Abstract: A copy of a letter from Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad [Baghdad], to Lord Elgin, HM Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, sent from Bagdad and dated 28 September 1802.The letter concerns the appointment of Ally Pasha [‘Alī Pāshā al-Kahyah] as Governor of Bagdad. Jones asks Elgin to intercede with the Porte [Government of the Ottoman Empire] to reduce the sum of money it is demanding in order to confirm Ally Pasha’s appointment, stressing the lack of money in Bagdad and threats from the Wa-ha-bies [Wahhābī movement] and Persia [Iran].Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: This item consists of copies of a Political Despatch from the Government of India Foreign Department to the Secretary of State for India, dated 3 January 1873 and received by the India Office Secret Department on 1 February 1873, forwarding copies of papers relating to the alleged proceedings of the Turkish authorities with regard to Shuhur [Shihr].The item also includes an abstract of contents of a Finance Despatch (Finance No. 1 of 1873) from the Government of India Foreign Department to the Secretary of State for India, dated 3 January 1873 and received via Brindisi on 27 January 1873 (folios 3-3a), relating to a memorial from Mahar-oon-nissa Begum, claiming arrears of stipends withheld between 1802 and 1808.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 2, and terminates at f 5, 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. The sequence contains two foliation anomalies: f 2a and f 3a.
Abstract: This item consists of copies of a Political Despatch from the Government of India Foreign Department to the Secretary of State for India, dated 4 August 1873 and received by the India Office Secret Department 3 September 1873, forwarding a copy of a letter from the Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq] to HM Ambassador at Constantinople [Istanbul], relating to the prohibition by the [Ottoman] Turkish Government of the exportation of Arabian horses from Nejd [Najd] for a period of seven years; and notifying the Secretary of State for India that the Resident in the Persian Gulf has been asked by the Government of India Foreign Department to encourage the export of Arabian horses from the Southern Arabian ports beyond Turkish influence, and from the northern Persian [Iranian] ports near the Turkish frontier. The despatch in continuation of Political No. 110 of 7 July 1873.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 96, and terminates at f 99a, 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. The sequence contains four foliation anomalies: f 96a, f 97a, f 98a, and f 99a.
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of a copy of an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 105 of 1847, dated 30 December 1847. The enclosure concerns affairs in the Baghdad Pachalic [Pashalik, also spelled Pashalic in this item]. It is numbered 3 and is dated 28 October 1847.The enclosure consists of a letter from the Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq] and Consul at Baghdad [also spelled Bagdad in this item], Major Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, to the Secretary to the Government of Bombay in the Political Department, forwarding copies of two despatches to the Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign Department. These two despatches enclose a copy of a despatch from Lord Cowley, HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Constantinople [Istanbul] to Rawlinson, and copies of despatches to Cowley from Rawlinson and from Lieutenant Arnold Burrowes Kemball as Acting Consul at Baghdad. The despatches to Cowley include an enclosed letter from Rawlinson to HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Tehran, Colonel Justin Sheil, and a letter to Rawlinson from the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Lord Palmerston.The despatches report on matters including:Instructions reaching Baghdad from the Sublime Porte [the Government of the Ottoman Empire] exempting British Indian subjects from the passport regulations instituted by the Turkish [Ottoman] Government, and Lord Cowley reporting that he has obtained an assurance from the Porte that it is not their intention to enforce the orders recently promulgated for the compulsory sale of properties belonging to foreignersThe progress of the cholera epidemic in the Baghdad PashalicSuffrok [Ṣufūq bin Fāris al-Jarbā’, also spelled Suffook in this item], the ‘de jure Chief’ of the Shammar tribe and his son Ferhan [Farḥān bin Ṣufūq al-Jarbā’] having so far complied with the summons of Nejib Pasha to present themselves at Baghdad, with