Abstract: Copy of a letter from HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Persia [Iran], Sir Harford Jones, to the Vizier of the Crown Prince of Persia, Meerza Bozurg [Mīrzā Buzurg], dated 15 May 1810. The letter is in reply to Meerza Bozurg's letter, received by Jones on 14 May 1810 (IOR/L/PS/9/68/33). The letter concerns the ongoing armistice negotiations between Russia and Persia, particularly in relation to a plan by Persia to break off negotiations and renew the war. Jones also reassures Meerza Bozurg of his intention to continue his service to the Crown Prince of Persia, Abbas Mirza.The letter was enclosed in Jones's secret letter of 2 June 1810, and was received on 4 October 1810.Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: The memorandum is concerned with a recent Anglo-Russian advance of £100,000 to the Persian Government, and outlines proposals for a future loan. It considers various conditions that the Russians have declared that they wish to attach to the additional loan, which the author considers onerous.Physical description: 2 folios
Abstract: The file consists of a memorandum concerning financial assistance to Persia from Russia and the British Government from January 1900 to 5 February 1903, written by the Foreign Office.It covers:a loan to the Persian Government from the Russian Bank at Tehran, and the financial dependence of Persia on Russia;an advance on the security of the customs of South Persia from the Imperial Bank of Persia (a British institution);an advance by the Government of India to the Imperial Bank, which the Bank would then lend to Persia.Two broken seals are attached to the first folio.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 144, and terminates at f 149, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, 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 file consists of a memorandum written by Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, in which the author discusses a proposed delimitation of the Russo-Perso-Afghan frontier by the Russian Government. The author points out that, aside from the difficulties of delimiting such featureless terrain, any artificial boundary so marked out would be ignored by the numerous nomadic tribes of the area. The author proposes instead that a frontier be established merely in general terms.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences and terminates at folio 169, as it is part of a larger physical volume; this number is written in pencil, is circled, and is located at the top right corner of the folio.An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel; this number is also written in pencil, but is not circled.
Abstract: The memorandum is a summary of news and events in Persia of interest to the British Government. The subject matter largely concerns itself with reports indicating that the current Shah, Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar, is very unpopular, and discussion on whether Britain and Russia should work together over the succession — in the event of his death — in order to maintain the independence of Persia as per their understanding of 1834. It therefore also includes brief mentions of riots in Astrabad [Gorgān], Bakhari [Chahār Maḩāl va Bakhtīārī], Hamadan, and the occupation of a telegraph office at Shiraz.There is also brief coverage of the state of Persian relations with Afghanistan, Turkey, and Russia, including a mention of a recent a recent boundary treaty signed with the latter in 27 May 1881.The memorandum was written by Francis Leverson Bertie, Foreign Office.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at f 106, and terminates at f 111, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Pagination: the item also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: This file consists of a note written by Owen Tudor Burne, Secretary, Political and Secret Department, India Office, in which the author suggests ways to improve relations between the Shah of Persia and the British Government in order to limit the influence of the Russian Government in Persia. The author concludes that Britain's best hopes in this regard lie in the construction of a railway in southern Persia and in establishing good relations with the Shah's eldest son.A further note by Burne, and a copy of a letter from the India Office to the Foreign Office document an earlier, unsuccessful, attempt to persuade Germany to join in attempts to counter Russian influence in Persia.