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 73 of 1840, dated 25 September 1840. The enclosures are dated 21-24 September 1840.They consist of correspondence relating to the security of communications in Aden and the Red Sea area and onwards to London via Alexandria, in the event of a rupture with Mehmet Ali [Muḥammad ‘Alī Pāshā al-Mas‘ūd bin Āghā, Ruler of Egypt]. An alternative route to Europe via Bagdad [Baghdad] and Constantinople [Istanbul] is discussed.Correspondents include: the Political Agent at Aden (Stafford Bettesworth Haines); the Superintendent of the Indian Navy; the Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq]; the Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Military Board, Bombay.Physical description: 1 item (99 folios)
Abstract: This item consists of manuscript copies of secret letters, despatches, memoranda and translations of letters concerning political developments in Bagdad [Baghdad] and Turkish [Ottoman] Arabia.Physical description: 1 item (8 folios)
Abstract: Correspondence discusses the rising of the Bohtan Kurds against the Turkish [Ottoman] Government and its impact on British imperial communications. Letters discuss the leadership of the insurgents led by Yezdisheer Bey (nephew of Beder Khan Bey) and how they obtained money from the Mosul Treasury on pretence of forming a unit of mountaineers against the Russians on the Armenian front. Also discussed is how the Bohtan Kurds took the town of Jezireh [Jezireh, Syria], laid waste the Turkish garrison, and linked up with disaffected Kurds from the Taurus mountains to Bagdad [Baghdad]. The impact on Christian communities, Nestorian Kurds and Chaldean villagers of Mosul is mentioned as well as the revolt of the Anezeh and Shammar Arab tribes.The correspondents include: Lieutenant Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, Political Agent in Turkish Arabia; H L Anderson, Secretary to the Government of Bombay [Mumbai]; G F Edmonstone, Secretary to the Government of India; and the Earl of Clarendon, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Office, London.Physical description: 1 item (7 folios)
Abstract: The file contains correspondence related to the establishment of new civil airports at Baghdad (1933) and Basra (1934), and subsequent additions to these facilities. It also contains copies of a number of notices to airmen issued by the Iraqi Ministry of Communications and Works: see folios 5-8 and 11. One of these notices (see folio 11) is in both Arabic and English.The main correspondents are as follows: HM Ambassador to Iraq (Sir Francis Henry Humphrys), officials of the Foreign Office, and other officials at the British Embassy in Baghdad. The correspondence is periodically forwarded to the Under-Secretary of State for India by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in order to keep the India Office informed of developments; none of the correspondence in the file is directly addressed to the India Office.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 36; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: This item contains copies of two letters:1. A letter from Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad [Baghdad], to Marquess Wellesley, Governor-General of Bengal, sent from Bagdad and dated 19 April 1802. Jones reports news from Bagdad including: the departure of the Pashaw [Büyük Sulaymān Pāshā, Governor of Baghdad] from the city following rumours of a plague outbreak; the departure of the Minister [‘Alī Pāshā al-Kahyah, Chief Minister of Baghdad], reportedly on a campaign against the Wa ha by [Wahhābī movement]; the Pashaw’s health; and a proposed visit to Bagdad from the Grand Vizier [Yūsuf Ẓīa al-Dīn Pāshā, Grand Vizier to the Ottoman Sulṭān]. Jones also forwards reports from Persia [Iran] and Afghanistan, including the march of Abbas Meerza [‘Abbās Mīrzā Qājār, Crown Prince of Persia] to Azabaijan [Azerbaijan].2. A letter from Peter Tooke, Agent of the East India Company in Constantinople [Istanbul], to Harford Jones, sent from Constantinople and dated 30 March 1802. The letter concerns the transit of mail and forwards correspondence. Tooke also states that he has heard rumours of the death of the Pashaw of Bagdad and commotion in the city, and enquires after Jones’s security.Physical description: 1 item (4 folios)