Nejib Pasha [Gürcü Mehmet Necip Pasha, or Muḥammad Najīb Pāshā, also spelled Negib Pasha in this item, Wali of Baghdad] investing Ferhan as Sheikh [Shaikh] in lieu of his father, rather than their rival Ayudeh [‘Ūdah?]The state of the Turco-Persian frontier, including Nejib Pasha complaining to Rawlinson about the dangers to which Turkish subjects are exposed by the ‘incapacity’ of the Governors of Kermanshah and Senna [Sanandaj] to control the ‘Koordish’ [Kurdish] tribes residing within the Persian [Iranian] lineNejib Pasha issuing orders directing that the Turkish guard ship be withdrawn from its position at the mouth of the Haffar Canal, a position remonstrated against by Sheil as a breach of engagement, and that it be moved to the Bussorah [Basra] roadsThe conduct of Suffook, the Chief of the Shammar, after he had been restored to favour by Nejib Pasha, being (in Rawlinson’s words) ‘offensive to the dignity and hurtful to the interests of the Government to which he owes allegiance’, leading to him being killed by Gunj Agha [Kunj Āghā], who had been sent by Nejib Pasha; and Rawlinson’s view that although Nejib Pasha strenuously denies it was a premeditated murder, the ‘Arab’ tribes over whom Suffook had ‘extraordinary influence’ will view it as a treacherous murder and resume their 'old habits' of isolation from all contact with the Turkish authoritiesNejib Pasha asserting the supremacy of the secular authorities over the ‘fanatical party’ connected with the tomb of the ‘Soonee’ [Sunni] saint Sheikh Abdul Kadir [Shaikh ʿAbd al-Qādir Gīlānī or al-Jīlānī], through actions including the removal of the Mufti of Baghdad from office and the principal men associated with the shrine being arrested and transported to Bussorah, in response to what Rawlinson describes as the threat of imminent insurrection, and Rawlinson’s approval of the actions of Nejib PashaNegib Pasha despatching Sadik Beg [Ṣādiq Beg] to Bussorah, for the purpose, Rawlinson believes, of him seeking compensating sources of revenue following the order of the Porte to abolish the Ihtisab duty [a tax on markets in the Ottoman Empire] throughout the Pashalic, with these sources of revenue likely to include the imposition of a twelve per cent duty ad valorem on horses exported to India, which Lord Palmerston has stated to Rawlinson would be disapproved by HM GovernmentRawlinson having a ‘full and very satisfactory’ conversation with Sadik Beg regarding the suppression of the 'slave trade' [trade in enslaved people] between Bussorah and the African Coast, with Sadik Beg appearing prepared to give full effect to the prohibitory instructions issued from Constantinople and Baghdad on the subjectRawlinson’s view that it would be advantageous for him to visit Bussorah himself in December 1847, after the convention of the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Major Samuel Hennell, with the ‘Arab Chiefs’ [prohibiting the transportation of enslaved African persons on board vessels belonging to Bahrain and the Trucial States] has come into operation, in order to for him to be able to examine personally the working of the present system.Physical description: 1 item (22 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 83 of 1847, dated 30 September 1847. The enclosure is dated 7 August 1847.The primary document is a letter from Lieutenant Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Acting Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq], to the Secretary to the Government, Bombay, for the information of the Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department. Kemball reports that, according to a letter from Lord Cowley, HM Minister Plenipotentiary at Constantinople [Istanbul], to Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, HM Consul and the Honourable Company’s Political Agent in Turkish Arabia, the Ottoman Porte [Government of the Ottoman Empire] has issued instructions to the Governor of Baghdad to suspend the operation of the new passport code regulations, as far as British subjects are concerned, for one year. An extract of Lord Cowley’s letter is enclosed.Physical description: 1 item (4 folios)
