Abstract: Original letter, in Persian, from Mirza Abul Hassan Khan [Mīrzā Abū al-Ḥasan Khān Shīrāzī, Foreign Minister of Persia] to the Court of Directors of the East India Company (IOR/L/PS/9/71/59 (1)), and a translation of the letter in English (IOR/L/PS/9/71/59 (2)). Mirza Abul Hassan Khan discusses the outbreak of the ongoing war between Persia [Iran] and Russia [Russo-Persian War, 1826-1828], placing the blame for the war on the ‘Russian Frontier Authorities’ [the Russian Government in Georgia], in opposition to the wishes of the Emperor of Russia, and indicating that Persia had sought to avoid war but had been rebuffed by the frontier authorities. He reports that the Shah of Persia [Fatḥ-‘Alī Shāh Qājār] intends to send him to St Petersburgh [St Petersburg], via Vienna or London, to effect a reconciliation between Russia and Persia, indicating a wish for British mediation in the endeavour. A postscript indicates that similar letters have been addressed to HM Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and the President of the Board of Control (the latter of which is now catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/71/60).This document was originally enclosed in the letter of the East India Company Envoy to Persia, Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonald Kinneir, to the Secret Committee of the East India Company of 22 September 1827 (IOR/L/PS/9/71/50).Physical description: The first folio is a large sheet which has been folded
Abstract: This item comprises a copy of an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 91 of 1846, dated 4 August 1846. The enclosure is dated 28 May 1846.The primary document is a despatch from Major Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq], forwarding, for the information of the Government of Bombay and the Governor-General of India, copies of his communications to Sir Stratford Canning, HM Ambassador at Constantinople [Istanbul], reporting on affairs in the Baghdad Pachalic [Baghdad Pashalik, also spelled Pashalic in this item].The papers notably cover the following matters:The agreement negotiated by Canning relating to the rights of Britain to navigate the ‘Rivers of Mesopotamia [Iraq]’ (the Tigris and Euphrates) under its own flag and subject only to anchorage fees, and Rawlinson’s expectation that this will encourage the use of steam vessels and stimulate British trade with the Turkish [Ottoman] EmpireTensions between Persian [Iranian] and Turkish tribes on the Turco-Persian frontier at Kermanshah, plans for mediation by Rawlinson of the differences between the tribes, and Rawlinson’s description (f 14) of two ‘serious outrages’ committed by Persian tribes against the property of Turkish tribes and his fears of possible retaliationA meeting between Najib Pasha [Muḥammad Najīb Pāshā, Governor of Baghdad] and the Persian Consul Moolah Abdool Azeez [Mullā ‘Abd al-‘Azīz, also referred to as the Persian Agent] regarding the various complaints of the Consul against the Turkish authorities relating to: import and export duties; alleged fees for interment at Nejjef [Najaf, also spelled Nejif in this item]; ferry tolls required to cross a canal between Nejjef and Kufa; passport regulations affecting Persian citizens resident in Baghdad; and the inability of Persian citizens to obtain restitution following the ‘plunder’ of their property in the vicinity of BaghdadRawlinson’s mediatory role following two recent incidents at Kerbela [Karbala], namely: the affair of Hajee Medhi [Ḥājī Mahdī] who was sent to Kerbela by the Persian Consul on private business but presented himself as a Government Agent independent of the local government, and the question of Turkish and Persian jurisdictional rights regarding his punishment; and the affair of the Persian Army soldiers on official business who refused to deposit their arms, forced the gates and assaulted the guards, and the postponement of their punishment pending the decision of the Turkish and Persian governmentsRawlinson’s report of the discontent over taxation among ‘the Arabs of this Pashalic’, and his concern that increased tensions and acts of defiance will lead to constant conflict and disorderInformation received by Rawlinson alleging the erection of fortifications at Zahab [Sarpol-e Zahab] and Mohamrah [Khorramshahr, also spelled Mahomrah in this item] and the denial of the Persian Prime Minister, as conveyed by HM Minister in Tehran, of plans to erect any fortifications on the Persian frontier.Physical description: 1 item (20 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, 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 by Brigadier William Marcus Coghlan, Political Resident 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 MussowahProceedings 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
Queento 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
Queenbetween 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 or use Aden as a base to organise further attacks on ZailahThe 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. 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).Physical description: 1 item (24 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of India Secret Department to the East India Company Secret Committee, Number 9 of 1838, dated 1 May 1838. The enclosures are dated 14 February-1 May 1838.The papers chiefly comprise despatches of: William Hay Macnaghten, Secretary to the Governor-General of India; Captain Claude Martine Wade, Political Agent in Loodhiana [Ludhiana]; Captain Alexander Burnes, on a Mission to Cabool [Kabul]; and Lieutenant Eldred Pottinger in Herat.The despatches concern the siege of Herat by Persia [Iran], notably covering and including the following:Letters for Lord Auckland, Governor-General of India, from Shah Kamran [Shāhzādah Kāmrān Durrānī], Ruler of Herat, and his Vizier [minister] Yar Mahomed Khan [Yār Muḥammad Khān], urgently soliciting the intervention of the British Government in their present dispute with Persia (ff 376-377)A detailed report by Lieutenant Eldred Pottinger in Herat relating his proceedings and those of Colonel Charles Stoddart, British Agent with the Persian Camp, acting as messengers between the Ruler of Herat and the Persian Prime Minister Hajee Meerza Akasee [Ḥājī Mīrzā Āqāsī] and the Shah of Persia, up to late February 1838, and noting that they have conveyed to the Shah’s camp outside Herat that the British Government is the ‘well-wisher’ of the Persians and Afghans but its policy is to prevent ‘foreign enemies’ from aggression on Afghan territory (ff 379-390)Macnaghten’s instructions to John McNeill, HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Persia, regarding arrangements for conveying rapid intelligence to India during the ‘present highly critical emergency’, including the despatch of the ship
Hugh Lindsayto the Persian Gulf for his use and that of the Persian ResidentMacnaghten’s encouragement of McNeill to visit the Shah’s camp outside Herat with duplicates of the Governor-General’s replies to the Ruler and Vizier of Herat (which have also been sent via Burnes) and to mediate peace (ff 391-392)Copies of the Governor-General’s replies to Shah Kamran and Yar Mahomed, expressing friendship and sympathy, urging ‘undaunted courage’ on the ‘brave and intrepid people’ and informing them of McNeill’s advance to the Shah’s camp (ff 394-396).Physical description: 1 item (37 folios)
Abstract: Copy of Dispatch No. 17 from HM Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia, Edward Cromwell Disbrowe, in St Petersburgh [St Petersburg], to HM Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Earl of Dudley, of 16 October 1827 [Old Style]/ 28 October 1827 [New Style]. Disbrowe reports the audiences held between the former HM Chargé d'Affaires to Persia [Iran], Henry Willock, and the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Count [Karl Robert] Nesselrode, and the Emperor of Russia, in St Petersburgh. He also discusses the offer made by the British Government to provide mediation in the war between Russia and Persia [Russo-Persian War, 1826-1828], and a plan for Willock to transmit reasonable proposals for peace from the Emperor to the Persian Government in Tehran.This document was originally enclosed, numbered 1, in Willock’s letter to the Secretary to the East India Company, Joseph Dart, of 10 March 1828 (IOR/L/PS/9/71/195).Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)