Abstract: A compilation of correspondence, reports, memoranda, gazetteer extracts, dispatches and statistics, prepared by Trevor Chichele Plowden, the Officiating Under-Secretary to the Government of India Foreign Department. Printed in Calcutta, by the Foreign Department Press, 1878.The volume contains:'Chapter I. Correspondence relating to the establishment of a friendly understanding between England and Russia as to the general policy of the two Governments in Central Asia, with special reference to Afghanistan.''Chapter II. The Turkomans of the Attrek [Etrek], Akhal [Ahal], and Merv [Mary], and their relations with Russia, Persia, Afghanistan, and England.''Chapter III. Relations of the British Government with Biluchistan [Balochistān].''Chapter IV. Relations between the British Government, Cashmere [Kashmīr], and the Frontier States of Chitral [Chitrāl], Yassin [Yāsīn] and Dir [Dīr].''Chapter V. Events in Kashgar [Kāshgar] during 1875-1877. ''Chapter VI. Events in the Khanate of Kokand during 1875-1877.''Chapter VII. Events in the Khanate of Khiva during 1875-1877.''Chapter VIII. Events in the Khanate of Bokhara [Bukhara] during 1875-1877.''Chapter IX. Miscellaneous.'Appendices.The volume includes two fold-out maps: one stored in a pocket inside the front board; and one at folio 207.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 279; 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: This item comprises a copy of an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 9 of 1847, dated 25 January 1847. The enclosure is dated 14 November 1846.The item comprises copies of despatches forwarded, for the information of the Government of Bombay and the Governor-General of India, by Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Sheil, HM Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Persia [Iran], to Viscount Palmerston, HM Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, with relevant enclosures.The papers cover the following matters:The assumption by Hajee Meerza Aghasee, [Ḥājī Mīrzā Āqāsī], Prime Minister to the Shah of Persia, of the office and duties of Minister of Foreign Affairs and concentration ‘in his own person the entire functions of Government’ (f 103)A scheme proposed by the Assof-ood Dawleh [Āṣaf al-Dawlah] of Herat and the Governor of Khorassan to replace the current ruler of Herat (Yah Mahomed Khan [Yār Muḥammad Khān ‘Alī Kūzāy]) with Shah Passend Khan [Shāh Pasand Khān], Sheil’s strong rejection of the proposal, the refusal of Hajee Meerza Aghassee to support it since it would aggrandize the Government of Khorassan [Khorasan], the apparent concern of Yar Mahomed’s followers, and the purported wish of Yar Mahomed to have a British Agent at Herat as a defence against the Assof-ood Dawleh’s ‘plots’ and the Persian GovernmentSheil’s scepticism with regard to the claims made by Cazee Mahomed Hassan [Qāḍī Muḥammad Ḥasan], based on the enquiries he made (on Sheil’s behalf) during a trip to Khiva, about the fate of a certain ‘Hajee Ahmed Ahmed Arab’ (f 109) said to be the missing Englishman Mr Wyburd [Lieutenant William Henry Wybard] and also about another English man and woman reportedly held captive in Khiva, and Sheil’s opinion that the Cazee’s true motive was employment by the British GovernmentThe report by Cazee Mahomed Hassan, recently returned from Khiva, that the Khan of Khiva is concerned about Russian progress towards his territory, advancing, he believes, from their fort at Minkishlak [Mangyshlak], near the Caspian Sea, and Sheil’s consideration that despite his doubts about the Cazee’s general truthfulness, the report may well be trueThe refusal of Hajee Meerza Aghassee to accede to the demands of Prince Dolgorouki [Prince Dimitri Ivanovich Dolgorukov], Russian Minister in Tehran, for Persia to allow Russian ships of war into the Persian harbours in