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 202 and terminates at the last folio with 203, as it is part of a larger physical volume; 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 202-203; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This file is a memorandum written by Adolphus Warburton Moore, Political and Secret Department, of historical events and correspondence relating to the occupation of Merv by Russia, and to Russian activity in Khorassan, on the Persian boundary.The memorandum reproduces a despatch to the Russian Ambassador to London, in which Lord Granville, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, expresses the British Government's displeasure at hearing of the Russian annexation of Merv, against assurances previously given by the Government of the Russian Empire. The memorandum gives the Russian response, describing the annexation as merely an act of local administration without political pre-meditation on the part of Russia, who continue to seek co-operation and friendly relations with the British Government.The memorandum goes on to describe British concerns and Russian denials that they next intended to annexe Sarakhs on the Persian border, and, upon the arrival of Russian troops at Sarakhs and in other parts of Khorassan, Persian protests to the Russian Government.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 110 and terminates at the last folio with 122, as it is part of a larger physical volume; 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 110-122; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: The memorandum consists of a number of notes authored by the following: Sir Hugh Barnes, Sir Dennis Fitzpatrick, Sir John Edge, and Sir William Lee-Warner; all members of the Council of India.The notes discuss whether or not Britain should advance a further loan to Persia, and what concessions should be obtained in return if it does; the British desire to limit the growth of Russian influence in Persia. It is therefore debated as to whether the revenues of the Southern Ports and/or Seistan [Sīstān] could be obtained, along with a possible railway concession in Southern Persia in order to deny it to Russia.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at f 1, and terminates at f 7, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, 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: The memorandum is concerned with the Russian bombardment of the Shrine of Imam Reza in March 1912 at Meshed [Mashhad], and the presence of Russian troops in Khorrassan. It also touches on the desire of the British Government to have the ex-Shah Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar removed from Persia.It also includes copies of two telegrams (folios 50-51) from Sir Edward Grey, Foreign Office, to Sir George Buchanan, HM Minister Plenipotentiary and Minister Extraordinary to Persia, dated 12 and 22 April 1912. They concern British diplomatic representations to Russia in response to the bombardment of the Shrine of Imam Reza.Physical description: 5 folios
Abstract: Abstract of the Russian projet delivered by General Termasoff [Tormasov] to Meerza Bozurg [Mīrzā Buzurg], Vizier of the Crown Prince of Persia [Iran]. The document contains the articles of a proposed armistice between Russia and Persia, to last for a period of two years.The abstract was enclosed in Sir Harford Jones's letter of 2 June 1810, and was received on 4 October 1810.Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 118 of 1846, dated 14 October 1846. The enclosures are numbered 3-4 and are dated 14 to 15 August 1846, and relate to Persian [Iranian] affairs.Enclosure No. 3 consists of a letter from HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Persia, Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Sheil, to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, forwarding under flying seal a letter to the Secretary to the Government of India, enclosing copies of despatches addressed by Sheil to HM Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Earl of Aberdeen, dated 20 July to 10 August 1846. It also includes one letter from Sheil to HM Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Sir Stratford Canning, dated 10 August 1846.The despatches concern matters including:Sheil raising the claims for compensation of Hajee Noor-ood-deen [Ḥājī Nūr al-Dīn], a British subject, with the Persian GovernmentThe Persian Government having built up a ‘considerable’ artillery at Tehran, with Sheil enclosing a list of the guns and ordnance stores in the arsenal at TehranAn outbreak of cholera in TehranThe death from cholera of Meerza Abul Hassan Khan [Mīrzā Abū al-Ḥasan Khān Shirāzī, Īlchī-yi Kabīr], Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Sheil’s preference for his successorThe Persian Government having been persuaded not to recall the Persian Minister at Erzeroom [Erzurum], Meerza Tekkee Khan [Mīrzā Taqī Khān