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 69 of 1850, dated 2 December 1850. The enclosures are numbered 3-6 and are dated 18 October to 2 December 1850.The papers relate to the affairs in the vicinity of Bahrein [Bahrain], specifically the alleged intention of the Shaikh of Bahrein [Shaikh Muḥammad bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah] to place himself under the protection of the Ottoman Porte [Government] and the Resident in the Persian Gulf’s request for instructions from the Government of India should this happen, or if any other Arab ruler with whom the British Government has treaty relations indicates the same intention.The correspondents are the Resident in the Persian Gulf, the Governor of Bombay, and the Chief Secretary to the Government in Bombay.Physical description: 1 item (9 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 89 of 1847, dated 28 October 1847. The enclosures are dated 9 September-25 October 1847.The item chiefly comprises communications of the Chief Secretary to the Government, Bombay, to: Major Samuel Hennell, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; Lieutenant Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Officiating Political Agent, Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq]; the Secretary to the Government of India; and Commodore Sir Robert Oliver, Superintendent of the Indian Navy. Also included are: single communications from the Secretary to the Government of India and Hennell to the Chief Secretary to the Government, Bombay; two minutes of the President and Governor in Council and the members in Council, Bombay; and a copy (as published in the
Bombay Gazette21 October 1847) of the engagement entered into with the British Government by the ‘six Maritime Arab Chiefs…binding themselves to prevent, from and after the 10th December next, the exportation of slaves [enslaved persons] from the African Coast or Elsewhere on board of their vessels and those of their subjects’ (ff 288-289).The communications are brief and largely administrative. They cover the following matters:Approval of Hennell’s negotiations with the Maritime Arab Chiefs and authorisation of the publication of the agreement in English, Arabic and Persian in the government
GazetteThe request, subsequent to a letter by Hennell, for the opinion of Commodore Oliver as to the best measures to follow up the treaties already in force for the suppression of the trade in enslaved persons from the east coast of AfricaConcurrence in concern regarding the amended instructions issued by the Turkish [Ottoman] Government to the Pasha [Governor] of Baghdad regarding the disposal of enslaved persons liberated under the convention recently signed by the [Ottoman] PorteApproval of Hennell’s intention to quickly remove ‘rescued slaves’ from Bussorah [Basra] who do not wish to remain in Ottoman territoryA translated extract of the report by the Agent at Shargah [Sharjah] on the recent ‘number of Abyssinian [Ethiopian] slaves imported into Oman’ (f 300) and approval of Hennell’s intention to rigorously enforce the terms of the convention when it comes into force ‘with equal strictures in the case of the importation of Abyssinians as in that of Negroes [Black Africans] and Soomalees [Somalis]’ (f 299).Physical description: 1 item (27 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 84 of 1847, dated 30 September 1847. The enclosures are dated 9 June-11 September 1847.The primary documents are despatches of Major Samuel Hennell, Resident in the Persian Gulf, to the Chief Secretary to the Government, Bombay, and for the information of the President and Governor in Council, chiefly forwarding copies of reports and letters received, and his correspondence with various officials, notably: Colonel Justin Sheil, HM Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary at the Court of Persia [Iran]; Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, Political Agent, Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq]; and Arnold Burrowes Kemball, Acting Political Agent, Turkish Arabia. The correspondence of the latter two notably include letters addressed to them by Lord Cowley [Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley], HM Minister Plenipotentiary at Constantinople [Istanbul].The despatches cover numerous matters, including the following:1) The apparent designs of the Ottoman Empire to extend its authority and influence over the Island of Bahrein [Bahrain], including: a report from Commodore John Croft Hawkins, on the HC [Honourable Company] Steam Frigate
