Abstract: The volume is
Report on The Mission to Seistanby Surgeon-Major George Washington Brazier-Creagh, 1897. The report is based on a return journey to, and tours of, the Seistan [Sistan] region of eastern Persia [Iran] between April and October 1897. The report, marked confidential, was printed at the Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India, in 1898.The objective of the mission was ostensibly to investigate the risk of the plague spreading into Seistan from Baluchistan, but this was largely a cover for intelligence gathering, particularly with regard to Russian activity in the region.The first part of the report consists of five chapters that cover the following matters:Their journey from Quetta to Nasratabad [Zabol], SeistanTheir arrival in Nasratabad and reception by the Deputy Governor, Mir Mahsum Khan [Mīr Ma‘ṣūm? Khān]Local politics and administrationThe closing of the trade routes between Seistan and British India (now Pakistan) by the Persian Government under the suspected influence of RussiaRussian influence and propaganda in the region more generallyCriticism of elements of the Perso-Baluch Boundary CommissionRaids on merchants along the Quetta-Seistan trade routeThe postal system along the Quetta-Seistan routeBritish treatment of refugees of regional conflictsBritish strategical policy in the region, particularly in light of Russian activities and with reference to railway construction.The second part of the volume consists of eleven appendices containing the following information (often tabulated):Genealogical charts of the region’s tribes and powerful familiesMeteorological dataTopographical dataDetails of water sourcesLists of villages.The appendices section also contains copies of some of Brazier-Creagh’s diary entries and correspondence written during the mission, as well as letters from local officials and leaders.At the back of the volume are the following plans:‘Plan Showing the Waterways & Distribution of Helmund Delta’ (folio 62)‘Nasratabad Fort’ (folio 63).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 202; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: An additional printed pagination sequence is also present in parallel between ff 6-64.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence between the Political Agency in Kuwait and the Political Residency in Bushire related to the establishment of a quarantine station at Kuwait after an outbreak of plague in Bahrain. In particular, the file contains correspondence on some disagreements with the ruler of Kuwait regarding the establishment of the station. The file's various letters also contain discussions on compliance with the Paris Sanitary Convention on quarantine regulations and the Ottoman government's demands for compliance with them.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 97; 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 mixed foliation/pagination sequence is also present in parallel between ff 3-85; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: This item comprises printed Foreign Office correspondence relating to Persia [Iran], covering geopolitical, political, economic, social and cultural matters. The despatches are dated 18 December 1891-30 June 1897.The first page of each despatch includes the heading ‘ASIA. CONFIDENTIAL.’ on the top left, and the day and month of the despatch in square brackets on the top right e.g. ‘[December 18.]’. The letters in each despatch are numbered, e.g. No. 1, followed, where relevant, by numbered enclosures (spelled ‘inclosure’ in the volume), e.g. ‘Inclosure in No. 1.’ or ‘Inclosure 1 in No. 2.’.The item notably covers and includes:‘Correspondence respecting the Persian Tobacco Concession’, papers presented to the Houses of Parliament, June 1892 (Her Majesty’s Stationary Office). These papers (ff 37-88) cover: the opposition and hostility of people in Persia, notably merchants and clerics in Tehran, towards the tobacco concession (‘Régie’, or monopoly) granted in 1890 by the Shah [Shāh] of Persia to the United Kingdom, which gave the Imperial Tobacco Corporation control over the growth, sale and export of tobacco; the protests against it; and its cancellation in 1892. There is additional 1892 correspondence on the tobacco concession in the rest of the item. A number of letters and documents on the concession are in French‘Memorandum by Sir M. Durand, on the Situation in Persia’, December 1895, relating to the state of the Government in Persia, followed by a summary by George Nathaniel Curzon, 12 April 1896, deprecating the ‘deplorable’ conditions in the country (ff 89-112)A memorandum by Captain Percy Molesworth Sykes, HM Consul in Kerman, relating to the navigation and opening up to trade and commerce of the Karun River and valley, with appendices (Appendix II is in French) (ff 121-130)Russia’s despatch of Russian Cossack soldiers to the Perso-Afghan frontier ostensibly to prevent the spread of plague from India into Russia via Afghanistan, including a collision between Russians and Afghans at the Perso-Afghan frontier and Russian concern about quarantine arrangements by the British Medical Officer in Seistan [Sistan]Russo-Persian relationsPerso-Afghan relationsPublic construction worksCivil disturbances in PersiaThe state of the Government in TehranRussian railway projects on the South Caspian littoralConstruction of a caravan route between Ahwaz [Ahvaz] and Ispahan [Isfahan], generally known as the ‘Bakhtiari road’ [in connection with the Bakhtiyārī people whose territory the route ran through], and the involvement of Messrs Lynch Brothers in the project. Included on folio 156 is a ‘Route map of the Tracks between Ahwaz, Shushter [Shushtar] & Ispahan’ (Mss Eur F111/69A, f 156)The import trade in arms at Bushire [Bushehr]The funeral of Shah Nasr-ed-Din [Nāṣir al-Dīn]Anti-Semitic riots in the Jewish quarter of Tehran and British concern to protect British subjects of Jewish birth residing there.The primary correspondents are: the Marquess of Salisbury [also spelled ‘Marquis’ in this item], Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary; Sir Frank Cavendish Lascelles, British Ambassador to Persia; Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, Minister Plenipotentiary at Tehran; Charles Hardinge, First Secretary, Tehran; Sir Robert Burnett David Morier, Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at St Petersburg (1884-93); the India Office; and the Foreign Office. Enclosures are chiefly from British diplomatic officials in Persia, notably John Richard Preece, HM Consul General at Ispahan, and Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Philip Picot, Military Attaché, Tehran, and occasionally from Persian Government officials.Physical description: 1 volume (207 folios)
