Abstract: Enclosures no. 2-7 to a despatch from the Secret Department, Bombay [Mumbai] Castle, dated 9 March 1848. The enclosures are dated 8 November 1847-6 March 1848. The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence relating to affairs in Persia [Iran] and Bokhara [Emirate of Bokhara], including:Attempts to secure the release of three British officers from imprisonment in BokharaThe intention of Bahman Meerza [Bahman Mirza Qajar] to return to the post of Governor of Azerbijan [Iranian Azerbaijan]A complaint from Sheikh Syf, Governor of Bunder Abbas [Bandar Abbas], about hostile activities in the area by Fayl Alee Khan [Fazl Ali Khan], Governor of KermanThe occupation of Ghaz [Bandar-e Gaz] by Russian forcesComplaints from the Government of the Ottoman Empire about the conduct of Persian frontier authoritiesA request by Mills & Co, a British company based in Shiraz, to import muskets for the Persian Government.The primary correspondents are the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Persia, the Prime Minister of Persia, and the Government of India. The item contains a single folio in French, f 437, a letter from the Envoy to his Russian counterpart.Physical description: 1 item (28 folios)
Abstract: Enclosures no. 2-4 to a despatch from the Secret Department, Bombay [Mumbai] Castle, dated 12 January 1848. The enclosures are dated 4 October-15 November 1847. The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence relating to affairs in Persia [Iran] and beyond, including:The intention of Bahmen Meerza [Bahman Mirza Qajar] to resign as Governor of Azerbijan [Iranian Azerbaijan, the spelling Azubejan is also used] and settle in Tabreez [Tabriz]An attempted insurrection in Kelat [Khanate of Kalat] led by Jaffer Koolee Khan [Jafar Quli Khan]A report that Persia had concluded a treaty of commerce with France, which was denied by the Persian Prime Minister Hajee Meerza Aghassee [Haji Mirza Aqasi]The plunder of Meshed [Mashhad] by Persian troops and retaliation by the local populaceAttempts to discover the fate of Lieutenant Wyburd [William Henry Wybard], believed to have been imprisoned in Bokhara [Emirate of Bukhara].The primary correspondents are: the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Persia; the Chargé d’Affaires to Persia; the British Consul, Tabriz; and Bahmen Meerza.Physical description: 1 item (28 folios)
Abstract: Enclosure nos. 2-3 to a despatch from the Secret Department, Government of Bombay [Mumbai], dated 30 October 1844. The enclosures are dated 11-28 July 1844.The enclosures consist of correspondence relating to affairs in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq], particularly in relation to the situation along the border with Persia [Iran], including: border negotiations at Erzeroom [Erzurum], which ended inconclusively; a perceived risk of rebellion in Turkish Kurdistan [now Iraqi Kurdistan]; and a proposal for Sulimanieh [Sulaymaniyah] to be recognised as a separate Pachalie [Pashalik] from Baghdad.The primary correspondent is the Political Agent, Turkish Arabia.Physical description: 1 item (14 folios)
Abstract: The first edition of
Who's Who in Persia (Volume II), compiled by the General Staff, India, comprises a biographical dictionary of individuals, families, and tribes connected with Persia in 1923.At the front of the volume (ff 4-7) it includes lists of:foreign representatives in Tehran;Persian representatives in foreign countries;Persian honorary members of various British Orders;Persian Cabinet members to 1920;new Persian Cabinet members from 2 March 1921;Persian Cabinet members from 5 June 1921.It also includes genealogical trees for certain entries.The volume was published by the Superintendent, Government Central Press, Simla.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 225; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: The volume contains brief biographical statements on individuals active in Persia [Iran], often including comments on their character, reputation, political affiliations, language skills, and attitudes towards European and regional powers. It also contains a number of genealogical tables, and information on important families.The volume has been annotated in several places, comprising additions or removal of material from pre-existing biographies, or the addition of new entries. Clippings from Government correspondence have also been pasted in. These additions are often stamped with a date, which range between 1920 to1923. Additional pages have been added to the volume at several points, most notably at folios 3-8, which contain details of appointments to the Persian Cabinet in 1920 and 1921.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 256; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.Additional pages have been pasted into the volume, alongside a number of annotations in blue pencil and black ink.
