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1. ‘Affairs in Persia’
- Description:
- Abstract: Enclosures no. 2-7 to a despatch from the Secret Department, Bombay [Mumbai] Castle, dated 9 March 1848. The enclosures are dated 8 November 1847-6 March 1848. The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence relating to affairs in Persia [Iran] and Bokhara [Emirate of Bokhara], including:Attempts to secure the release of three British officers from imprisonment in BokharaThe intention of Bahman Meerza [Bahman Mirza Qajar] to return to the post of Governor of Azerbijan [Iranian Azerbaijan]A complaint from Sheikh Syf, Governor of Bunder Abbas [Bandar Abbas], about hostile activities in the area by Fayl Alee Khan [Fazl Ali Khan], Governor of KermanThe occupation of Ghaz [Bandar-e Gaz] by Russian forcesComplaints from the Government of the Ottoman Empire about the conduct of Persian frontier authoritiesA request by Mills & Co, a British company based in Shiraz, to import muskets for the Persian Government.The primary correspondents are the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Persia, the Prime Minister of Persia, and the Government of India. The item contains a single folio in French, f 437, a letter from the Envoy to his Russian counterpart.Physical description: 1 item (28 folios)
2. ‘Affairs in Persia’
- Description:
- Abstract: Enclosures no. 2-4 to a despatch from the Secret Department, Bombay [Mumbai] Castle, dated 12 January 1848. The enclosures are dated 4 October-15 November 1847. The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence relating to affairs in Persia [Iran] and beyond, including:The intention of Bahmen Meerza [Bahman Mirza Qajar] to resign as Governor of Azerbijan [Iranian Azerbaijan, the spelling Azubejan is also used] and settle in Tabreez [Tabriz]An attempted insurrection in Kelat [Khanate of Kalat] led by Jaffer Koolee Khan [Jafar Quli Khan]A report that Persia had concluded a treaty of commerce with France, which was denied by the Persian Prime Minister Hajee Meerza Aghassee [Haji Mirza Aqasi]The plunder of Meshed [Mashhad] by Persian troops and retaliation by the local populaceAttempts to discover the fate of Lieutenant Wyburd [William Henry Wybard], believed to have been imprisoned in Bokhara [Emirate of Bukhara].The primary correspondents are: the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Persia; the Chargé d’Affaires to Persia; the British Consul, Tabriz; and Bahmen Meerza.Physical description: 1 item (28 folios)
3. ‘Affairs of Persia’
- Description:
- Abstract: Enclosures no. 2-3 to a despatch from the Secret Department, Bombay [Mumbai] Castle, dated 23 February 1848. The enclosures are dated 23 October-15 December 1847. The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence relating to affairs in Persia [Iran] and Bokhara [Emirate of Bukhara], including: attempts to secure the release of Colonel Charles Stoddart, Captain Arthur Conolly and Lieutenant Wyburd [William Henry Wybard] from imprisonment in Bokhara; a treaty of commerce signed between Persia and France; and the state of affairs in Azerbijan [Iranian Azerbaijan] after the resignation of Bahman Meerza [Bahman Mirza Qajar] as Governor. The primary correspondents are the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Persia and the Prime Minister of Persia.Physical description: 1 item (22 folios)
4. Persian Affairs
- Description:
- Abstract: This item comprises a copy of an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 24 of 1847, dated 12 March 1847. The enclosure is dated 14 January 1847.The item comprises copies of despatches forwarded, for the information of 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:1) Sheil’s advice to Major Samuel Hennell, Political Resident in Bushire [Bushehr], not to admit the claim of an Indian-Persian merchant to be considered a British subject, since his motive is likely to be the evasion of legal customs duties and because acquiescence would cause conflict with the Persian [Iranian] authorities.2) An arrangement concluded by Hennell with the Governor of Fars for the employment of British ships of war for the redress of grievances committed against British subjects in the Persian ports of the Persian Gulf, and the extension of similar protection to Persian subjects.3) Following instructions from Palmerston, Sheil’s attempt to offer the Ameer of Bokhara [Amir of Bukhara] a ransom of 15,000 tomans for the surrender of Colonel Stoddart, Captain Connolly and Lieutenant W H Wyburd [William Henry Wybard] at either Meshed [Mashhad] or Merve [Merv], including a copy of Sheil’s letter to the Ameer (ff 488-489) to be delivered via the ‘Khaleefa or Chief Priest’ at Merve and which is written to appear derived from the friends of the three men, not on behalf of the British Government4) An attempt made by Prince Dolgorukie [Prince Dimitri Ivanovich Dolgorukov], Russian Minister in Tehran, to induce the Persian Government to issue a firman