Abstract: This item contains translated extracts of two letters from Persia [Iran] received by Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad [Baghdad], on 11 May 1802:1. A letter from Meerza Bozurg [Mīrzā ‘Īsá Khān Farāhānī, Vizier to the Crown Prince of Persia]. The letter implores Jones to leave Bagdad for his own safety and travel to Persia [Iran]. Meerza Bozurg also reports a rumour that a French traveller is heading for the Persian Court, asking Jones for information.2. A letter from a Christian merchant in Tahran [Tehran] named Manooch. The letter reports the presence of a large army in Tahran, negotiations with a chief from Khorrasan [Khorasan], the Persian Government’s relaxed attitude to the presence of Russian forces in Tiflis [Tblisi], and the arrival of the King’s [Fatḥ-‘Alī Shāh Qājār, Shāh of Persia] brother Hossein Kooli Khan [Ḥusyan Qulī Khān Qājār] in Tahran.Attached is a verbal report from the messenger who brought the above letters, describing the presence of a large army in Tahran and the King’s wary attitude towards Hossein Kooli Khan.Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: An anonymous French account of the 1773 plague outbreak in Bassora [Basra].The author describes: his confinement in the French Factory in Bassora; the illness and death of Claude Pyraut [Pirault], French Consul in Bassora, and other employees of the Factory; his own illness and recovery; the long-term side effects of his infection; and his recommendations for others who become infected.The account was copied by Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad [Baghdad], and may have been found in the papers of Jean-François Rousseau, French Consul in Bagdad, following his arrest in October 1798.Physical description: 1 item (10 folios)
Abstract: Correspondence between James Short, Surgeon at the Bagdad [Baghdad] Residency, and Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad, dated 7-9 February 1802.The correspondence concerns two Jewish residents of Bagdad who were suspected to have contracted plague.The correspondence 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: Copies of four letters concerning travel restrictions in Bagdad [Baghdad]:1. A note by Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad, certifying that Charles Bruce and his baggage are considered to be in a state of health following his arrival in Dowkalah [Dukaylah] on 15 December 1800 and the fumigation of his belongings.2. A letter from Harford Jones to William Andrew Nesbitt, sent from Bagdad and dated 27 December 1800. The letter relays Jones’s instructions from the Government of Bombay (catalogued as IOR/L/PS/9/76/124) to prevent Europeans who are not employees of the British Government or the East India Company from travelling to India via the Persian Gulph [Gulf].3. A letter from William Andrew Nesbitt to Harford Jones, sent from Baghdad and dated 27 December 1800. In response to Jones’s letter, Nesbitt states that he is carrying an important letter to Jonathan Duncan, Governor of Bombay, from Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex.4. A note by Harford Jones certifying that William Andrew Nesbitt and his baggage are considered to be in a state of health following his arrival in Dowkalah on 22 December and the fumigation of his belongings.Physical description: 1 item (4 folios)
Abstract: Copies of three letters from Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad [Baghdad], to Lord Elgin, HM Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.The first letter, sent from Bagdad and dated 23 August 1800, concerns the transit of mail and the arrest and banishment by the Pashaw [Büyük Sulaymān Pāshā, Governor of Baghdad] of the former Dragoman [interpreter] of Jean-François Rousseau, former French Consul in Bagdad.The second letter, sent from Bagdad and dated 10 September 1800, forwards various correspondence, reports the arrival in Bagdad of Lieutenant Tanvarine and a French deserter from Egypt, and complains of the involvement of ‘Tartars’ [couriers] in private trade between Constantinople [Istanbul] and Bagdad. Jones discusses relations between the Government of Bagdad and the Whabee [Wahhābī movement] and measures to prevent the spread of plague in Bagdad.The third letter, sent from Bagdad and dated 12 September 1800, forwards various correspondence and reports Lieutenant Tanvarine’s departure for Constantinople.Physical description: 1 item (4 folios)
Abstract: A copy of a letter from James Short, Surgeon at the Bagdad [Baghdad] Residency, to Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad, dated 13 May 1802.The letter concerns a suspected plague outbreak in Bagdad. Short describes several recent cases he has treated matching the symptoms of plague.Physical description: 1 item (4 folios)
Abstract: A copy of a letter from Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad [Baghdad], to Captain John Malcolm, Envoy of the Governor-General of Bengal to Persia [Iran], sent from Bagdad and dated 10 June 1800.The letter forwards reports from Egypt and Syria as well as a letter from the Pashaw [Büyük Sulaymān Pāshā, Governor of Baghdad] describing the latter’s dispute with the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat [Sulṭān bin Aḥmad Āl Bū Sa’īd] (see IOR/L/PS/9/76/114). The letter also describes difficulties in communication between Constantinople [Istanbul] and Europe and a plague outbreak in Mousul [Mosul].Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: An extract of a letter from Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad [Baghdad], to the Government of Bombay.The letter concerns the complaints of the Pashaw [Büyük Sulaymān Pāshā, Governor of Baghdad] against the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat [Sulṭān bin Aḥmad Āl Bū Sa’īd], forwarding an official note from the Pashaw (see IOR/L/PS/9/76/114) and asking for the Government of Bombay’s mediation. It also mentions the precautions taken by the Pashaw against the plague prevalent in the region.Physical description: 1 item (2 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)