Abstract: Copy of a letter from the Chief Secretary to the Supreme Government of India, George Swinton, at Fort William, to the East India Company Envoy to Persia [Iran], Lieutenant-Colonel McDonald [Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonald Kinneir], of 18 March 1825. The letter indicates that McDonald’s mission will not be authorised to advance into Persia until approved by the British Government in England, unless explicitly authorised by the Shah of Persia. Instructions for HM Chargé d’Affaires in Persia, Henry Willock, to pursue regarding the question of the mission’s advance into Persia and the intentions of the Persians towards the mission are also outlined. The letter also repudiates some of McDonald’s suggestions in his letter of 22 February 1825 (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/70/22) on the grounds that they would not be conducive to maintaining good relations with Russia, and indicates that policy concerning Russia’s position in Persia is the responsibility of the British Government in England.This document was originally enclosed Willock’s letter to the Secret Committee of the East India Company of 3 July 1825 (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/70/20).Physical description: 1 item (12 folios)
Abstract: Dispatch No. 29 from the East India Company Envoy to Persia [Iran], Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonald Kinneir, to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, sent from Tabreez [Tabriz] and dated 27 December 1828.The letter covers:The plans of the Prince Royal [‘Abbās Mīrzā Qājār, Crown Prince of Persia] to travel to St Petersburgh [Saint Petersburg]The arrival in Persia of an agent of the Grand Signior [Sultan of the Ottoman Empire], asking for assistance and alleging that Russia, France, and Britain intend to partition the Turkish [Ottoman] EmpireMacdonald Kinneir’s efforts to dissuade the Persian Government from launching military action to acquire territory from TurkeyThe difficulties presented by Macdonald Kinneir’s lack of accreditation to the British Government.The letter also forwards various correspondence (not enclosed).Physical description: 1 item (8 folios)
Abstract: Copy of a letter from the East India Company Envoy to Persia [Iran], Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonald Kinneir, in Teheran [Tehran], of 21 December 1826. The letter originally gave no addressee but is ‘supposed to be addressed’ to the Chief Secretary to the Supreme Government of India, George Swinton. The letter details Macdonald Kinneir's communications with the Prince Royal, Abbas Meerza [Crown Prince of Persia, ʿAbbās Mīrzā Qājār], the Shah of Persia [Fath-'Ali Shāh Qājār], and senior Persian ministers concerning proposals for the dispatch of the Persian Foreign Minister, Meerza Abool Hussan Khan [Mīrzā Abū al-Ḥasan Khān Shīrāzī] to St Petersburgh [St Petersburg] to negotiate peace with Russia in the Caucasus [Russo-Persian War, 1826-1828]. The letter details Abbas Meerza's willingness to send an ambassador, and reports the Shah's decision to send Meerza Mahomed Ali [Mīrzā Muḥammad ʿAlī Khān Shīrāzī] to St Petersburgh as a precursor to a mission by Meerza Abool Hussan Khan. Macdonald Kinneir also gives his reasons for recommending Meerza Abool Hussan Khan as ambassador, and details the discussion of other matters concerning the war between Russia and Persia, including Russian preparations for a renewed offensive and Abbas Meerza's military situation, the possibility of Britain making subsidy payments to Persia, the diplomatic mission of Daoud Khan [Prince Dāvūd Khān Zādūriyān] to Constantinople [Istanbul], and the mission of Mr Noskoff [Ivan Fyodorovich Noskov]. The letter also originally enclosed:A memorandum of a conference between Macdonald Kinneir's assistant, John McNeill, and Abbas MeerzaThe transcript of a letter from Abbas Meerza to Archduke Constantine [Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich of Russia]Translations of two documents given to Meerza Mahomed Ali for his mission to St PetersburghA letter from Major William Monteith to Macdonald Kinneir.These documents are now catalogued, numbered 1-5, as IOR/L/PS/9/70/158-162.This document was originally enclosed, numbered 1, in Macdonald Kinneir's letter to the Secret Committee of the East India Company of 23 December 1826 (IOR/L/PS/9/70/156).Physical description: 1 item (12 folios)
Abstract: Copy of an official note from the British Ministers to Persia [Iran], Henry Ellis and James Morier, in Tehraun [Tehran], to the Ministers of the Persian Government, of 27 November 1814, written during treaty negotiations [for the Definitive Treaty of 1814]. Ellis and Morier propose that commercial relations between Britain and Persia be regulated according to the commercial treaty concluded by John Malcolm in 1800.This document was originally enclosed, numbered 2, in the letter of the East India Company Envoy to Persia, Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonald Kinneir, to the Chairman of the Court of Directors of the East India Company of 12 October 1827 (IOR/L/PS/9/71/64).Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: Copy of an official note from the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs [Mīrzā Abū al-Ḥasan Khān Shīrāzī] to the East India Company Envoy to Persia [Iran], Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonald Kinneir (a translation of the note is now catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/71/19). The note covers the treaty relations existing between Britain and Persia, including the British commitment to mediating between Russia and Persia in the case of aggression from the former, or else providing the latter with financial assistance. Referring to the ongoing war between Russia and Persia [Russo-Persian War, 1826-1828], the Minister for Foreign Affairs remonstrates against the failure of the British Government to facilitate peace or to provide assistance to Persia, and indicates that on account of this it is the intention of the Persian Government to send an envoy to Britain to ascertain the views of the British Government.This document was originally enclosed, numbered 1, in Macdonald Kinneir’s letter to the Secret Committee of the East India Company of 25 June 1827 (IOR/L/PS/9/71/17).Physical description: 1 item (1 folio)