Farāhānī, also known as Amīr Kabīr], following an attack on him in which he nearly lost his life, two of his servants were murdered, and his property was stolen; and the Persian Prime Minister, Hajee Meerza Aghassee [Ḥājī Mīrzā (ʿAbbās Īravānī) Āqāsī], instead instructing him to seek redress for these events from the Turkish [Ottoman] Government, and in anticipation of this being readily accorded, to sign the treaty with the PorteThe Russian Minister to Persia, Prince Dolgorouki [Prince Dimitri Ivanovich Dolgorukov] having addressed a ‘violent and personally threatening’ letter to Hajee Meerza Aghassee, calling on him to disavow in writing language which had been attributed to him, as well as any intention of going to war with Russia, which the Persian Prime Minister had complied withThe Court of Spain attempting to negotiate a treaty of commerce with the Persian GovernmentThe intention of the Russian Government to send a war steamer from Astracan [Astrakhan] twice a month laden with merchandise to the coast of Asterabad [Gorgan], and the opposition of the Persian Ministers to repeated visits of a Russian war ship to the Persian CoastThe Shah [Muḥammad Shāh Qājār] complaining to Sheil about the encroachments of Russia in the direction of Asterabad.Sheil’s despatches include enclosed copies of the following: correspondence between Sheil and Meerza Abul Hassan Khan; autograph letters from the Shah to Hajee Meerza Aghassee; correspondence between Prince Dolgorouki and Hajee Meerza Aghassee; and letters from Aghassee to Meerza Tekkee Khan and Sheil.Enclosure No. 4 is a letter from Sheil to the Secretary to the Government of India, dated 5 August 1846, informing him, for the information of the Governor-General, of the death of Meerza Abul Hassan, in view of him having been a pensioner of the British Government.Physical description: 1 item (67 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 149 of 1846, dated 14 December 1846. The enclosure is dated 14 October 1846.The enclosure consists of a despatch, with enclosures, from Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Sheil, HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Persia [Iran], to Viscount Palmerston, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, relating to affairs in Persia. The despatch is copied to the Governor and President in Council, Bombay, and the Governor-General of India, for information.The papers notably cover the following matters:The efforts of Sheil and the Russian Minister in Tehran, Prince Dolgorouki [Prince Dimitri Ivanovich Dolgorukov], to persuade Meerza Tekkee Khan [Mīrzā Taqī Khān Farāhānī], the Persian Minister at Erzeroom [Erzurum], to conclude negotiations with Turkish [Ottoman] representatives and sign the Treaty between Persia and Turkey. Included are copies of instructions to Meerza Tekkee Khan from the Persian Prime Minister, Hajee Meerza Aghassee [Ḥājī Mīrzā (ʿAbbās Īravānī) Āqāsī] (ff 427-429, ff 438-442), with a warning of ‘severe reprehension’ if ‘this business is further suspended or delayed’ (f 442)Sheil’s investigations into alleged British captives in AfghanistanThe opinion of Sheil that the Persian Prime Minister has rejected recent overtures for an attack on Herat as it would involve the aggrandisement of the asef ood dowleh [Āṣaf al-Dawlah]The cholera outbreak, including; its spread in Persia and towards Bagdad [Baghdad]; Sheil’s belief that it will not extend to Europe; and its prevalence in Tehran causing the Shah [Shāh of Persia] to remain at his summer encampment, outside the citySheil’s report of anti-British ‘intrigues’ by Russian diplomats in Tehran in connection with Treaty negotiations at Erzeroom and dissent in HeartThe plea to Sheil of the Ameer of Kaeen [Amīr of Qaen] to intercede on his behalf to the Persian Government for the restoration to him and his son of their territories, and the Persian Prime Minister’s promise to guarantee the Ameer’s safe passage to Tehran and the restoration of his governorship (ff 420-421)The proposal by the Governor of Fars, supported by the Resident in the Persian Gulf, to engage a ship of war in ‘punishing the chiefs on the Persian Coast of the Persian Gulf who had committed aggressions on British commerce’ (f 417)Persian grievances regarding the Turkish ship of war anchored near Mohemmera [Khorramshahr, formerly Mohammerah]Orders issued by the Persian Government for the removal of Rasool Bey, Chief of Rewadooz [Rasūl Beg, Ruler of Ruwandiz or Rawandiz, Iraqi Kurdistan] and Ahmed Pasha [Aḥmad Pāshā], Governor of Sooleimaneeya [Sulaymaniyah] from Ooshney [Oshnaviyeh?] a frontier town in the Ooroomeeya [Urmia or Orumiyeh] district in Azerbijan [Azerbaijan].Physical description: 1 item (36 folios)