Abstract: The file concerns the disposal of a sum held on deposit at Bagdad Consulate in respect of the unexpended balance of money given by Raja Mohamed Khushalbai of Ahmedabad (Bombay Presidency) for the provision of an electric light system at shrines in Kerbala [Karbalā']. It consists of correspondence and a memorandum.The main correspondents are: the three sons of Raja Mohammed Khushalbai - Gulamali Rajemahomed Panjetani, Gulammohomed Rajemahomed Panjetani, and Gulamabbas Rajemahomed Panjetani; the British Consul, Bagdad [Baghdad]; the Collector of Ahmedabad; the Secretary to the Government of Bombay, General Department; the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, Political and Reforms Department; the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India; the Under Secretary of State for India; and the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.The file contains multiple spellings for the persons mentioned as follows:Raja Mohamed Khushalbai (Raja Mohammed Khushalbai, Rajemuhammad Khushalbhai, Rajemohamed Khushalbhai, Rajemahomed Khushalbhai, Raja Mahamad Khushalbhai, Raja Mohamed Khushalbhai);Gulamali Rajemahomed Panjetani (Gulamali Rajemahomed, Gulamali Rajemuhammad);Gulammohomed Rajemahomed Panjetani (Gulammahomed Rajemahomed, Gulam Muhammad Rajemuhammad);Gulamabbas Rajemahomed Panjetani (Gulamabbas Rajemahomed, Gulam Abbas R. Panjetani, Ghulam Ali Rajamohammed Panjetani, Gulamabbas Rajemohomed Panjetani, Gulamabbas Rajemohamed Panjetani, Gulam Abbas Rajemuhammad).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 1, and terminates at f 35, it is the fifth file in a larger physical volume, each file has its own foliation sequence; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 1-35; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: Enclosures no. 2-5 to a despatch from the Secret Department, Governmentof Bombay, dated 24 August 1844. The enclosures are dated 6 March-26 June 1844.The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence relating to affairs in Persia [Iran], including:Inhabitants of Karrack [Kharg] seeking asylum in Koweit [Kuwait], and a demand by the Governor of Fars for the removal of the British Coal Agent from KarrackThe departure from Tehran of Persian Agents to Bokhara [Emirate of Bukhara] and Khiva, in return for diplomatic missions previously sent to Tehran from those countriesThe expulsion from Persia of two French clergymen accused of proselytisingBorder negotiations at Erzeroom [Erzurum] between Persia and the Ottoman Empire, and a joint Anglo-Russian request for both governments to send agents to the frontier to ‘restrain the border Chiefs from committing the usual predatory incursions’Preparations in Kurachee [Karachi] by Agha Khan Mahlatee [Āghā Khān I], exiled former Governor of Kerman, to lead an assault on Kerman, and a demand from the Government of Persia that the British authorities in Sinde [Sindh] either arrest or exile himReports of an alliance between Dost Mahomed Khan [Dūst Muḥammad Khān Bārakzāy], Emir of Afghanistan, and Yar Mahomed Khan [Yār Muḥammad Khān ‘Alī Kūzāy], Vizier of HeratAn account (ff 64-67) by Hajee Mahomed Ali [Ḥājjī Muḥammad ‘Alī], a grandson of the late Shah of Persia Kerreem Khan Zend [Karīm Khān Zand], of an Ottoman attack on Kerbala [Karbala] in which his wife and two eldest children were killed and his two younger children 'carried away [as] captives’ to Damascus, and British attempts to secure their releaseA journey to Bokhara by German missionary Dr Joseph Wolff, and his reports confirming the executions there in July 1842 of Colonel Charles Stoddart and Captain Arthur Conolly.The primary correspondent is HM Chargé d’Affaires, Tehran. Other correspondents include: the Prime Minister of Persia; the Foreign Minister of Persia; the Russian Minister in Tehran; Agha Khan Mahlatee; Dr Wolff; and the Emir of Bokhara.Physical description: 1 item (114 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 17 of 1844, dated 28 February 1844. The enclosures are dated 30 November and 28 December 1843.The enclosures chiefly comprise despatches of Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Taylor, Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq], to: John Pollard Willoughby, Chief Secretary to the Government, Bombay; the Secretary to the Government of India; Lieutenant-Colonel Sheil, HM Chargé d'Affaires at Tehran; and Sir Stratford Canning, HM