91, 26.6.1801.

page 39 note 2 See also H.M., No. 470, p. 36, from February, 1800.

page 39 note 3 See page 38, footnote 6.

page 39 note 4 F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6, pp. 109–113.

page 39 note 5 See also: de Noe, Conte, Memoires relatives à l'expédition anglaise de l'Inde en Egypte. Paris, 1826Google Scholar.

page 39 note 6 See page 38, footnote 6.

page 39 note 7 F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6, p. 112.

page 40 note 1 See: Burckhardt, , Arabia, p. 22Google Scholar, on Ghalib.

page 40 note 2 F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6, pp. 132–3.

page 40 note 3 When the Sharif applied for the help of British warships against the Wahhabis, he was refused. Valentia, Vol. 2, p. 81.

page 40 note 4 Valentia, Vol. 2, p. 364. Letter of William Jacobs to Board of Directors, East India House, and reply of Board of Directors, 1807. H.M., 494.

page 40 note 5 Herold, pp. 245, 246, 255.

page 40 note 6 H.M., no. 474, pp. 111–12. Blankett.

page 40 note 7 F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6. Blankett, 5.8.1799.

page 41 note 1 La Jonquière, Vol. 3, p. 444.

page 41 note 2 Herold, pp. 245, 246, 255.

page 41 note 3 See comments of General Baird. F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6, pp. 109–113, 28.6.1801.

page 41 note 4 Nevertheless, at the same time Yusuf Pasha secretly called upon the British to send a force to Jidda as soon as possible. H.M., Vol. 470, pp. 329–337.

page 41 note 5 H.M., Vol. 476, pp. 337–340, 349.

page 41 note 6 H.M., Vol. 476, pp. 337–340.

page 41 note 7 General Baird, F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6, pp. 132–3.

page 41 note 8 H.M., Vol. 477, p. 359, 11.6.1801. F.R., Egypt and Red Sea, Vol. 6, p. 102, 10.6.1801.

page 42 note 1 It is interesting to compare this relationship to the very similar relationship which existed between Sharif Hussein of Mecca and the British authorities in Egypt at the beginning of World War I.

page 42 note 2 A.E., C. & C, Mokha, Vol. 1710–1829. H.M., Vol. 477, 10.6.1801, p. 359. Herold, p. 265. It is interesting to note that friendly relations between Sharif Ghalib and the French continued until his deposition. In 1810 a ship belonging to the Sharif offered to take to India money belonging to Indian merchants at Mokha claiming that it would not be harmed by French privateers who were very active in the Indian Ocean. I.O.A., Bombay Secret Proceedings, Range 383, Vol. 10, p. 4212. The Sharif probably received from Menou the full amount of the Khazna. H.M., Vol. 476, pp. 337–340, 349.

page 42 note 3 As was the case with Mohammed 'Ali afterwards.

page 42 note 4 H.M., 436, p. 69. Captain Taylor to Dundas, 30.9.1791.