Kelat, Candahar and Herat Affairs

Title:

Kelat, Candahar and Herat Affairs

Date:

1856/1856

Description:

Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 54 of 1856, dated 28 July 1856. The enclosures are dated 19 June-7 July 1856.The enclosures chiefly comprise letters from Lieutenant-Colonel John Jacob, Acting Commissioner in Sind [Sindh] to the Secretary to the Government of India, copied to the Government of Bombay. Jacob forwards intelligence he has received regarding the state of affairs in Herat, Candahar [Kandahar, also spelled this way in this item] and Kelat [Kalat, also spelled Khelat in this item], notably:Intelligence obtained by the Acting Political Superintendent North West Frontier, written by Moolla Ahmed [Mullā Aḥmad], the Wukkeel [vakil, representative] of the Khan of Kelat and the Wukkeel’s son, stating that an approaching Persian [Iranian] force threatens the territories of the Khan of Kelat. Included are copies of the letters in Persian with English translations (ff 442-443 and ff 445-446)Four original translations of letters (ff 452-460) forwarded to Jacob with the original Persian letters (not present in this item) by Captain William Lockyer Merewether, Acting Political Superintendent on the Frontier of Upper Sind, which allege that: the Persian Army has captured Herat; a detachment of the Persian Army, in support of the ex-Sirdars [sirdārs, leaders] of Candahar, is approaching Candahar with the aim of ousting Ameer Dost Mahomed [Amīr Dūst Muḥammad Khān Bārakzāy] and replacing him with Rehimdil Khan [Raḥam Dil Khān]; and the ‘uncivil people of the red face [English]’ who did not help the Candahar sirdars will ‘suffer a similar fate’ in ‘Hindoostan’ [India] at the hands of Persia (f 455). Also included is Merewether’s admission that information relating to the taking of Ghorian [Ghurian or Ghoryan] and investment of Herat was obtained orally from his conversations with Moolla Ahmed but was accidentally added to the translation of the first letterAn extract of a letter from the Khan of Kelat to Moolla Ahmed, residing in Jacobabad, forwarded to Jacob by Merewether, in which the Khan of Kelat reports that the Wuzzeer [vizier, minister] of Herat has thrown into confinement the Ruler of Herat and his household, plundered all his property, caused coinage to be minted in the name of the Persian King [Shāh], and hopes to be Governor of the city. The Khan also reports that ex-Sirdars of Candahar, Khooshdil Khan [Luynab, ʿAbd al-Hamid, Khushdil Khan] and Mahomed Omer Khan [Muḥammad Omar Khān Muḥammadzāy] and others have been captured by Dost Mahomed Khan’s soldiers, but that Rehimdil Khan is still at large in Ghilzee [Ghilji] country.Also included in this item is a letter from Jacob apologising for the tone of his previous letter and insisting that no disrespect was intended.Physical description: 1 item (25 folios)

Language:

English

Type:

Archival item

Type (Narrower):

Other Texts

Type (Broader):

Text

Subject:

Military occupation
Coup d'états
Military campaigns
Vizier of Herat
Governor of Herat

Geographic region:

Kelat
Candahar
Herat

Rights:

غير معروف

Identifier:

81055/vdc_100157091557.0x00001a_ar
81055/vdc_100157091557.0x00001a_en
IOR/L/PS/5/487, ff 437-461
IOR/L/PS/5/487, ff 437-461

Feedback