Queen, describing a visit on board the ship by the Sheik of Bahrein [Shaikh Muḥammad bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah, Shaikh of Bahrain] and confirming the non-appearance of either the Turkish vessel or Turkish agent said to have been proceeding towards the island; and the emphatic refusal, by Nejib Pasha, Governor of Bagdad [Muḥammad Najīb Pāshā, Governor of Baghdad], to recognize a letter apparently addressed to the Sheik of Bahrein by the Mootesellim [Mutasallim] of Bussorah [Governor of Basra], inviting the former to put himself under the protection of the Ottoman flag.2) The temporary detention at Shiraz, by an informant of Sheil, of a messenger said to be carrying a letter addressed to the Shah [Muḥammad Shāh Qājār, Shāh of Persia] from an ‘influential Prince of India’ inviting him to ‘invade Hindoostan by the way of Affghanistan [Afghanistan], and assuring him of every support and cooperation’ (f 139), and Sheil’s dismissal of its seriousness.3) British measures in relation to effecting the abolition of the ‘African Slave Trade’, notably:The announcement to the Ottoman Porte that Hennell has obtained the consent of the ‘Independent Maritime Chiefs of the Arabian Coast’ (f 142) to the total abolition of the trade in enslaved persons from Africa (the agreement to come into effect at the end of the next year)Arrangements to be made by the Ottoman authorities regarding registration of crews of all vessels belonging to Bussorah and Koweit [Kuwait]Hennell’s desire, following reports that large numbers of ‘Hubshees or Abyssinian [Ethiopian] slaves’ (f 147) have been imported from the coast of Berbera, to bring the measures agreed with the Ottoman Sultan, Independent Maritime Chiefs of the Arabian Coast and the Imam of Muscat into full effect immediately, and his suggestions to strengthen the British naval presence and powers of inspection in the vicinity of Zanzibar, Berbera and Zelah [Zeila] and in the Gulf, and to make seizures of ‘contraband cargo’ to deter Persians from further trade in enslaved personsThe concerns of Hennell and Kemball regarding amended instructions issued by the Turkish [Ottoman] Government to Nejib Pasha, for the disposal of enslaved persons who are liberated under the recent convention, specifically the option that ‘rescued’ Africans may remain in Ottoman territory if they choose to rather than being conveyed on board a British vessel. Included is a translated copy of the Turkish Government’s instructions to the Governor of Bagdad directing that the ‘liberated... [ones] must be allowed to stay where they please’ (ff 155-156)Hennell’s advice to the senior naval officer at Bushire [Bushehr] to only take measures against a vessel belonging to a subject of the Imam of Muscat, lately arrived with ‘a cargo of 30-40 negro [Black African] and Abyssinian slaves from Muscat for sale’ (f 160), once it has left Bushire Harbour, as it is a foreign (Persian) portHennell’s and Kemball’s desire to ensure the swift implementation of instructions issued by Nejib Pasha to the Mootsellim of Bussorah (ff 204-205) regarding the measures to be taken against Turkish vessels and Turkish merchants involved in the exportation of enslaved persons from Africa, and for the speedy removal of manumitted persons from Bussorah temporarily to Bushire and Bassidore [Basaidu], and subsequently to India.4) Hennell’s mediatory involvement in the affair of the ‘plunder’ in 1846 of the wreck of the large bugla [buggalow]
Akab, belonging to the Sheik of Kishm [Shaik of Qeshm], near Bushire Harbour, including: the complaint by the Sheik that the boatmen of Bushire plundered the boat’s rigging and stores; and the return in 1847 of plundered articles, via Sheik Nassir of Bushire [Shaikh Nāṣir of Bushehr], including a list of plundered articles (f 171) and a list of items handed in to Sheik Nassir by each Nakoda [Nakhuda, a boat captain or master] (f 175).5) Rumours that the officers of a Turkish vessel visiting ports of the Arabian coast are claiming they are going to replace British with Turkish influence in the Gulf, notably: the alarm of Shaik Muctoom (Debay) [Maktūm bin Butti bin Suhail, of Dubai]; the apparent exultation of Sultan ben Sugger (chief of the Joasmee [al-Qāsimī] tribe) [Shaikh Sulṭān I bin Ṣaqr al-Qāsimī, Ruler of Sharjah and Ra’s al-Khaymah, al-Jazirah al-Hamra and Ar Rams, variously]; the general concern of the independent Arab rulers on the coast of the Gulf; and Hennell’s dismissal of the story, insisting that the Turkish functionaries are only protecting their trade and preventing the importation of enslaved persons.Physical description: 1 item (75 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee: Bombay Secret Letter 22 March 1823. The enclosure is dated 22 March 1823.The item comprises a letter from Mountstuart Elphinstone, Governor of Bombay, to HE Viscount ‘Strongfold’ (
sic)[Strangford], British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, regarding the ‘unfounded’ charges by the Ottoman Porte against Captain Hutchinson, the Resident at Mocha. The letter contains a summary and full rebuttal of all the charges in the complaint.Physical description: The despatch comprises one enclosure, numbered 1. The enclosure number is written for reference on the verso of the last folio of the enclosure.
