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1. Persian Affairs
- Description:
- Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 47 of 1856, dated 25 June 1856. The enclosures are dated 22 April-13 May 1856.The enclosures comprise copies of despatches sent by Richard W Stevens, HM Consul in Tehran, to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, copies of which are forwarded for the information of the Government of Bombay and the Government of India. The despatches chiefly relate to the Persian [Iranian] military campaign against Herat, notably:Intelligence that the Persian Army of Prince Sultan Moorad Meerza [Prince Sulṭān Murād Mīrzā] defeated the Heratees in a battle at Ghorian [Ghurian] which is now garrisoned by the Persian ArmyThe apparent plan of the Shah [Shāh] of Persia to also conquer Kandahar [also spelled Candahar in this item] where there is purported opposition to Dost Mahomed Khan [Dūst Muḥammad Khān Bārakzāy], and the order of a detachment of Persian troops to Kandahar via Seistan [Sistan]Unverified intelligence received from the news-writer at Meshed [Mashhad] that the brother of the Ruler of Herat, Mahommed Youssuf [Muḥammad Yūsuf], and Essau Khan [ʻĪsá Khān], the anti-Persian vizier of Herat, have arranged terms of surrender with Sultan Moorad MeerzaIntelligence received from an Italian officer (ff 395-396) whose brother is attached to the Persian Army of Herat, alleging: Essau Khan’s defection to the Persians; the surrender of Herat due to scarcity of provisions; the garrisoning of Herat on the orders of the Shah; the poor condition of the Persian Army; and the agreement of the Heratees to all of Persia’s terms apart from the permanent occupation of Herat. (The copy of the original intelligence is in Italian, with an English translation. A duplicate of the Italian letter and translation is in IOR/L/PS/5/487, ff 426-436, ff 430-432)Intelligence brought to Tehran by the post-master of Semnaan [Semnan] claiming that Persian regular troops had entered Herat, the postponement of celebrations in Tehran following reports that the news was false, and punishment of the messengerReports in Tehran that Essau Khan in fact discovered Mahommed Youssuf in secret talks with the Persian Commander, ousted him in a coup, expelled him to the Persian camp ironically offering him as peeshkesh [peshkash, a fine or a present to the ruling authority on receiving an appointment or assignment of revenue], and did not surrender to the Persians.The item also covers the following matters:Russia’s expression of friendship for Persia by withdrawal of protection to the family of a Russian subject who died in Persia last year owing the Persian Government half a million tomansThe Persian prime minister’s intention to spread anti-English propaganda, in Bokhara [Bukhara], Khiva and Afghanistan, following the Ottoman Sultan’s firman placing his ‘non-Mussulman’ [non-Muslim] subjects on equal footing with ‘Mahommedans’ [Muslims] (referring to the Treaty of Paris March 1856 in which an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, France and Sardinia ended the Crimean War with Russia)Intelligence from Asterabad [Gorgan] of the murder of the Khan of Khiva by a group of Turcomans [Turkmen] of the Yamoot [Yomut] tribe, and fighting between Yamoots and Yoozbegs [Uzbeks] potentially leaving Khiva vulnerable to Russian ‘designs’The circulation in Tehran of an article originally printed by a Persian-language newspaper in Bombay [Mumbai], and Stevens’s assertion that only a complete retraction by the Persian Government of the ‘unfounded accusations’ and ‘calumnious statement’ contained in it will repair the ‘injurious effect’ (f 387) on Britain’s image.Physical description: 1 item (16 folios)
2. Report of the Kandahar Mission
- Description:
- Abstract: Enclosure nos. 3-6 to a despatch from the Secret Department, Government of Bombay [Mumbai]. The enclosures consist of copies of papers relating to the Kandahar Mission, a British diplomatic mission to Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 1857-58. Most of the item consists of a detailed report from the head of the mission, Major Harry Burnett Lumsden, which covers the political and military situation in Afghanistan, and observations on culture, geography and population. Folio 144 includes a sketch of a fortified building encountered on the mission’s journey between Kohant [Kohat] and Cabul [Kabul]. Folios 195-210 consist of a vocabulary of the Kaffir [Nuristani] language. Folio 287 consists of a sketch map of Kaffiristan [Nuristan]. Folio 288 contains both a plan and a sketch of the Fort of Kilat-i-Chilze [Qalat-e Gilzay]. The enclosures also contain correspondence from the Commissioner, Peshawur [Peshawar], and the Chief Commissioner, Punjab, reacting to the report and discussing British policy towards Afghanistan in the wake of the Anglo-Persian War of 1856-57 and the Indian Rebellion of 1857.Physical description: 1 item (217 folios)
3. Sind Affairs: Matters Relating to Afghanistan and Kelat
- Description:
- Abstract: This item comprises an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee [Bombay Secret Letter], No. 4 dated 2 January 1856. The enclosure is dated 22 December 1855.The papers comprise documents forwarded by Henry Bartle Edward Frere, Commissioner in Sind [Sindh], to the Governor and President in Council, Bombay, as follows:An extract of a letter from the Judicial Deputy Magistrate to the Collector, Upper Sind, reporting that: Dost Mahomed Khan [Dūst Muḥammad Khān Bārakzāy] has arrived at Kandahar with a force, obliged the Governor of Kandahar to vacate the town with his men, and taken possession of Kandahar, replacing all the amildars [revenue collectors] with his own; that the Governor’s eldest son who was approaching with a force has also fled on hearing of Dost Mahomed’s success; and that Dost Mahomed apparently intends to proceed to Herat ‘at the close of the season’ (f 25)Copies of letters written by the wakeel [vakil] of the Khan of Kelat [Kalat] and by Ameer [Emir] Dost Mahomed Khan (which had been forwarded by Lieutenant-Colonel John Jacob, Political Superintendent on the Frontier of Upper Sind), regarding the arrival of Dost Mahomed Khan at Kandahar.Physical description: 1 item (7 folios)
4. Kandahar Affairs
- Description:
- 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 47 of 1854, dated 29 August 1854. The enclosures are numbered 3-4 and are dated 1 to 15 August 1854.The enclosures contain correspondence from the Commissioner in Sind [Sindh] concerning intelligence reports from Kandahar and Khelat [Kalat] and the surrender of the ‘border robber’ Sunjar Khind [Sanjar Khān?] to the Wakeel of the Khan of Khelat.Physical description: 1 item (5 folios)