the Caspian Sea, especially Asterabad [Gorgon], and Sheil’s opinion that a peremptory refusal will elicit a very strong response from Russia. Included is a copy of Hajee Meerza Aghassee’s letter to Dolgorouki stating that the requests are contrary to Persia’s treaty with Russia (f 114-116)Reports of the Persian Government’s plans to send a large force to the disordered province of Khorassan, and Sheil’s opinion that the reasons are: to overthrow the Asaf-ood-Dowlah [Āṣaf al-Dawlah] whose power and reputation have ‘reached a height displeasing to the Shah and insupportable to his rival the Prime Minister’ (f 117); to quash Jafer Koolee Khan of Boojnoord [Jaʿfar Qulī Khān of Bojnord], a powerful ‘chief’ obedient to the Governor of Khorassan instead of the Shah, and a possible ally of Russia; and events rendering north eastern Persia vulnerable to Tekeh [Teke] and Goklan Toorkomans [people of Turkmenistan]Sheil’s communications to Lieutenant-Colonel Williams, British Commissioner at Erzeroom [Erzurum], and Hajee Meerza Aghassee, regarding finalization of the draft Treaty between Turkey [Ottoman Empire] and Persia, including: the Aghassee’s complaints that the Turkish guard ship in the Shat-al-Arab [Shatt al-Arab River] is preventing (Persian) merchant vessels from entering the port of Mohemmera [Khorramshahr, formerly Mohammerah] and diverting them to Bussorah [Basra] where they have to pay custom dues; and Sheil’s suspicion that his copy of the draft Treaty was purposely delayed by the Russian courier from Erzeroom.Physical description: 1 item (27 folios)
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 116 of 1846, dated 12 October 1846. The enclosures, numbered 3-6 and dated 12 May to 15 July 1846, relate to Persian [Iranian] affairs.Enclosure No. 3 is a letter from HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Persia, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Justin Sheil, to the Secretary to the Governor-General of India, forwarding a copy of a despatch from HM Consul at Tabreez [Tabriz], Keith Edward Abbott, addressed to HM Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Earl of Aberdeen, relating to the campaign of the Russian Army in Daghestan [Dagestan] in 1845.Enclosure Nos. 4-6 consist of letters from Sheil to Secretary to the Government of Bombay, forwarding under flying seals letters to the Secretary to the Government of India, enclosing copies of despatches addressed by Sheil to the Earl of Aberdeen, and to HM Ambassador at the Porte [the Sublime Porte, or Government of the Ottoman Empire], Sir Stratford Canning. The despatches concern matters including:Issues in relation to the conclusion of the Treaty of Erzeroom [Erzurum] between Persia and Turkey [the Ottoman Empire], including: Sheil’s efforts to obtain from the Persian Government adequate powers to enable the Persian Plenipotentiary at Ezeroom to conclude the treaty; Sheil complaining that he does not receive ‘proper or fair assistance’ from the Russian Minister to Persia in conducting the negotiations between Persia and Turkey; differences between the Persian and Turkish drafts of the treaty, on points including a tariff, and the possession of the Pass of Kerrind [Kerend-e Gharb] by Persia (this correspondence includes an enclosed copy of a document comparing a joint note by Sir Stratford Canning and the Russian ambassador at Constantinople [Istanbul], Monsieur Titow [Vladimir Pavlovich Titov], to the instructions issued to the Turkish Plenipotentiary, which is in English and French)Sheil reporting that ‘a respectable Afghan merchant’ who has lately arrived in Tehran from Khiva claims that an English man and an English woman are being held captive in KhivaSheil requesting HM Consul at Tabreez to remonstrate with the Prince of Tabreez about an infraction of a firman against torture, following a ‘Mussulman’ [Muslim] inhabitant of the city confessing to murdering and robbing property from the house of an Armenian women, and this man being imprisoned and tortured to force him to confess how he had disposed of the property, before it was ‘satisfactorily proved’ that he had falsely admitted to the crime. Sheil stating that he had obtained a pledge from the Prince that there should be no repetition of such scenes within his Government, and Sheil explaining that he had not complained to the Persian Ministers about the matter because the firman was issued by the Persian Prime Minister, Hajee Meerza Aghassee [Ḥājī Mīrzā (ʿAbbās Īravānī) Āqāsī], during the Shah’s illness without his knowledgeSheil’s unsuccessful attempts to ascertain the fate of Mr Wyburd [William Henry Wybard], from sources including: the Khaleefa [Khalifah] or Chief Priest of Merve [Merv] (from whom there are two enclosed letters); ‘Reuben’, ‘a Jew at Bokhara’; and the Asefood dowleh [Āṣaf al-Dawlah, also spelled Asofood-dowleh in this item], the Governor of Khorassan [Khorasan], who had sent Meerza Hassan [Mīrzā Ḥasan] to Bokhara [the Emirate of Bukhara] in search of Wyburd, with Meerza Hassan stating that he had been treated with distinction by the Ameer [Amīr] until the latter discovered that he was searching for an Englishman, at which point he ‘became exceedingly irritated’ and told him to leave Bokhara the next day, and also told Meerza Hassan that he was wholly ignorant of Mr WyburdSheil’s concerns about Russian influence, including: Sheil enclosing a copy of William Taylour Thomson’s report of his journey to the coast of the Caspian Sea, with Sheil highlighting the inferences which can be drawn from it on the present state of affairs in Asterabad [Gorgan] and the position of Russia there, including the Russian establishment at Ashor Ada [Ashuradeh], which Sheil states is essentially a military occupation; and the Russian Government resolving to place a permanent Consul in AsterabadNews received that the ‘Chief’ [Khan] of Khiva, Reheem Kolee Khan [Muḥammad Raḥim Qulī Khān], is dead and has been succeeded by his brother Baber Jan Khan [Abū al-Ghāzī Muḥammad Amīn Bahādur Khān], and Sheil’s suggestion that since the Chiefs of Khiva are ‘favourably disposed’ towards the ‘English’ Government, he could encourage this feeling by sending someone to offer congratulations on Baber Jan Khan’s accession and give a few presents to himReports that the Asofood-dowleh was engaged in collecting troops, for an unknown purpose, but had then unexpectedly countermanded his preparations for this and dispersed the forces he had assembledNejeeb Pasha [Gürcü Mehmet Necip Pasha, or Muḥammad Najīb Pāshā, Wali or Governor of Baghdad] complaining of the intention of the Persian Government to build forts on the frontier with Turkey at Mohummera [Khorramshahr, also spelled Mohemmera in this item] and Zohab [Sarpol-e Zahab]; the Persian Government sending engineers towards Bayazeed [Doğubayazıt], Zohab and Mohemmera for that purpose; and the engineers being withdrawn from the frontier following remonstrance from Sheil and the Russian Minister to Persia, Prince Dolgorouki [Prince Dimitri Ivanovich Dolgorukov]Nejeeb Pasha receiving instructions from the Porte to establish passport regulations and to levy a sum of six Piastres from Persian pilgrimsCommodore Hawkins having succeeded in obtaining from the ‘Chief’ or Governor of Kenn [Kish Island] the value of the British property which had been plundered from the wreck of the Company’s schooner