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 100 of 1847, dated 30 November 1847. The enclosures are numbered 3-16 and are dated 6 October to 26 November 1847.The enclosures consist of resolutions of the Government of Bombay on despatches from the Secret Committee, and letters from the Chief Secretary of the Government of Bombay, Arthur Malet, forwarding copies of despatches from the Secret Committee and copies of other letters, to the following recipients: the Secretary to the Government of India with the Governor-General, Henry Miers Elliot; the Resident in the Persian Gulf, Major Samuel Hennell; the Acting Political Agent in Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq], Lieutenant Arnold Burrowes Kemball; and HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Persia [Iran], Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Sheil.Enclosure Nos. 3-5 listed in the abstract of contents are not included in this item (a note dated 30 October 1906 states that they are missing). They are listed as being: a resolution on a despatch from the Secret Committee; a letter from Malet to the Political Superintendent of Sawunt Warree [Savantvadi or Sawantwadi], requesting his opinion on the subject of extending to the refugee 'insurgents' now in Goa territory the clemency applied for on their behalf by the Government of Portugal; and a letter from Malet to Elliot, forwarding copies of the despatch from the Secret Committee and the letter to the Political Superintendent of Sawunt Warree.Enclosure Nos. 6-16 relate to the following:The Secret Committee informing the Government of Bombay that the Sublime Porte [the Government of the Ottoman Empire] has abandoned all intention of enforcing the ‘objectionable’ passport regulations recently promulgated in the Pachalic of Bagdad [Pashalik of Baghdad] towards British ‘Mahomedan’ [Muslim] subjects arriving at Bagdad, and the Government of Bombay requesting the Acting Political Agent in Turkish Arabia to state whether or not it is the intention of the Turkish Government to enforce these regulations in the case of ‘Hindoo’ [Hindu] or other British subjects who are not ‘Mahomedan’ travelling from India to Turkish ArabiaThe Secret Committee stating that it is their intention to pass no decision upon the proposed change to the future administration of Aden until they hear further from ‘His Lordship’ [the Governor-General of India?] on the subjectA conference between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and the Sheik of Bahrein [Shaikh of Bahrain], Mahomed bin Khuleefa [Muḥammad bin Khalīfah Āl Khalīfah], in May 1847, regarding the latter’s fear of an attack from a number of disaffected subjects who had settled on the Island of Kenn [Kish] on the Persian Coast, and Major Hennell soliciting authority, in case of necessity, to intimate to the Uttoobee [Banī ʿUtbah] settlers in Kenn that any attack made by them from that island upon the islands of Bahrein would be resisted by the British Naval Force in the Persian Gulf.Physical description: 1 item (20 folios)
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of a copy of an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 14 of 1853, dated 28 February 1853. The enclosure is numbered 3 and is dated 10 December 1852.The enclosure consists of a letter from HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Tehran, Justin Sheil, to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, enclosing under a flying seal (for the information of the Governor in Council) copies of nine of his despatches addressed to HM Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Earl of Malmesbury. These despatches relate to affairs in Persia [Iran] and Herat, and are dated 11 November to 8 December 1852.The despatches report matters including:Sheil’s stated intention to remark to the Sedr Azim [Ṣadr-i Aʿẓam] that a specific declaration is required to counteract articles which had appeared in the
Tehran Gazette‘boasting’ of the annexation of Herat to the dominions of the Shah (an enclosed copy of a translated paragraph from the