Ambassador at Constantinople [Istanbul]. They relate to Taylor’s analysis of events at Kerbela [Karbala, also spelled Kerbulla in this item] when Ottoman Turkish forces attacked and captured the town on 13 January 1843. In his despatches the Political Agent:Defends himself against complaints that he was slow in communicating news about the attack to Sir Stratford CanningStates that: accounts reaching Baghdad and Constantinople were exaggerated by both Persian and Ottoman Turkish sources; the number of Persian casualties, initially alleged as 22,000, had been vastly inflated and in reality were closer to 5000; Persian officials had committed obvious fabrications of casualty lists; the investigators sent by Sir Stratford Canning and the Porte [Government of the Ottoman Empire], and Dr Ross, the Residency Surgeon, sent to assist with treating casualties, all concluded that the casualty numbers had been exaggeratedAsserts that Najib Pacha [Muḥammad Najīb Pāshā, Governor of Baghdad] had done all that was possible to avoid an attack and to ameliorate the effects of it, and deflects accusations that he has endorsed the Pacha’s use of violenceRelates that his efforts to avert or delay the Pacha’s attack on Kerbela were unsuccessfulAlleges that ‘the rebel citizens of Kerbela’ were ‘much at fault’ and the town, with a population three-quarters Persian, had for years been anarchical and violently hostile to Ottoman rulers and officialsAsserts it is his understanding that considerable warning had also been given to the townspeople and that accounts of reputed horrors committed during the attack were untrueAsserts it is his understanding that during the Turkish advance the townspeople fired first and used poison bullets.The item also contains two despatches from Henry Creswicke Rawlinson to the Chief Secretary to the Government, Bombay, and the Secretary to the Government of India, reporting his: arrival in Bagdad on 6 December 1843 to assume the duty of Political Agent in Turkish Arabia in place of Taylor; intention of avoiding any collision between himself and Lieutenant-Colonel Farrant of the Bombay Army, attached to the Persian Mission, who is investigating the attack on Kerbela and observing peace negotiations at Eerzeroom [Erzurum] between Turkey and Persia; conclusion that the recent clash between troops of the Shaikh of Chaab [Banū Ka‘b tribe] and the Governor of Dezful will not disrupt the Erzeroom [Erzurum] negotiations; dismissal of HM brig of war
Cliofrom the Bussorah [Basra] river as it is no longer required.Physical description: The enclosure numbers 3-4 are written on the verso of the last folio of each enclosure, which also contain an abstract of the contents of the enclosure.
Abstract: The volume contains correspondence relating to the distribution of the Oudh Bequest in Kerbala [Karbala] and Nejef [Najaf]. The correspondence is principally between the Government of India (Foreign and Political Departments), the India Office, and the Foreign Office. There are many enclosures that include correspondence from the following:the Political Resident in Turkish Arabia (who also acts as the British Consul-General in Baghdad);Mirza Muhammad Hassan Mohsin, British Vice-Consul at Kerbala;several mujtahids (a person accepted as an authority on Islamic law) from Kerbala and Nejaf;J W Hose, Chief Secretary to the Government of the United Provinces.The Oudh Bequest was an annual payment made by the Government of India to the mujtahids of the holy shrine cities of Karbala and Najaf. This payment was the interest on a loan given to the East India Company in 1825 by the King of Awadh, who instructed that it be used to improve religious learning and help the poor of Shia communities in Iraq.The papers within the volume cover the discussion over how the bequest was to be distributed. This system of distribution underwent several changes over the years, owing to complaints of unfairness by potential recipients and corruption as perceived by the British. Included within the volume are several petitions from mujtahids and representatives of the Indian residents of Kerbala and Nejef for a fairer distribution of the funds.The volume includes extracts from the summaries of events in Turkish Arabia that were produced on a monthly basis by the Political Resident in Baghdad.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 128; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.