Emilyby the Governor and inhabitants of the island, but having apparently exceeded the instructions given to him by the Resident in the Persian Gulf, Major Samuel Hennell, in demanding an additional sum of 1500 Tomans from the Governor of Kenn on account of treasure belonging to Persian merchants plundered from the vessel.The despatches include additional enclosed correspondence, including correspondence between Sheil and Hajee Meerza Aghassee.Physical description: 1 item (128 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises a copy of an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 15 of 1847, dated 12 February 1847. The enclosures is dated 14 December 1846.The item comprises copies of despatches forwarded, for the information of the Government of Bombay and the Governor-General of India, by Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Sheil, HM Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Persia [Iran], to Viscount Palmerston, HM Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, with relevant enclosures.The papers cover a number of matters, notably including:Sheil’s report that he has contracted Hajee Syed Noor Doollah, a native of Bokhara [Bukhara] (but which he left twenty years ago) to make enquiries in Bokhara regarding the whereabouts or the fate of Mr Wyburd [Lieutenant William Henry Wybard], and of an English man and woman said to be prisoners captive in Afghanistan and Khiva. Included is a copy of Sheil’s detailed instructions to the agent which contain details of Mr Wyburd who left Tehran twelve years ago to proceed to Khiva by Asterabad [Gorgan], dressed as ‘an Arab’ or ‘a Persian’ and who called himself ‘Hajee Ahmed Arab’ (ff 252-254)Sheil’s report of responses to his enquiries regarding the whereabouts or fate of Mr Wyburd that he has received from: the Political Resident at Bushire [Bushehr]; the Khan of Khiva (f 256); Aga Khan, the Yoomoot Toorkooman [Yomut Turkmen] chief; the Cazee [qadi] of Herat (ff 256-258); and the Acting Agent of the Mission at Meshed [Mashhad] (f 259). These notably comprise versions of a story that a person called ‘Hajee Ahmed’ was said to have been killed or committed suicide at Bokhara, possibly in the house of the Naib, Abdoos Semed Khan [Nā’ib ‘Abd al-Ṣamad Khān]A commercial treaty concluded between Persia and Spain (ff 261-263)The apprehension, expressed to Sheil by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, of a potential attack on Bushire due to the disaffected state of Tengestan [Tangestan], Desht [Dashti] and Deshtestan [Dashtestan], which the Resident states is caused by the Persian Government’s practice of selling the government of provinces and districts leading to oppressive exactions on the populace.Physical description: 1 item (50 folios)
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, No. 104 of 1842, dated 28 September 1842. It contains material related to the following:The Officiating Resident in the Persian Gulf, Lieutenant H D Robertson’s consultations with local merchants on the status of trade in the port of Bushire [Bushehr]The arrival of a Dervish, claiming to be Jehan Soz Mirza [Jahānsūz Mīrzā], son of the late Futteh Allee Shah [Fatḥ ‘Alī Shāh Qājār], and uncle of the current King of Persia [Muḥammad Shāh Qājār, Shāh of Iran], on the Island of Karrack [Kharg]The intention of Mahomed Shah [Muḥammad Shāh Qājār] and the Prince of Fars [Ṭahmāsb Mīrzā Qājār Mu’ayyid al-Dawlah] to go to war against TurkeyThe war between Shaik [Shaikh, also written here as Sheik] Mahomed bin Khuleefa [Muḥammad bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah] and Shaik Abdullah bin Ahmed [‘Abdullāh bin Aḥmad Āl Khalīfah] on Bahrein [Bahrain], and the fighting at Monamah [Manama] and Sitrall [Sitra]The death of Dhej [Shaikh Duʿayj bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah], brother of Shaik Mahomed bin Khuleefa, in a skirmish against the forces of Shaik Abdullah bin AhmedThe meeting of Shaik Ali bin Khuleefa [Shaikh ‘Alī bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah] and Sheik Humood bin Sulmon [Shaikh Ḥamūd bin Salmān Āl Khalīfah] with Shaik Abdullah bin AhmedThe victory of Shaik Abdullah