Abstract: An extract from the records of the Bagdad [Baghdad] Residency, consisting of a minute written by Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad, dated 13 February 1802.The minute concerns plague in Bagdad, describing the public punishment by the Pashaw [Büyük Sulaymān Pāshā, Governor of Baghdad], with Jones’s encouragement, of a person spreading alarm about the plague, followed some days later by the Pashaw’s announcement that he intends to leave Bagdad. Jones describes his attempts to persuade the Pashaw not to leave the city, culminating in Jones threatening to stop British ships from coming to Bussora [Basra].The extract was enclosed in Jones’s letter to Charles Mills, Chairman of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, dated 19 February 1802 (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/76/218).Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: The correspondence discusses the appointment of John Calcott Gaskin as Commercial Assistant to the British Consul at Bagdad in 1906, and the decision for his salary to be paid jointly by the British Government Treasury and the Government of India.Following the outbreak of The First World War the correspondence discusses Mr Gaskin's internment in Aleppo and arrangements that were made through the US Consulate in Aleppo for continued payment of his salary until he was able to return to England in 1918.The later correspondence between the Foreign Office, the Accountant General at the India Office, and the Foreign Department of the Government of India discusses the amounts paid to Mr Gaskin during his time in Bagdad and Aleppo, including outstanding monies due to him, and the decision to grant him furlough on his return to England before commencing an appointment in Mesopotamia [Iraq].The volume is part 1 of 1. Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, year the subject file was opened, subject heading, and list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 303; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
Abstract: The correspondence includes copies of letters, translated letters, and secret and political consultations related to the following:‘Deputation of Mehedi Ali Khan [Mīrzā Mahdī ‘Alī Khān, several spellings appear in this part] to the Court of Persia [Iran] for the purpose of counteracting the designs of Zeman Shah [Zamān Shāh Durrānī, Amīr of Afghanistan, also spelled Zemaun] against Hindostan [Subcontinental India]’The progress of Mehedi Ali Khan’s negotiations with Persian officials at Tahiran [Tehran, also spelled as Teheran] including the Grand Vizier, Hajy Mirza Ibraheem Khan [Ḥājī Ibrāhīm Khān Zand Kalantar Shīrāzī, Eʿtemād al-Dawlah, Persian Prime Minister], and the King of Persia [Fatḥ ʻAlī Shāh Qājār, also called Bābā Khān]Appointment of Captain John Malcolm to the office of Envoy from the British Government to the Court of Persia on 12 October 1799The British offer of supplies of arms to the Persian GovernmentExchange of letters with Hajy Mahomed Kheleel Mullik Ettijar, native of Hazbin [Qazwin] [Ḥājī Muḥammad Khalīl Qazwīnī, Malik al-Tujjār of the Persian Empire, various spellings of his name and title feature] related to his help with the execution of the Company’s charges in Bushire [Bushehr]A list of superfine broad cloth to deliver in PersiaThe trading activities of the Governor of Bushire, Sheikh Naser Khan [Shaikh Naṣr Āl Madhkūr, son of Shaikh Nāṣir Āl Madhkūr, also spelled as Nusser]The rebellion of the Governor of Fars, Hussan Kully Khan [Ḥasan Qulī Khān]Notes on the King of Persia, his family and wealthExchange of letters between Sheikh Naser Khan of Bushire and Jonathan Duncan, the Governor at Bombay, regarding Mehedi Ali Khan’s position in BushireThe efforts of Mehedi Ali Khan to send the two princes, Mahomed [Maḥmūd Shāh Durrānī] and Ferouze [Fayrūz Shāh Durrānī] brothers of Zeman Shah, towards Herat [also spelled as Huraut] and Candahar [Kandahar] via Khorassan [Khorasan]Account of Abdur Reheem [‘Abd al-Raḥīm Khān Shīrāzī, Beglerbegi of Iraq] from the Royal Residence in Tahiran in relation to the happenings at the Persian Court; Mehedi Ali Khan’s personality and achievements; and the issue of Zeman ShahGovernor General, Lord Mornington [Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley of Norragh], honouring Mehedi Ali Khan and Hajy Mahomed Kheleel with a ‘khilaut’ [