Abstract: The volume is a Government of India official publication entitled
Routes in Persia. Section II. Compiled in the Intelligence Branch of the Quarter Master General's Department in India by Captain J. Vans Agnew, 3rd Madras Lancers(Simla: printed at the Government Central Printing Office, 1895).The volume contains details of all land routes (numbered 1-50) leading from Turkey-in-Asia into Western Persia between Erzerum [Erzurum] in the north and Basra in the south. The information given for each route comprises:number of route;place names forming starting point and destination of route;authority and date;number of stage;names of stages;distance in miles (intermediate and total);remarks (including precise details of the route, general geographical information, and information on smaller settlements, local peoples, religious affiliations, condition of roads, access to water, supplies of wood, and other routes).The volume also contains pockets attached to the front and back inside covers for index maps of the routes, but only one of these (folio 58), 'Index Map to Routes in Persia. Section II.' (compiled in the Intelligence Branch, Quarter Master General's Department), dated October 1895, is present.An ink stamp on the front cover records the confidential nature of the publication and that it was being transmitted for the information of His Excellency the Viceroy (Victor Alexander Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin and 16th Earl of Kincardine) only.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio (except for the front cover where the folio is on the verso). This is the sequence used to determine the order of pages.Pagination: the volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.Condition: folio 7 is detached from the volume.
Abstract: The volume is a Government of India official publication entitled
Routes in Persia. Section III. Compiled in the Intelligence Branch of the Quarter Master General's Department in India(Simla: printed at the Government Central Printing Office, 1898).The volume contains details of all land routes (numbered 1-247) in Persia starting from Russian territory and extending south as far as a line drawn from Karmanshah [Kermānshāh] south-eastwards through Burujird [Borūjerd], Isfahan [Eşfahān] and Yazd to Karman [Kermān], and thence north-east to Khabis [Khabīş] and Neh to Lash Juwain [Lāsh-e Juwayn].The information given for each route comprises:number of route;place names forming starting point and destination of route;authority and date;number of stage;names of stages;distance in miles (intermediate and total);remarks (including precise details of the route, general geographical information, and information on smaller settlements, local peoples, agriculture, condition of roads, access to water, supplies of wood, and other routes).An appendix within the volume (folios 356-359) and two separately-stored sets of loose sheets (containing routes numbers 77 (a) and 140-A, folios 363-369) give information too late for incorporation in the body of the work.The volume also contains pockets attached to the front and back inside covers for maps. These consist of an index map showing the limits of each of the three sections of
Routes in Persia(folio 2) and an index map to the routes in Section III (folio 361). There is also a fold-out map of the route from Seistan [Sīstān] to Mashad on folio 232.An ink stamp on the front cover records the confidential nature of the publication and that it was being transmitted for the information of His Excellency the Viceroy (Victor Alexander Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin and 16th Earl of Kincardine) only.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover and terminates on the last page of the loose supplementary sheets (found in the small grey folder within the main folder); these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the volume also contains a printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: The publication, Routes in Persia, Section I was compiled in the Intelligence Branch of the Quarter-Master Gerneral's Department in India and was published by the Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India, Calcutta: 1898.Section I contains all the routes which commence from the Persian Gulf littoral and extending to a line drawn from Burajird [Borūjerd], through Isfahan [Eşfahān], Yazd, Karman [Kermān], Khabis [Khabīş], Neh to Lash Juwain [Lāsh-e Juwayn]; the routes have been arranged within the volume by starting from the sea base of the Persian Gulf and working up towards the line