Tehran Gazetteof 11 November 1852 is included)Sheil enclosing a translation of a firman nominating Abbas Koolee Khan ['Abbās Quli Khān] to a permanent residence in Herat, to fulfil a function, Sheil states, of Vizier or Political Secretary but not a diplomatic agentA party of Toorkomans [Turkoman or Turkmen people] capturing 'about 30 Persians' in Mazandaran, and the apparent displeasure of Persian Ministers at the Prince Governor of the province requesting Russian help to pursue and punish the Toorkomans, thereby providing an opportunity for the Russians to extend their influence in MazandaranThree letters (translated copies enclosed) ‘of a rather distant date’ which Sheil had received from Fatteh Mahomed Khan [Fath' Muḥammad Khān], an Afghan ‘Chief’ and ‘one of the chief notables of Herat’, who had been seized as an ‘English’ partisan and sent into captivity in Beerjend [Bīrjand] when Persian supremacy had lately been established in HeratNews received by Sheil that Sam Khan [Sām Khān], the former Persian Agent in Herat, had marched into Herat with a body of troops; the Sedr Azim responding to Sheil’s request for an explanation by stating that Sam Khan had acted without orders from the Persian Government, that his actions were entirely in opposition to their wishes, and that a messenger had been sent to recall Sam Khan immediately (in an enclosed exchange of notes between Sheil and the Sedr Azim); and the Sedr Azim’s verbal assertion that the troops accompanying Sam Khan were only of his tribe, and that this occurrence could be attributed to the intrigues of the Governor of Khorasan, in order to prevent his recall as GovernorSheil highlighting the announcement by the Sedr Azim of the intention to send troops to oppose Dost Mahomed Khan [Dūst Muḥammad Khān Bārakzāʾi] of Cabul [Kabul] and Kohendil Khan [Kuhandil Khān Muḥammadzā'ī] of Candahar [Kandahar], suspected of planning a new expedition in Herat territoryA dispute between the Persian and Ottoman Governments regarding the displaying of their respective flags at their embassies in Tehran and Constantinople [Istanbul] (enclosed copies of two despatches from Sheil to Colonel Hugh Rose, HM Chargé d’Affaires at Constantinople, are included)An agreement having been reached with the Persian Government regarding issues in relation to the nomination of ‘English’ consuls in Asterabad [Gorgan] and Resht [Rasht] (with enclosed translated correspondence between Sheil and the Sedr Azim)Sheil enclosing a portion of a letter from the British Agent in Meshed [Mashhad], containing intelligence from HeratThe arrival in Tehran of Mahomed Sedeek Khan [Sayyid Muḥammad Siddiq Khān Alakuzā'ī], brother of the ‘Chief’ of Herat, with five other ‘Chiefs’ of Herat, and two of them, Khan Dilaver Khan [Khān Dilāvar Khān] and Ser Afraz Khan [Sarafrāz Khān], placing themselves in sanctuary at the British mission, causing the Shah and the Sedr Azim ‘great umbrage’, and with the latter sending Sheil a letter protesting against their protection.Physical description: There is an abstract of contents of the despatch, numbered 1-3, on folio 302. The number 3 is repeated for reference on the verso of the last folio of the enclosure.
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of a copy of an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay [Mumbai] Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 15 of 1853, dated 28 February 1853. The enclosure is numbered 3 and is dated 14 January 1853. The enclosure consists of copies of nine despatches (with enclosed correspondence) from HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Tehran, Justin Sheil, addressed to the Earl of Malmesbury, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, sent under flying seals to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay. The despatches are dated 12 December 1852 to 7 January 1853. The despatches relate to matters including:The proceedings of the Persian [Iranian] Government in relation to HeratThe intention of Sheil and the Russian Minister to Persia to dissuade the Shah from his plan to make a rapid inspection of some parts of the province of Azerbijan [Azerbaijan] with a regiment of cavalry, and to advise the Shah not to act in a manner likely to make the Porte [the Government of the Ottoman Empire] suspicious that Persia intended to take hostile action against Turkey; and Sheil seeking instructions as to whether he should follow the Shah irrespective of the movements of the Russian Minister, or remain in TehranThe Persian Government seeking immediate restitution of the district of Kotoor [Qotur] to Persia, following the pronouncement of the frontier commission that the Turkish occupation was ‘a wanton aggression’The report of HM Consul in Tabreez [Tabriz] of the proceedings of a Nestorian bishop aiding the Russian Government in a plan to introduce the ‘Greek religion’ [Greek Orthodox Church] and Russian missionaries into Azerbaijan by promising Russian protection to any converts from the Nestorian churchThe Persian Government agreeing to Sheil’s proposal that ‘English’ war ships should be authorised to punish the ‘Chiefs’ of Persian ports of the Persian Gulf at which ‘negro slaves’ [enslaved African persons] were being imported.Physical description: There is an abstract of contents of the despatch, numbered 1-3, on folio 351. The number 3 is repeated for reference on the verso of the last folio of the enclosure.