bin Ahmed’s forces over those of Shaik Mahomed bin Khuleefa, led by Abdool Rahman bin Abdool Luteef [‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin ‘Abd al-Laṭīf]; the death of Shaik Abdullah’s grandson, Mahomed bin Moobarak [Shaikh Muḥammad bin Mubārak Āl Khalīfah] during the battle and the flight of Shaik MahomedThe arrival of Shaik Mahomed at Lahsa [Al-Ahsa], and the possibility of assistance from Ameer Abdoolla bin Sooneyan [Amīr ‘Abdullāh bin Thunayān Āl Sa‘ūd] at Riaz [Riyadh]The permission given by Shaik Abdullah bin Ahmed to pearl fishers to go to the banks; his departure for Guttur [Qatar] on 12 Jumadee ool sanee [Jumadī al-Thānī]; and intention to repair the town of Zubara [Al Zubarah] and settle the people of Guttur thereThe rumours about the King of Persia’s intention to invade Bahrein, with part of the army passing through Koweit [Kuwait]The voyages of the ‘piratical Arabs’ of Shargah [Sharjah, also written here as Sharga] to Africa and the Red Sea, and the considerable profit derived from their trade in the ‘article of slaves’ [enslaved persons]The status of a Soomalee [Somali] ‘slave’ belonging to the brother of Abdoolla bin Rashid [Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Rāshid al-Mu’allā] of Oomulgevein [Umm al-Qaywayn]The dispute between Abdoolla bin Rashid and Sultan bin Suggur [Shaikh Sulṭān bin Ṣaqr al-Qāsimī] of Shargah and Ras al Khyma [Ra’s al-Khaymah]The visit of an envoy from Abdoolla bin Sooneyan and Said bin Mootlook [Sa‘īd bin Muṭlaq?] to [Shaikh] Sultan bin Suggur of Shargah, [Shaikh] Abdoolla bin Rashid of Oomulgevein, [Shaikh] Khuleefa bin Shackboot [Khalīfah bin Shakhbūṭ Āl Nahyān] of Aboothabee [Abu Dhabi], [Shaikh] Hamid bin Seeroor [Ḥamīd bin Surūr] and [Shaikh] Mahomed bin Abdoolla [Muḥammad bin ‘Abdullāh] of Booraymee [Al Buraymi], as well as [shaikhs] Hamed bin Allee bin Hamood [Ḥamīd bin ‘Alī bin Ḥammūd], Fazil bin Mahomed [Faḍil bin Muḥammad] and Hamed bin Saeef [Ḥamid bin Sayf?]The rumours of a possible fallout between the British Consul, Captain Atkins Hamerton, and the Imam of Oman [Sa‘īd bin Sulṭān Āl Bū Sa‘īd]The perceived lack of respect shown by Sheik Nasir [Shaikh Naṣr III Āl Madhkūr, Governor of Bushehr] to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, and the Shah of Persia’s determination to remove him from the governorshipThe arrival of a fleet of Russian warships at Asterabad [Astarabad], allegedly to ‘put a stop to the depredations of the Toorkomans [Turkmen]’The arrival of Mahomed Kereem Khan [Muḥammad Karīm Khān], envoy of the Ruler of Herat, Yar Mahomed Khan [Yār Muḥammad Khān ‘Alī Kūzāy], at the court of the King of Persia in TehranThe apparent violations, by the Ottoman Empire, of the peace treaty between Turkey and Persia, by attacking Mohommura [Mohammerah, i.e. Khorramshahr], Sunundij [Sanandaj], Aroomia [Urumiyah], and nomadic tribes on the Persian side of the border, and the complaints of the Persian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Meerza Abul Hasan Khan [Mīrzā Abū al-Ḥasan Khān Shīrāzī] to the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of AberdeenThe complaints of the Persian Prime Minister, Hajee Mirza Aghasee [Ḥājī Mīrzā Āghāsī], to HM Chargé d’Affaires in Tehran, Colonel Justin Sheil, about Turkey’s violation of Persia’s sovereignty, with reference to the peace treaty [Treaty of Zuhab] concluded between Shah Suffee [Shāh Ṣafī I] and Sultan Moorad Khan the Fourth [Sulṭān Murād IV] in 1639The clashes between the Prince Governor of Mazanderan [Ardashīr Mīrzā Qājār, Rukn al-Dawlah’s] troops and the Yoomoot [Yumut] TurkmenThe refusal of the Khan of Khiva [Muḥammad Raḥīm Qulī Khān Qunqurāt] to release the Persian citizens taken captive by Khivan raiders, and Hajee Mirza Aghasi’s contemplation of a punitive campaign against the Khanate.Physical description: 1 item (103 folios)