described.For each route described the previous authorities, such as publications and accounts of journeys, are given, along with the following details:Names of stages: towns and villages which act as stopping points along the route;The distance in miles from the previous stage of the route;The total distance in miles for that route up to that stage;Remarks: including geographical information; details on smaller settlements; sacred places; condition of roads; access to water; other roads and routes.The volume also includes two appendices which contain details of other routes for which the information was received too late to be included in the main body of the volume.An ink stamp on the front cover records the confidential nature of the publication and that it was being transmitted for the information of His Excellency the Viceroy (Victor Alexander Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin and 16th Earl of Kincardine) only.The inside front and back covers have pockets containing index maps of the routes described in the volume.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The volume aso contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: This file begins with draft instructions, under the heading 'Anglo-Russian Relations', apparently written by John Morley, Secretary of State for India, for Sir Arthur Nicolson, British Ambassador at St Petersburg, in advance of negotiations over an Anglo-Russian agreement.The instructions are divided into two sections, 'Persia' and 'Afghanistan', and they concern Britain's and Russia's respective interests in Persia and Afghanistan. The instructions outline important points on which Nicolson is expected to base any future agreement with Russia (of which a fundamental requirement is Russia's recognition both of the independence and integrity of Persia, and of the territorial integrity of Afghanistan). The remaining instructions relate to issues of trade in Persia and Afghanistan.The draft instructions are followed by an extract from a private letter from Lord Minto [Gilbert John Elliot Murray Kynynmound], Viceroy and Governor-General of India, to John Morley, dated 12 June 1906.In the letter, Lord Minto responds to Morley's draft instructions for Sir Arthur Nicolson. Minto gives his opinions on the wording and possible implications of each paragraph of the draft instructions. Most of Minto's letter details his opposition to the idea that Great Britain and Russia should agree not to extend their railways in the direction of the frontiers of Afghanistan for the next ten years, for which Minto offers a number of political and military considerations.Minto's letter is followed by a letter from Lord Kitchener [Horatio Herbert Kitchener] to Lord Minto, dated 23 May 1906, in which Kitchener responds to Minto's letter of 19 May 1906, which requested Kitchener's opinion on the question of the Frontier railways. In his letter, Kitchener argues that the possibility of extending the British railway system is not only of great strategic importance for the defence of British India, but is also important for maintaining friendly relations with the Amir [Emir] of Afghanistan [Habibullah Khan].Kitchener's letter is followed by two loose folios which repeat word for word the aforementioned draft instructions on Afghanistan and Persia (folios 8 and 9 respectively). Both sets of instructions have the heading 'Secret'.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio, and terminates at the last folio; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: The volumes consist of original correspondence sent to and copies of letters sent from the Bushire Residency; the principal correspondents being Captain Arnold Burrowes Kemball, followed by Captain James Felix Jones as Resident in the Persian Gulf at the time, the Assistant Resident in Charge, Herbert Frederick Disbrowe, Sir Charles Augustus Murray, British Ambassador at Tehran, and the Secretaries to the Government at Bombay.The main subjects covered are the diplomatic and commercial relations with Persia and the Persian Coast. Another subject covered is the siege of Sevastopol, and other events that occurred during the Crimean War. The book contains translations of letters from the Persian Shah.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation is in pencil, in the top right corner of each folio. The numbering sequence runs across two volumes (volume one ff 1-141 and volume two ff 142-283), commencing at the third sheet of volume one with 1, 1A and 1B and terminating at the third sheet from the back of volume two with 283.