khil'a, distinction] for their good conduct in PersiaA translated copy of a firmaun [farmān] from the King of Persia regarding the relations of his country with the EnglishDetails of the internal affairs of MuscatFrench activities in the GulfThe activities of Armenian vesselsNews of correspondence being established between Tippo Sultaun [Sulṭān Fātiḥ ‘Alī Ṣāḥib Tīpū, Ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore] and Zeman Shah, and their shared feelings against the English presence in IndiaZeman Shah’s anti Shea [Shi‘a] policyCommunication with Soliman Basha [Büyük Sulaymān Pāshā, also spelled as Soleyman] of Bagdad [Baghdad, also spelled as Bagdat]The French siege of Akkah (Acre, also spelled as Akka), and the response of the Ottoman and the BritishThe Ottomans and Wahabies [Wahhābīs] reaching an agreement regarding the governing of Lehesa [Al-Ahsa]Instructions and information to Captain Malcolm about his trip to PersiaThe movements of the Ottoman troops in SyriaThe possibility of the British establishing relations with Zeman ShahOttoman-Persian relationsOttoman-British relationsRussian-Persian relationsFrench-Arab relations.Physical description: 1 item (126 folios)
Abstract: A copy of a letter from Lord Minto, Governor-General of Bengal, to Sir Harford Jones, British Envoy Extraordinary to Persia [Iran], sent from Fort William and dated 31 October 1808. The letter: reprimands Jones for leaving for Persia without communicating with Minto; outlines the political situation in Persia, in particular the ascendant French influence in the country and prospects for Anglo-Persian relations; describes a new defence strategy against France in the region, including the establishment of a presence on Kharrack [Khārg], support of independence for Baghdad in the event of the Ottoman Empire falling into the French orbit, and planned overtures to the Wahabees [Wahhabis]; and exhorts Jones to return from Persia.Physical description: 1 item (12 folios)
Abstract: Copy of a letter in French from Jean Raymond to the Governor-General of the Isle de France [Mauritius] Capitaine Général De Caen [Charles Mathieu Isidore Decaen], of 31 January 1809. This letter was part of the papers seized from French courier Jean Robbio at Bushire by Stephen Babington, in charge of the Residency at Bushire (see IOR/L/PS/9/68/60). The letter concerns:The arrival of Sir Harford Jones at Chiraz [Shiraz] and the refusal of the Shah of Persia Fath Ali Shah [Fath-Ali Shah Qajar] and his Grand Vizier [Mirza Muḥammad Shafī‘ Māzandarānī] to treat with himThe difficulties experienced by Raymond in attempting to secure the loyalty of the Governor of Bagdad [Baghdad], Soliman III [Sulayman Pasha]The reception of James Rich [Claudius James Rich] as Resident in Bagdad, and the visit to Bagdad by a party of British military surveyorsSoliman III’s motivations for keeping Bussora [Basra] within Bagdad’s sphere of influence.The letter was enclosed in HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Persia [Iran], Sir Harford Jones’s secret letter of 14 September 1810, which was received on 6 February 1811.Physical description: 1 item (5 folios)
Abstract: The second part of a bulletin written by Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad [Baghdad], and dated 20 September 1802.The bulletin describes a struggle for power in Bagdad between Ally Pasha [‘Alī Pāshā al-Kahyah] and the Janissary Aga [Commander of the local Janissary corps], culminating in the assassination of the Janissary Aga.The first part of the bulletin in catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/76/272.The bulletin was originally enclosed in the letter from Jones to Alexander Stratton, HM Minister Plenipotentiary to the Ottoman Empire, dated 23 September 1802 (IOR/L/PS/9/76/276).Physical description: 1 item (4 folios)