admitting Russian men of war vessels to the ‘back water of Enzellee [Bandar-e Anzali]’ (on the Caspian Sea), including copies of a letter from Dolgoroukie and the reply of Hajee Meerza Aghassee [Ḥājī Mīrzā Āqāsī, Prime Minister to the Shāh of Persia] which Sheil obtained from a ‘private source’ (ff 490-491).5) Sheil’s report of three incidents involving the use of torture – which had officially been abolished by a firman – and the protests made by both Sheil and Dolgoroukie and the actions taken in each case. The incidents relate to: a ‘barbarous act’ committed by Thamasp Meerza [Ṭahmāsp/Ṭahmāsb Mīrzā], a son of the late Shah and governor of a small district near Tabreez [Tabriz] named Binab, leading to his recall to Tehran; the apparent torture to death of a ‘Mahomedan’ [Muslim] servant of ‘a French adventurer named M. Ferrier’ suspected of robbing the latter’s house; and Sheil’s pecuniary punishment of two Mission staff for the methods they used to elicit confessions from persons suspected of robbing their houses.6) Intelligence from Meshed that Mahomed Akber Khan [Muḥammad Akbar Khān], son of Dost Mahomed Khan [Dūst Muḥammad Khān Bārakzāy, Amīr of Afghanistan], has laid siege to Candahar [Kandahar] and applied for aid from Yar Mahomed Khan [Yār Muḥammad Khān, ruler of Herat] (apparently because of the refusal of Kohendil Khan [Kuhandil Khān Muḥammadzā’ī, of Candahar] to join him in an attack on the English garrison at Shikarpore [Shikarpur]), and that their agents have arrived in Tehran apparently to seek Persian support against a supposed British invasion of Afghanistan.7) Following instructions from Palmerston, Sheil’s approach to the Government of Herat to ascertain its views on a closer relationship with England, including: a copy of a non-committal letter from Yar Mahomed Khan to Sheil (ff 500-501); a copy of Sheil’s letter to Yar Mahomed offering to send a member of the British Mission to Herat (ff 501-502); and Sheil’s report that the agent of Yar Mahomed claims the latter would not be averse to having an Englishman there, but that the anti-English feeling in Afghanistan currently makes this impossible.8) Sheil’s correspondence with Hajee Meerza Aghassee (ff 494-498) relating to his unsuccessful attempts to persuade the Persian ministers to agree to the suppression of the trade in enslaved persons in the Persian ports of the Persian Gulf, including the Shah’s refusal to commit to ‘a breach of the precepts of the Koran’ (f 494), and Aghassee’s claim that he himself supports abolition.9) Reports that five battalions (3000 men) have arrived in Tehran to form part of the force for the intended expedition to Khorassan [Khorasan], including: the planned objectives of the expedition in Asterabad [Gorgan], Boojnoord [Bojnord] and Kelat [Kalat]; and uncertainty regarding its command and the attendance of the Shah.10) A letter to Sheil from Meerza Kazim [Mīrzā Kāẓim], Agent of Hajee Meerza Aghassee at Meshed, regarding his investigations in Khorassan, Orgenjee [Urgench?], Bokhara, Herat, and Candahar, into the fate of the Englishman Mr Wyburd, ‘who gave himself the appellation and was known under the name of Hajee Ahmed’. Meerza Kazim encloses a letter from a merchant friend of his in Bokhara relating that ‘Hajee Ahmed’ arrived in Bokhara posing as an ‘Ottoman Turk’, stayed at the Court of the Ameer of Bokhara until the latter gave him to Naib Abdoos Semed Khan [Nā’ib ‘Abd al-Ṣamad Khān], and that at that man’s house he later hanged himself.Physical description: 1 item (23 folios)
5. Persian Affairs
- Description:
- 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)
6. Affairs in Afghanistan
- Description:
- Abstract: Enclosure nos. 3-24 to a despatch from the Secret Department, Government of Bombay [Mumbai]. The enclosures consist of correspondence relating to events in Afghanistan and surrounding areas. Subjects covered include:An end to the British subsidy that had been paid to Dost Mahomed, Ameer of Cabul [Dūst Muḥammad Khān Bārakzāy, Amīr of Afghanistan], during the Anglo-Persian War of 1856-57The position of Nawab Foujdar Khan [Nawwāb Fūjdār Khān] as British Vakeel [agent] at Cabul [Kabul]The return of the Kandahar Mission to IndiaA request from Dost Mahomed for a Persian language copy of the Treaty of Paris, that ended the Anglo-Persian WarReports that the King of Bokhara [Naṣr Allāh Khān, Emir of Bukhara] has put down a rebellion in Oora Tuppuh [Istaravshan, Tajikistan] and declared war on Kokan [Khanate of Kokand]Reports that two men in Herat employed respectively by the British Minister at Tehran and the Chief Commissioner, Peshawur [Peshawar], had attempted to instigate a rebellion against the Amir Sirdar Sooltan Ahmed Khan [Sirdār Sulṭān Aḥmad Khān]Dost Mahomed’s rejection of a requested visit from a Russian envoy.The primary correspondents are: Dost Mahomed; Sooltan Ahmed Khan; Foujdar Khan; the Commissioner, Peshawur; the Chief Commissioner, Punjab; and the Government of India.Physical description: 1 item (80 folios)