Abstract: Correspondence from Ephraim Gerrish Stannus, the Resident in the Persian Gulf, primarily to William Newnham, Chief Secretary to Government at Bombay and Lieutenant Colonel John Macdonald, Envoy to the Court of Persia.The main subject of correspondence within the volume is the relationship between the British Government and the Government of Persia, centering on the attitude of the Prince of Shiraz (Ḥosayn-‘Alī Mīrzā) and the Government of Bushire to the British Officers based there.Affairs at Bushire are the main topic of discussion, with the abduction by the Imam of Muscat (Saʻīd bin Sulṭān) of the former Governor Abdool Russool Khan [‘Abd al-Rasūl Khān], the seizure of the Government of Bushire by Shaikh Ahmed [Aḥmad bin Khamīs] from Shaik Hussein [Shaikh Ḥusayn Khan], and the counter attack by Shaikhs Hussein and Nassir [Nasir Khan] which resulted in threats of violence against the Residency at Bushire, the Prince of Shiraz's troops occupying the town, and the Resident being forced to leave the limits of the Bushire Residency until the acts committed by the Government and its supporters against the Residency are acknowledged.Other tensions between the British Officers in Persia and the Prince of Shiraz and his Prime Minister Zekee Khan [Zakī Khān] are also discussed, including the seizure of packets and baggage by the Customs House at Shiraz and accusations made against the officers in relation to the abduction of Abool Russool Khan, which were unfounded.The correspondence also details the daily financial administration of both His Majesty's Mission to Persia and the Residency at Bushire and includes statements of accounts and registers of Bills, along with communication with the Accountant General and Civil Auditor at Bushire on financial matters; the movements of British vessels in the Gulf; and the situation on the Arab Coast including the Imam of Muscat's intention to attack the fort at Derah [Ad Dir‘īyah] and remove its inhabitants from that place; an encounter between Rahma bin Jabir and vessels from Bahrein [Bahrain] which resulted in Rahma bin Jabir's death; and the blockade of Bussorah [Basra] by the Imam of Muscat's forces, and subsequent mediation of the situation by the Resident at Bussorah, Captain Robert Taylor.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation sequence is circled in pencil in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. It begins on the first folio after the front cover, on number 2, and ends on the inside of the back cover, on number 140. There is also a former pagination sequence numbering 1-272, which is written in ink in the top left corner of each page and runs through folios 3-139.
Abstract: The volume of private and secret letters contains correspondence from successive Residents in the Persian Gulf at Bushire, including Captain Ephraim Gerrish Stannus, Captain David Wilson, Dr John MacNeil, Lieutenant Samuel Hennell and David Arnold Blane. The correspondence is to William Newnham, Chief Secretary to the Government of India; Lieutenant-Colonel McDonald, Envoy to the Court of Persia; Charles Morris, Acting Chief of Sectary to the Government of Bombay; and W S Collinson, Commander and Senior Marine Officer in the Persian Gulf, Bassadore [Bāsa‘īdū]. There are various enclosures included in the correspondence, including translations of letters and notes from: Shaik Ahmed of Bushire [Shaikh Aḥmad]; the Prince of Shiraz; Shaik Russool [Shaikh ‘Abd al-Rasūl], the Governor of Bushire; Sa‘īd bin Sulṭān Āl Bū Sa‘īd, the Imam of Muscat, and his agent, Hajee Abdool Ameer [Ḥājjī ‘Abd al-Amīr]; and Shaik Abdoollah ben Ahmed [‘Abdullāh bin Aḥmad Āl Khalīfah], chief of Bahrain. In addition, an enclosure (folio 18) is a 'Table showing the entire operations of 4 Cruizers destined for Services connected with the Persian Gulf'.There is an index of letters on folio 2v-3. A note on folio 2r states that 'interesting titles' are marked with a blue cross in the index. Subjects included within the file include: British influence in the Persian Gulf, including relations with Persia, the Wahhabis, Muscat, Bahrain and the Shaikhs on the Arab coast; the movement of vessels and naval issues; movements of native and merchant ships; maintaining the maritime peace; legal claims and disputes; ports in the Persian Gulf and their suitability for steamers; arms trafficking; visits to various locations on the Arab coast, including Sharjah and Bahrain.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover and terminates at the back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and can be found in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: An original pagination sequence written in ink is present in the volume between ff 4-95.