7. Affairs in Persia
- Description:
- Abstract: Enclosure nos. 2-4 to a despatch from the Secret Department, Government of Bombay [Mumbai], dated 30 September 1844. The enclosures are dated 15 July-21 August 1844.The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence relating to affairs in, and relating to, Persia [Iran], including:A force being assembled at Meshed [Mashhad] to put down a revolt at Kaeen [Qaen]Attempts to end the use of torture against prisoners, particularly against those imprisoned for bankruptcyReports of the imprisonment in Bokhara [Emirate of Bukhara] of German missionary Dr Joseph Wolff and Persian diplomat Abbas Koolee Khan [‘Abbās Qulī Khān]Reports suggesting an undue level of influence held by the Russian Minister in Tehran over the Government of PersiaThe Government of Persia’s monitoring of the movements and activities of Agha Khan Mehlatee [Aga Khan I] in India.The correspondents are: HM Chargé d’Affaires, Tehran; the Prime Minister of Persia; the British Consul, Meshed; and the Government of India.Physical description: 1 item (25 folios)
8. Affairs in Persia
- Description:
- Abstract: Enclosure nos. 2-3 to a despatch from the Secret Department, Government of Bombay [Mumbai], dated 29 November 1844. The enclosures are dated 16 June-31 October 1844.The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence relating to affairs in, and relating to, Persia [Iran], including:The release of Persian diplomat Abbas Koolee Khan [‘Abbās Qulī Khān] from imprisonment in Bokhara [Emirate of Bukhara] and his attempts to also secure the release of German missionary Dr Joseph WolffReported fighting and disturbances in Sheeraz [Shiraz] and other parts of FarsReports suggesting an undue level of influence held by the Russian Minister in Tehran over the Government of PersiaActivities in Bussorah [Basra] of Sheikh Thamir [Chief of the Banū Ka‘ab], and Persian fears he may be planning an attack on Mohemmera [Khorramshahr].The correspondents are: HM Chargé d’Affaires, Tehran; Dr Wolff; the Political Agent, Turkish Arabia; the British Consul, Shiraz; the British Consul, Tabriz; the Russian Minister in Tehran; and the Ambassador of Persia to the Ottoman Empire.Physical description: 1 item (44 folios)
9. Affairs in Persia
- Description:
- Abstract: Enclosure nos. 2-5 to a despatch from the Secret Department, Government of Bombay [Mumbai], dated 23 January 1845. The enclosures are dated 1 August 1844-23 January 1845, and contain for reference material dated 1 March 1825-17 February 1844.The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence relating to Persia [Iran], including:The release from imprisonment in Bokhara [Emirate of Bukhara] of German missionary Dr Joseph Wolff, with the assistance of Persian [Iranian] diplomat Abbas Koolee Khan [‘Abbās Qulī Khān], and Dr Wolff’s journey to Meshed [Mashhad]Territorial disputes between Persia and Russia, and requests by the Government of Persia, under the terms of the Anglo-Persian Treaty of 1814, for British financial assistance against perceived Russian aggressionA mission to Persia by the Secretary to the French Legation, Constantinople [Istanbul], to request that the Government of Persia allow the return of French Catholic clergymen who were expelled from Persia on charges of proselytisingTerritorial disputes between Persia and the Ottoman EmpireAllegations of unfair charges and impediments imposed on British merchants in Bushire [Bushehr] and Tabreez [Tabriz], and a petition by Persian merchants in Tabreez to ban the import of European goods.The primary correspondents are: HM Ambassador to Persia; the Prime Minister of Persia; the Foreign Minister of Persia; the Russian Minister, Tehran; the Foreign Minister of Russia; the Secretary to the French Legation, Constantinople; the Foreign Minister of France; the Governor of Asterabad [Gorgon]; Dr Joseph Wolff; and the Government of India.There are five items in French, despatches from the Secretary to the French Legation, Constantinople and the Foreign Minister of France (folios 79, 83-86 and 111), and one item in Persian, a copy of the credentials for Sir Justin Sheil to serve as HM Ambassador to Persia (folios 162-63).Physical description: 1 item (121 folios)
10. Memorandum of Intelligence from Candahar
- Description:
- Abstract: The memorandum, dated 18 May 1839, Kurrachee [Karachi], comprises a report by a merchant who left Candahar [Kandahar] on 29 April. It covers: the arrival of the British Army of the Indus at Candahar on 23 April 1839, the ‘submission’ of local chiefs to Shah Shoojah [Shāh Shujā’ al-Mulk Durrāni]; the ‘fleeing’ of the Barukzye [Bārakzay] brothers from Candahar; the dispatch by Dost Mahomed [Dōst Moḥammad Khān Bārakzay] of his family to Bukhara; the apparent lack of military opposition to the British force; the ‘delight’ of the inhabitants of Candahar at the arrival of the British; and the condition of the troops.Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)